The celebration of Cal State Monterey Bay’s first Hispanic Serving Institute Week continued with El Centro and the Otter Cross Cultural Center’s (OC3) panel, “Cultivando el Futuro: Advancing Latine Student Success in Higher Education.”
Hosted in the Otter Student Union ballroom on Sept. 16, a crowd of about 50, ranging from students, faculty and community members, attended the discussion to learn more about the initiatives and resources available for Latine students.
Moderated by Joshelyn Martin, the associate director of El Centro and Undocu-Success Center, the lineup of panelists included CSUMB’s research and instruction librarian Kenny Garcia, Hartnell College’s vice president of student affairs Sandra Guzman and Monterey Peninsula College’s Inclusivity, Diversity, Equity, Anti Racism and Accessibility Director Jacinto Salazar III.
Guzman focused on the collaborative partnerships between educational institutions from grade school to college and the community’s involvement with Latine student success.
She relayed her stressful experience as a student enrolling into college. “I could have never gone to college without financial aid, ever,” she said. “I would have not made it. I couldn’t eat and I couldn’t pay for tuition. It just wasn’t going to happen.”
Her educational journey taught her the importance of getting involved with community colleges, as she is working to help offer dual admission with CSUMB and Hartnell to give these students access to valuable resources.
When Salazar began his role at MPC, he soon realized that being involved with the community was the first step in helping them out. “In some places, like in Seaside for example, our prospective students thought that MPC was a private school because it was so detached from the community.”
Especially with Latine communities being distrustful of institutions in the current political climate, the main concern was to create a safe, transparent relationship between the community and educational institutions.
“To some degree, it has to be what the community wants and needs from us,” says Salazar. “A lot of that relationship is about listening, figuring out how we can meet and develop this reciprocal relationship.”
Garcia emphasized the importance of trust in this kind of relationship, telling about his experience drafting the grant proposal to help Latine students. He worked with Salazar on that and further collaborations between CSUMB and MPC to amplify voices and identities of Latine culture.
“For other folks that feel like their identity might not be present or acknowledged or kind of shared or spoken about, I think it’s important for students to speak up and share your experience,” said Garcia.
“I speak alongside students that might not have that same identity, but we can work together to be in solidarity with each other, to put forward a support system that can support all students.”
The panel’s central discussion highlighted the importance of using the vast amount of resources available for Latine students in higher education. “You have a hard work ethic already. The second part to that is taking advantage of the opportunities that are before you,” Guzman said.
“You have that right before you. It’s what you do with it that will matter.”