USU organizations invite all students to make way for diversity on campus
The Hispanic student population is increasing at Utah State University.
Everardo Martinez-Inzunza, director of Multicultural Student Services, said the Latino population has increased to more than 2 percent in the multicultural student body. Last year, there were 983 Latinos.
“Our primary purpose is to assist the university in promoting the services to multicultural students, which may not be available for them,” he said.
Retention of Hispanic students in academic-oriented programs is higher than that of other multicultural students, more than half of whom don’t participate, Martinez-Inzunza said.
Most multicultural students are American citizens, and the majority of Latinos grasp English pretty well, he said.
Culture shock won’t affect these students as much, because most of them have been in Utah for a long time, Martinez-Inzunza said.
“Utah is one of the least-diversified states in the nation,” he said.
So, about 90 percent of the problems Hispanics may encounter differ little from those of other students, he said. Sometimes, they express their homesickness or eagerness for some traditional Mexican food, he said.
Iris Sanchez, president of the Hispanic Student Union, said the numbers in her union are growing and have reached about 70 members.
The union was closed last year because of inefficient operation. This year, it has reopened, echoing the great demand of Hispanic students, Sanchez said.
“We aim to promote diversity of the students on campus, show what Hispanic culture is about and how it can be presented in different ways,” she said.
There are general misunderstandings of Hispanics, Sanchez said. Some view them as either Mexicans or Brazilians and tend to simplify their culture as being Mexican culture, she said.
The Hispanic culture is much more than that, Sanchez said.
It combines the distinctive culture of each Spanish-speaking country, such as Mexico, Honduras and Colombia, she said.
Tiffany Leo, diversity vice president for the Associate Students of USU, said her committee cooperates with Multicultural Student Services and encourages the interactivity of ethnic unions.
Sanchez said Hispanic Student Union members don’t have to be Hispanics.
Anyone can join and get involved in activities like the Diversity Carnival and Miss Diversity, she said.
“So far, we are doing really good,” Sanchez said.
The union has started a new program that lets students learn about other cultures every month. Activities are open to the public and help to promote intercultural communication on campus, she said.
Martinez-Inzunza said recruitment of Hispanics is statewide. Multicultural Student Services cooperates with local school districts to establish Latino-oriented programs for assisting high school students in learning English and becoming familiar with university programs.
It offers parental training to Latino parents, teaching them how to direct their kids to be well-prepared for higher education.
Sanchez said the Hispanic Student Union does a community service project every month. For example, members help the students at Logan High School learn Spanish and participate in the cleanup of Logan Canyon.
Martinez-Inzunza said although there is a continual increase in the number of Latino students at USU, the increase is slow.
“We are seven times underrepresented as compared to the student population at the K through 12 grades,” he said.
The enrollment of Latino students at the university’s peer institutions is higher than at USU.
“We need to keep up with the orientation and exposure to the population at a very early level,” Martinez-Inzunza said.
-leleyang@cc.usu.edu