Anticipating Latino Scholars' Contribution to Knowledge in their Disciplines

One of the events organized during the Hispanic Heritage Month was a panel discussion with some of the students of the McNair Scholars Program. Among the panel students were Salvador Montes, Urban Geography major; Pearl Martinez, Bilingual/Bicultural Education major, Juan Ibarra Flores, Sociology/ History major.  Kim Sanborn, the moderator for the session, gave an introduction explaining what the program was about.

This program helps first generation students from various disadvantage backgrounds an opportunity to pursue their PhDs. Every year, 12 scholars are selected and prepared for graduation record. They are funded to help in research throughout the states. Questions were asked to each student about the knowledge they would gain in their respective disciplines.

Salvador Montes refered to the focus on resources, whereas Pearl Martinez talked about the funding issues faced by Latino schools due to which there are budget cuts, which leads to programs being cut as well. On the other hand, Juan Ibarra Flores was keen on immigration issues, identity issues and [force migration] issues faced by Latino community. Martinez said, "If teachers are not exposed to different cultures and diversities then it becomes a problem. They should be mandated to take cultural classes, or professional development classes, so that they have cultural exposure." She also explained further the importance of role models, played by teachers, in Latino communities. Through teacher's motivation and leadership skills children of low minorities can excel better in subjects such as math and science.

The session ended with a light moment about the differentiation among the Latino and Hispanic cultures, because many people don't know that they are different. The direct descendants from Spain or Europe are called Hispanic, whereas Latino is from Mexico or Porto Rico.