In this episode, we talk to Mr. Emmanuel Lopez, the Director of Governors State University's Latinx Resource Center. Mr. Lopez clarifies the nomenclature that has brought us the more inclusive "Latinx" and continues to evolve to better represent the Spanish-speaking community. We discuss Governors State University as an emerging Hispanic Serving Institution and what it will mean to achieve the government status as a Hispanic Serving Institution. Mr. Lopez shares the importance of awareness and intentionality when planning cultural events and offers suggestions for being inclusive.

Referenced in this podcast:

• Latinx Resource Center | Governors State University - The mission of the Latinx Resources Center (LRC) is to intentionally serve Latinx students by creating an intersectional and empowering space where they are supported, appreciated, and culturally represented.

SUMMARY KEYWORDS

students, Latin, HSI, Latin American countries, parents, community, level, terms, college, community college, state, important, people, opportunity, state university, faculty, educate, positioning, university, graduate

SPEAKERS

Emmanuel Lopez, Amy Vujaklija, Joi Patterson

The question is this, how is Governor state positioning themselves? What is our competitive advantage to attract Latin X students, which we know especially in the areas that we serve is one of the largest student populations largest opportunity that we have.

Welcome to our podcast teaching and leading with Dr. Amy and Dr. Joi. I am Dr. Amy Vujaklija, Director of educator preparation.

And I am Dr. Joi Patterson, Chief Diversity Officer. Our podcast addresses issues through the lens of diversity, equity and inclusion, along with solutions for us to grow as educators.

So join us on our journey to become better teachers and leaders. So let's get into it. Good morning, Dr. Joy.

Good morning, Dr. Amy. I'm looking forward to today's conversation. As you know, the Latin community is the fastest growing community so there is lots for us to discuss today.

And Governor State University is an is an emerging serving community. We've grown so much with our Latin X community, our services are growing. I'm going to talk to someone today who can talk more about how we are serving this population. Mr. Emmanuel Lopez is the inaugural director of the Latin X Resource Center at Governor State University. He's a co advisor for the Association of Latin American students on campus. He also serves as the Vice Chair for the Hispanic alliance for Career Enhancement Chicago Board, and on the executive conference committee for the United States Hispanic Leadership Institute. Mr. Lob has earned his master's degree in Educational Leadership from North Eastern Illinois University in Hispanic serving institution, and comes to us today to talk about what we're doing, and specifically what you are doing at Governor State University. Welcome to our podcast, Mr. Emmanuel Lopez.

Hi, hi, Manny, how are you? Doing?

Great. And before we start here, I just want to ground us in gratitude. I think, you know, oftentimes in this journey, you reach a peak. And then there's always more peaks, right, you always want to do more. And I have to say this has been once I reached became a director position, I'm like, Man, I eventually want to be a part of this podcast. And luckily, you all blessed me with an opportunity, right around Christmas time. So I just No, I don't take this for granted. I appreciate the opportunity.

Manny, I think you're amazing. Your energy is amazing. And you are rising and up and coming. And so I thought it was very important, not just because of your energy, and all that you bring, but the knowledge that you bring to the table and helping our students and mainly, and not just our Latinx community. I mean, you've helped all of our students. And that's what your focus is now. So we're gonna get into that today, I want to learn, I want our audience to learn more about you, and how you came to work and the capacity of helping Latin X students navigate college. Yeah, so

what a great starting question and a little bit more about me, I'm the oldest of four boys, right. So my parents migrated to the United States. I was born in Harvey, Illinois, and I'm the oldest right so there's, I think whenever you're the old, there's

