Hispanic student wants more diversity
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ISSUE: 11/08/07 > Features > Hispanic student wants more diversity
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Isabel Perez, a sophomore, is a native of Honduras and is now helping students with language issues. |
Isabel Perez, a sophomore at Belmont University, is like any other student attending college. She lives in her own apartment not far away from campus, she drives her own car and she plans to graduate from college with a degree in music business. However, Perez, seen through the eyes of other minorities in America, is considered “fortunate.”
Perez was born in the Honduras and moved to the United States 10 years ago. She and 72 other people classified ethnically as Hispanics represent less than 2 percent of students at Belmont – a number Perez believes is notable on Belmont’s campus.
“I basically know all Spanish speaking students at Belmont,” Perez said. “That is kind of sad.”
Although she sees more Hispanics on campus than last year, she believes “Belmont is lacking the diversity it should have.” Taking into account the 12 million Hispanics around the country, the number on campus should be larger, Perez said.
“More diversity would enhance our learning experience,” Perez said. “It would give us a chance to live and learn in a place that better resembles the so called ‘real world.’”
Perez works in the Language Learning Center, also known as the LLC, where she helps students with their Spanish homework.
“The LLC is a fun job where I get to share my culture with others while watching Spanish television,” Perez said. “I’m truly getting paid to be myself.”
According to a study conducted by Excelencia, a nonprofit organization that helps with Hispanic students’ in higher education, only 25 percent of college-aged Hispanics in America were enrolled in college in 2004. Belmont, together with other universities in Tennessee, is trying to change that number, which is low compared to college enrollment of 42 percent of college-aged whites, 32 percent of blacks, and 60 percent of Asians.
“The fact that we are the largest minority group in the country is not reflected on campus,” Perez said. “Only a few more Hispanics attend Belmont today compared to some years ago.”
Perez is referring to the statistics from the Office of Institutional Research at Belmont, which shows that only nine more Hispanics attend Belmont this semester compared to spring of 2004, even though the entire student population is up almost 18 percent. She wishes that the number would grow and that more Hispanic speaking students could have the same opportunity she and her family have gotten.
“I have three sisters and all of them went to college,” Perez said. “All of them have master’s [degrees] and one is getting her doctorate.”
Perez explained that some of her Hispanic friends do not attend college because they were never informed of the process they would have to go through in order to pursue higher education. Others face legal issues.
“A lot of my friends aren’t citizens so they don’t have the papers to even apply to college,” Perez said. “They would have to go back to their original country and apply from there as international students.
“More diversity would enhance our learning experience” Isabel Perez |
Anne Edmunds, associate director of office of admissions, is aware of the diversity issue.
“It is incumbent upon Belmont and other institutions of higher education to increase college access to students from underrepresented populations,” Edmunds said. She stressed that recruiting more Hispanics would benefit al students.
“It is also important for our Caucasian students to be exposed to students from other ethnic backgrounds as a part of their educational experience,” she said.
Edmunds referred to Belmont’s mission statement, which declares the university is a community that provides “an academically challenging education that empowers men and women of diverse backgrounds” Edmunds said that as Belmont currently is in an overall enrollment growth phase, the university is targeting some of its recruiting efforts toward minority students.
These efforts, Edmunds said, “include a Minority Student Panel as a part of Belmont’s Preview Day for prospective high school students and scholarships for students from diverse backgrounds.”
The office of admissions is not the only area involved in recruiting students to Belmont. Faculty, staff and current students are all involved in the process.
David Julseth, a Spanish professor at Belmont, is active in the local Hispanic community and tries to build bridges between Belmont and local Hispanics.
“I think it’s important to support the Hispanic community because they are part of a larger underserved community,” Julseth said. “They may not be getting this type of support in other areas.”
Julseth works with the Hispanics Achievers Program where he facilitates the logistical arrangements during the monthly meetings that are held on Belmont’s campus. The meetings are for both middle and high school students seeking the right academic tools to be able to attend higher education in the future.
“We help them to choose the right classes so they will be prepared and consider going to college,” Julseth said.
Julseth also explained that the program helps Hispanics establish goals in life by helping them figure out how to realize goals and giving them information and different options about how to succeed in certain professions.
Julseth believes arranging these meetings on Belmont’s campus will inspire Hispanics to attend college in the future.
“They come to Belmont’s campus and they feel at home,” Julseth said. “That may plant a seed with somebody and put college on the radar screen as a possibility.”
Another way in which Belmont is trying to recruit more Hispanics is by hosting Fiesta Belmont – a street fair that includes Latin music, food and dance.
David Herrera, the Fiesta event director, came up with the idea three years ago because he wanted to “encourage the Latin community to come to Belmont.” Even though he does not see a great improvement statistically, he said there is clear visual evidence that the number of Hispanic students is growing.
“I’ve noticed that there’s more Hispanics on campus,” Herrera said. “Even in my classes there [are] more.”
