Student Scholar Spotlight – Taylor Dempsey
Student Scholar Spotlight – Taylor Dempsey
Featured student work during their time as a college scholar in the College of Arts and Sciences.
Taylor Dempsey
In spring 2020, I co-founded Students for Migrant Justice, a student group focused on educating campus about the immigration system, mobilizing on and off campus, and building power with student immigrants. SMJ has hosted events on the history of immigration law, local immigration policies, and how to get involved in the greater Knoxville community. We have also partnered with off-campus organizations, such as Adelante Knoxville, Allies of Knoxville’s Immigrant Neighbors, and ICE Out of East TN, to launch campaigns against local police-immigration collaboration programs. This year, we were recognized as the UT NAACP’s 2021 Organization of the Year and received the Outstanding Commitment to Inclusion Award from the Center for Student Engagement.
My work with Students for Migrant Justice has greatly enriched my time in the College Scholars Program. My program is titled “Migration Studies” and is a mix of sociology, political science, anthropology, geography, philosophy, and Hispanic studies. I study immigration policy and the specific ways local police collaborate with federal immigration enforcement to harm communities. Students for Migrant Justice has taught me more about the importance of local politics, community building, and public education. As I prepare my senior project—a report on the funding behind Knox County’s police-immigration collaboration—I will definitely utilize all of the lessons I learned from SMJ!