a lot of pressure and that's a high bar for your brothers. No,

it absolutely is. But you know, I think I'm a product of great parenting. I think without a doubt, you know, at that time, you know, around the Harvey area, there's a lot of gang violence. I had a cousin who passed away due to gang violence, you know, not the nicest the various right, but I think my parents always sheltered me and just guided me in the right direction. Right. And so here we are, we fast forward high school, had unconditional love on my mom, I feel this great desire to give back to her. And I think what they didn't really did well, and this is a hack for parents, right? I think whenever I would bring tests or exams, my mom would always overreact to when I scored well, right, I would bring an A or bring 100% And she would just make such a big deal. Like wow, this is so amazing. Like you are so like, those words of affirmation. And that kind of a pattern allowed me to eventually like want, like, eventually towards the end and towards the high school. She wouldn't do it as much right? But towards the end, I just started doing it for myself, because this became a pattern right? I just like this just feels good. And I think that was a way for me to pay my parents. There's no way I could ever pay them off for for all the work and all the sacrifices that given that they've given me to position to me where I'm here today, but so Especially I started at community college and that wasn't planning, right. I tell students all the time they look at me and I was director, oh, you have an Associate's, a bachelor's, a masters, an honorary degree, all you can't relate to us, you know, but I tell students all the time, I had no idea what I was doing after high school, I was lost. I initially want to go to Grambling State University. I didn't get into housing, and then I was completely lost. I was like, do I wait a semester? Do I'm on the waitlist, and my community college advisor at the time Jenica Rodriguez, she was like, why don't you start here, and I'm like, Okay, I'll start here, the best financial decision I could have made. And then I decided to take advantage of everything they had to offer, right? I'm like, hey, if I'm here, I'm gonna take advantage of everything. So I was involved with all the student clubs, went to graduate there, went to Indiana University Northwest, continue to be super involved at the student level, had great mentors. Then I went to Northeastern University where I got my masters and then I got my graduate assistantship at Northwestern University. So I'm a product of all of these experiences, all of these colleges and universities, right, being able to go somewhere and make an impact goal. So we're making an impact. And I'm here now at GSU, doing the work that I truly love. And I'm extremely grateful for that opportunity. And the timing was impeccable, my goodness, right. So for me to come as a recruiter, and then get promoted to assistant director, and then my dream job, this appears at this time, right? Like, I knew there was gonna be an opportunity like this in the future, I just knew it in my heart. I'm like, I believe with the pattern that Illinois is on there's 31, HSI is 26. Emerging HSI, that pattern is only going to continue to increase, I knew there was going to be an opportunity for me at some point. But I think, you know, God has graced me with this opportunity. And I'm very, very happy to be at Governor State University. And I'm very, very happy to continue to do this work and, and excited for the future. I think we're positioning ourselves really well. That was a long answer. Joe, I'm so sorry.

I love your answer. And it really speaks to how different interactions different conversations can lead us in a certain direction without us knowing it at the particular time. Are there particular experiences or interactions that led you to higher education? What exactly landed you into wanting to be in higher ed? Yeah,

and I at that time, even all the way in so I was at undergrad at a i u n, at Indiana University Northwest, I didn't really think I was going to go into higher ed. Right, I just think that I look back and I'm like, I had a great time at Prairie State College because of a few people who mentored me. And they just they aside from the classroom, right? Because colleges and universities, there's a lot of things that have in common, you go to class, you go out, right, but it's truly when it comes to the student experience. My mentors allowed me to really take advantage of the student experience opportunities, the student leadership opportunities. And I think that kind of slowly started to compounding. I'm like, Oh, I'm student body president here, I enjoy this work. I like the impact that I'm doing, oh, I'm the president for the Latino club on campus, I have impact, I enjoy what I'm doing. And on top of these I was whenever I wasn't in a student leadership position, I had advisors, right, I had people looking after me guiding me and I'm like, man, what they do and what they have done to me, I'm like, This is amazing, I don't think I would have this experience where I would be where I'm at today without without those influences those little nudges, that kind of correct in my journey as I continue moving forward. And I just thought that wherever I went, went to Indiana University, Northwest student ambassador, I was a New Student Orientation Leader, I was a president for the Latino club over there as well. And I just love that I'm like, I love my time here I'm enjoying and I never lived on campus. So those students who say, Oh, you have to live on campus to gain the true college experience, completely lie. I was one of the most involved students, because I love that. And I think it was through those involvements that I eventually I wanted to embody, I wanted to, I wanted to be that next mentor, right, because I saw them and I'm like, I want to be just like you, I want to have the impact that you had on me, for other students. And that's the way that I feel like I could pay back the mentors is by being somewhat resemblance of the of the work and influence that they had on me, right. And to this degree, I'm just trying to be half as great as them because they were amazing. You

know, before we get to our next question, I just want to respond to some things that you're saying, I am also a product of Chicago community colleges. I went to daily Community College. And I think just looking at where you are, you know, I I've had my doctorate degree for almost 30 years now you have your master's degree and will soon have your doctorate degree. And just the thing, you're a product of a community college. And I don't think that sometimes people see that as their path. But it is a very efficient path. And it can lead to very great thing. So really, a shout out to community colleges. It's a smart decision, right? And I tell parents all the time, especially if you're, if your child is not sure, you know, or they're a little immature or they need more time or whatever it is, you know, consider community colleges. It's a very efficient way to get your start. And the other thing I wanted to say it is so very, very important to get yourself involved immersed in the entire experience. Not too long ago, we have the former president of Prairie State here. And she knows Manny. So how many students know, university presidents, and she knows him by name. And you know, the Lopez boys, right. And that's just such an impact. So you took total advantage of the college experience. So back back to this conversation, this very important conversation about the Latinx community, which is now the second largest population in the United States, many people don't realize that, you know, following lights. And that's why this what we're talking about is so important today. So before we began, because we're going to talk about this community a lot, let's kind of break down to proper nomenclature. Do we call our students Hispanic? Do we call them lateen? Do we call them Latin X? Can you break down some of the nomenclature for us?

