State senator meets with Latino organizations

Illinois State Senator William Delgado met with students from Union for Puerto Rican Students (U.P.R.S.), Chimexla, Que Ondee Sola, and other organizations to discuss the possibility of having a Latino Cultural Center at NEIU. He is the co-chair of the Illinois Latino Legislative Caucus, which will be coming to campus again in December. Jamie Mendoza, from the Academic Counseling services, Teresita Diaz from Project Success, and Dr. Pedroso-Reyes also attended the Thursday, Oct. 25 event.

Xavier Burgos, president of U.P.R.S. and editor of Que Ondee Sola, made an opening speech that stressed the importance of building a Latino community on campus, especially since Latinos make up a significant part of the NEIU student body. He also pointed to universities that already have Latino Cultural Centers, like the University of Illinois at Chicago and even Yale, which only has a 2 percent Latino student body. Burgos said, "It's up to us as students to come up and be saying that we want to be part of the future."

NEIU students listed reasons to have a Latino Cultural Center, which included the need for spaces to meet as well as a sense of mentorship and acknowledgment. They also noted that there was a greater need for student involvement. Moreover, they said programs meant to help Latino students, like Proyecto Pa'Lante and Project Success, are poorly funded and understaffed.

Senator Delgado had interrupted a fundraiser downtown for the chance to meet with NEIU students. "For me to be part of this is an honor," he said. The senator is NEIU alum and was a member of Que Ondee Sola and the U.P.R.S.

A solution for the lack of space at NEIU is to have a Latino Cultural Center will be in the $59 million education building in the works. Professor Victor Ortiz, the Latino and Latin American studies coordinator, explained that the issue of a cultural center was trivialized and met with the response that the school cannot have thousands of cultural centers. "That's insulting to me," said Delgado, who added that the "Hispanic-Serving Institution" label just shows up and dies out. "Don't just use our last names. Throw me a bone. Give me an alternate space," he said.

Student Janeida Rivera asked, "What can students actively do to get the administration to understand this is a serious issue for us?" Delgado suggested forming subcommittees and working professionally with the administration and setting up the infrastructure to get the project started. "Inform us, your leaders, about this," he said. He also states, it's important to reach out to Senate democratic lobbyists and the Latino media in Chicago.

NEIU had a Latino Cultural Center in the past and students had to push to get the small office Que Ondee Sola currently uses. Delgado said he wasn't afraid to fight, but would rather work with President Sharon Hahs on this issue and be there with her, as a hero, to cut the opening ceremony ribbon.