Andrea Rosales, graduate student, was always on honor roll. At the culmination of her senior year, she was accepted to the nation’s finest Ph.D. programs.

Rosales also participated in civil disobedience in Atlanta, Ga., last April to protest immigration laws. She was protesting against banning undocumented students from applying to the top five universities in Georgia.

Rosales was undocumented.

Today, Rosales is home where she was born. She was arrested along with six other undocumented youths who took part in the protest just after she received acceptance letters to Ph.D. programs and realized she could not afford them because of a lack of financial aid. She is trying to collect the money needed to enroll in a program.

“She was loved by everyone,” said Tatiana Alonso, senior in LAS.

In addition to her academic performance on campus, Rosales was part of the University organization La Colectiva, which in English means “The Collective.”

Alonso said the organization was aptly named. A group of students with different backgrounds created the organization in the 1980s to fight for justice and equality on campus.

La Colectiva today is dedicated to advocating for undocumented immigrants on campus — including students in high school — and for people across the country as a whole.

“We are an empowerment organization,” said Paola Padron, junior in Social Work. “We give people voices who don’t think they have voices.”

Thus, last year when Rosales was arrested, the organization held a fundraiser in her name. Many students showed up and contributed to the event, Padron said. This year, La Colectiva raised money once more for the same cause of aiding undocumented students but under a different name.

On April 18, La Colectiva hosted an event called Voces Olvidadas: The Untold Stories of Undocumented Youth. The purpose of the fundraiser was to collect money for We Dream, We Act, a scholarship that members from the registered student organization are working on with the YMCA.

Members of the RSO, like Padron, realize that undocumented students do not have easy access to financial aid. They hope to provide that monetary support for future students.

Voces Olvidadas featured a series of narratives performed by undocumented students and an art auction. The organization continues to accept donations at www.lacolectiva.wordpress.com.

“The fundraiser had a great turnout,” said Fernando Vasquez, senior in LAS and president of La Colectiva. “People said the narratives were very powerful, which was great.”

However, La Colectiva acknowledges that the We Dream, We Act scholarship is only the beginning of a movement aimed at helping undocumented youth get into and stay in college.

“If you look at the demographics here at U of I for Hispanic students, it is really depressing,” Padron said. “Especially this year, it is really sad. There should be a lot more than what there are.”

According to the University’s demographic information on the Fall 2011 freshman class, 7.4 percent of the freshman class, or 538 students, identified as Hispanic.

“Personally, I do not know a lot of people from this area here, and they should be here,” Padron said. “There is a big population out there that is not attending our school. Where is the connection?”

Although La Colectiva advocates for issues related to Hispanic undocumented students, the members acknowledge that the undocumented youths extend beyond the Latino community and the boundaries of the University campus.

This Friday, the RSO will visit Urbana High School to talk to students about applying and going to college. The organization will discuss with underclassmen how to make an impression on colleges as well as the actual college application process.

“We are going to talk about our own experiences and how they can apply,” Alonso said. “We want to encourage them to go to college.”

According to Vasquez, next year La Colectiva plans on having a mentorship program in which members will work with individual high school students to help them get into college.

“A couple of my friends are undocumented,” Vasquez said. “They are the most hardworking people I know — better than I am. It hits home.”

La Colectiva recognizes that undocumented youth exist outside the Hispanic population and welcomes members of different ethnicity and interests.

“Anyone, whether they are interested in helping the community or issue is welcome,” Alonso said. “This issue is not going away anytime soon. We need students to step up and take action.”

Although Vasquez will no longer be with La Colectiva next year, he recalls the most gratifying part of being a member of the organization.

“It is weird how college for me was not a dream,” Vasquez said, “but for these students it is, and someone is finally going to help them attain that goal. (The most gratifying part) happens when they realize that it is not the end.”