Faculty to vote on latino minor

Over the past three years, latino students at the University have been battling for a Latin American Studies Department, a major and a minor. During those three years, the University has admitted fewer and fewer latino students, and of those who did come to the University, many left before graduating. But the School of Arts and Sciences Faculty Committee will vote on a proposal for a Latin American Studies minor in early December, and latino students say that approving the minor could make the University a more appealing place for hispanics. And Pam Urueta, president of Asociacion Cultural de Estudiantes Latino Americanos, said latinos she knew from her home in California refused to even consider the University because there are few latino courses offered. "When courses don't reflect our culture, we feel we are not very important to the University," College junior Urueta said. According to Romance Languages Assistant Professor Jorge Salessi, who helped write the proposal, the minor was approved by SAS's curriculum committee last week and must now be approved by the faculty committee in order to be implemented. "I am very happy the minor has been accepted by the curriculum committee," Salessi said. "This has been a project that has been accomplished collectively with students, faculty and administrators." Salessi said he has no idea if the minor will ultimately be approved, but that things seem positive. "The curriculum committee already approving the minor is a positive sign," Salessi said. According to Urueta, the University approving a new study abroad program in Oaxaca is another positive sign. The program is the first University-sponsored program in a Latin American country, and will begin this spring. "It will help to encourage the establishment of a minor and a department," Urueta said Students participating in the program will gain University credits in Latin American studies. According to Cedillo, if the minor is approved it will be an interdisciplinary study taking courses from the Romance Language Department and the History Department. If a Latin American Studies Department is approved in the future, the interdisciplinary program would be eliminated. Both Cedillo and Urueta expressed high hopes that a department will eventually be established. "If minor is established there will be a push for a major and a department," Cedillo said. "We will start small and gain momentum." But Urueta said there are barely enough classes to fill the minor this semester. Only six courses are being offered, one of which is a graduate course. Recruiting latino faculty to teach new Latin American courses could increase the possibility of establishing a major and a department, Cedillo said. Urueta said latinos are the most rapidly growing minority in the country and the University should realize its courses are not adequate. "Latinos are also important to the history of the United States," Cedillo said. "But we don't realize it because we haven't been taught about it." Salessi said he wrote the proposal with History Assistant Professor Dain Borges at the end of last semester after discussing it with students and the dean and vice dean of SAS. "We all pulled our resources together and decided that the students were needing and wanting a minor in Latin American studies," Salessi said. "And we have the resources to put together a minor."

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