On Brenau University’s campus you can find students from: Colombia, Bolivia, Mexico, Panama, El Salvador, Brazil, Dominican Republic, Venezuela and more, who bring cultural diversity linked to their hispanic and latino heritage. For that reason, faculty and staff members proposed the creation of the Hispanic Student Association (HSA) which came to reality last November but will hold their first meeting and official launch in Spring 2025.
Students who have Hispanic/Latino heritage can join this group, as well as other groups that would like to support this student population. Just fill out this form or scan the QR code on the flyer below.
According to one of their advisors, the Director of Institutional Research, Claudia George, “the purpose of this association would be to provide support and events for Hispanic/Latino students”. Also, George shared that the discussion of HSA was promoted by Rosi Ponce, the Executive Director of Miller Institute for Global Education after seeing a growth in the hispanic and latino population at Brenau.
“This idea has been our goal for over a year, discussed in multiple opportunities with different constituencies, including students. It was elevated to Dr. Whitney McDowell Robinson, our Vice President for Student Development and Engagement, who shared the interest and has been extremely involved and committed to make it come to fruition” Ponce said.
Dr. McDowell Robinson mentioned that the creation of HSA aligns with Brenau’s goals that are stated in their Strategic Plan 2030 saying that “one of those (goals) is how we ensure that all students find a sense of belonging at the University, how do all students know that they have their voices heard and what does that look like”. By working with various stakeholders across campus, she looked up to really be intentional about the support of every student on campus. “When I started to really look at it, I realized we don’t have anything for hispanic students, and hispanic students are a very large population of our students. We don’t have anything for our male students. We are not having things that can fully support and give them a voice. We don’t have anything for students who are LGTBQI+ (or LGBTQIA2S+)” she said.
George also added that students from other groups can join and learn how they can volunteer.
“Their contribution will be through supporting events, speaking about their experiences, sharing their successes in higher education and their aspirations. The group hopes to build a community of sharing, support and engagement by creating events in which students participate or volunteer their support,” George said.
She mentioned that networking opportunities, a speaker series, and possible interviews are some of things they are considering providing.
HSA has with two more advisors,: Erika Alcantar, who is in the English Language Institute, and Mr. Marlon Galviz, our Director of Campus Safety & Security.
“They were excited when I made the call for advisors to help, and that is the basic premise, just so students can feel supported and they have a connection”, Dr. McDowell said.
According to George, having a support system like HSA will encourage “student engagement and understanding of Hispanic/Latino students and it will be a crucial way to support retention and academic persistence to graduation of this population of students.”
“Creating engagement opportunities for this population will help build a sense of belonging and further promote persistence to degree attainment”, George said.
What does Hispanic/Latino Heritage mean?
To identify which culture is recognized as hispanic and latino first we have to understand which countries were colonized by Spain. Spain influenced their language, Spanish, and most of them are located in Latin America. However, one country located in Africa still is considered Hispanic. and there are countries that do not speak Spanish but are also considered Latinos because of where they are in Latin America.
Beyond their language, these hispanic/latino countries embrace their traditions, food, music, dances, and clothing. These countriesThose are: Spain (obviously), Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea (even though it is in Africa), Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico (even though it is U.S territory), Uruguay, Venezuela, Brazil (even though they speak Portuguese), and Haiti (even though they speak French/Creole).
National Latino Hispanic Heritage Month
The National Latino-Hispanic Heritage Month is celebrated every year from September 15 to October 15 to enhance the culture, histories, and invaluable contributions of the community in the United States. This date was selected because on September 15, several Latin American countries, including Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua commemorate their independence anniversaries. Mexico is on September 16, while Chile follows on September 18. This period highlights the shared history of resilience and cultural pride across the Americas
Leave a Reply