During a time when America remembers and recognizes the work of Martin Luther King, Jr., University students came together to consider the significance of having a dream.

Wednesday night at the Illini Union, students gathered for a mock graduation ceremony, hosted by the Registered Student Organizations La Colectiva and MEChA. During the ceremony, dreams collected by students around campus were read aloud by participants that donned graduation gowns. The idea of the event was to connect King’s “I Have a Dream” speech and the civil rights movement of the 1960s to the modern civil rights movement, which includes the rights of undocumented students and the DREAM Act.

Carolina Bolano, sophomore in FAA and external co-chair of MEChA, said she hopes to see unity among under-represented communities result from the event. She said it’s about “putting the emphasis on the idea that we all have dreams and being able to share those.”

The DREAM Act, which stands for Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors, is an act that has been in the works for several years in the United States. It started on the federal level to help the children of immigrants obtain citizenship in the United States.

While there is currently no federal DREAM Act, Illinois has passed its own version. On Aug. 1, 2011,Gov. Pat Quinn signed the bill. According to a press release, the act allows for privately-funded scholarships that will help undocumented students obtain higher education. In order to qualify for support from the DREAM Act, students must have lived with their parents while attending high school, have earned a high school diploma, and have attended school in Illinois for three or more years and have at least one parent who is an immigrant.

Mercedes Gonzalez, junior in LAS and internal co-chair of MEChA, said the DREAM Act is important and helpful for undocumented students because many lack financial support.

“They’re kind of just left in the shadows,” Gonzalez said. “They don’t have the opportunity to pursue their education or actually reach their dreams.”

Because of this issue, MEChA and La Colectiva planned the mock graduation event to raise awareness and remind students that everyone has a dream and wants to see it fulfilled.

“Hopefully what we can accomplish through the event is a realization that we’re all human and put less emphasis on race or gender, orientation or immigration status, so … all together as a community we can constructively act together to fulfill these dreams,” Bolano said.

Victoria Briones, senior in LAS, treasurer of MEChA and member of La Colectiva, explained that awareness of the issues raised regarding marginalized groups can lead to action. She said people can get “an understanding of another group of people that are struggling and how they can be an ally, and potentially work along everyone to get the basic human rights that they deserve.”