Benevolent Intentions, Dangerous Ideologies: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Presidents' Letters After the Threat of the Repeal of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals

Because presidents hold unique and important powerful roles that influence the formation of organizational identities and cultures, we used critical discourse analysis of 80 presidents' letters to analyze presidents' messages to their campuses and to uncover their discourses and assumptions surrounding Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA)/undocumented students and their needs in light of the threat of the repeal of DACA. We used a critical theoretical framework and found 4 predominant discursive themes related to their perspectives of the DACA policy, depiction of DACA/undocumented students, institutional commitments, and organizational identity. Overall, presidents communicated benevolent intentions, but perpetuated dangerous ideologies and overlooked important elements of students' lived realities.