Yeah, absolutely. And I think it's an evolving term, right? These are changing times. I mean, even COVID, right? It just showed us that everything could change in really, really quickly, right? And I did a presentation and like, I think, Joe, you invited me to do a presentation on how to become a better ally to the Latin X and undocumented student community, which I love doing, and I want to continue that work more, but um, yeah, in terms of the terms, I think they've evolved, people don't realize how much they have evolved, right. So they look now and I know their service out there. They say, well, the general population doesn't agree with the term Latinx. I get that. But at the same time, they're each term has evolved over time, no matter what, no matter what people thought of them. So for example, even tracing back all the way to the term, Chicano. Right? So that was really the first time that really emerged Mexican American. So there's people there's obviously people of Mexican descent in the United States, and like, we don't have a term for us, right? They're Mexican Americans. So they really took on this term chicano. And then after that, it eventually evolved to Hispanic, right, because of the census and the United States are really having to give a designation for people who spoke Spanish, essentially, and for the most part, were Mexican descent. And then that term eventually evolved to Latino. Right, for the longest time, that was probably the most widely accepted term. And then eventually, we're like, oh, well, what do we call women, right? Or we're gonna call them Latino, as well. And then we Latina term really became a popular until this day is very, very popular, right? Latina, you're not gonna go to some to a female and say, Oh, you're Latino, right? You're Latina. Right? And then in recent history, and perhaps the largest leap that we've made in terms of intersectionality, and really taking into consideration, you know, folks who are queer or non binary, that learn Latin X came forward, right. So the term Latin x is, is one of the one of the terms that's mostly used across higher education institutions, I understand that it might not be used at households, right, for example, and I and I will, and I will admit that right in my household, if I go to my parents say, the Latin term Latin X, they probably don't know what that is, or they want to know how to pronounce it. Right? I understand that. But as someone who has been to multiple different institutions, in higher education, Latin X is becoming kind of the leader, right. And once again, is because it's the most intersectional inclusive term, right in Latin next year. And not only you're including Brazilian students, because I've learned the term Hispanic is referred to students who speak Spanish. Well, Brazilian students who are also in Latin America, do not speak Spanish, right? So Latin X incorporates them, right? They feel included. Now you also include folks who are who identify with the community, right? LGBT Q, Q plus. And then also like in in both male and female, right, so the X can really stand for a lot of different things. And I really enjoy using that term. And once again, when you look at Harvard, and you look at Northwestern, you look at a lot of schools and in the West Coast, right California, there you will also using the term Latin x. Now, the most recent term is Latina, Latina with an E at the end. And that kind of came around is because those who are Spanish speaking, they said, well, Latin next, how do you really pronounce that in Spanish? It doesn't it's not a there's not the very few words with the with the letter ending with the letter X. So they're like, that's not really grammatically and how you pronounce it, it doesn't really align with the actual language, right? So that Latina is coming to the rise. It just goes to show you how it's evolving, right? There are some universities that are using Latina when you Indiana University Northwest is using a theme, but there's very, I will say that the majority of them are a large population of them are using Latin x, but that could change. Right? Once again, we have to be open to the change, and most importantly, thinking about the future right now right now, right? Because when I look at Gen Z, right, the future 25% of that student population identifies LGBTQ plus, which is extremely important because if we know that 25% of the future is identifying with that, then we also have to use terms that include them, right. So I think it's um, that's kind of where I would land in terms of and

it is evolving and I think what I get out of it is Really, it's also a matter of respect, you know, we're going to do a workshop on honoring names and culture. It's respecting generations too, right? For example, you talked about your parents, it's okay to ask people how they want to be identified, and then identify them accordingly. And I think that's the important takeaway here.

I'm kind of wondering now how the rest of our questions should be phrased. But we have been using Latin X. In course, the center, the Resource Center is named Latinx. But the lateen, or Latinx community is broad. As we learned, like you said, in the nomenclature, we have students of Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban Spanish Salvadoran, Dominican, Guatemalan, Colombian, Venezuelan origin, and beyond. Now, while they all fall under Latinx, they all have very different cultures and needs, and many of them came to the US through different paths. So could you talk about your role as the director of the Latinx center designed to meet the needs of so many different cultures? Yeah,

I think that's absolutely the challenge, right. And I go back to even when it really comes to what, how do we define serving this here at Governors State University, right? It really comes down to that, because it's very hard, right? So your answer? Is there a right answer? Right? There's so many different cultures, how do you appropriately represent each one of them? Do you have a workshop for each Latin American country? Right? That's a lot of countries that we're talking about. Right? That's 25 plus. So it comes down to well, being intentional, right? When you have a programming event, not always using, using, you know, items or games that kind of you can see across many Latin American countries. I think we even had, we were very intentional with this with our, with our Latin X club here on campus called Alaska, we're always thinking about, okay, we're going to have an event, is it to Mexican centric, right? We want to make sure that it appeals to a lot of Latin American country, right? Because we do have a lot of Brazilian students here. We have a lot of Guatemalan students here. We obviously there's a rising of the number of Venezuelan students here. So it comes down to how can we create an A welcoming, inclusive environment that that all feel welcome, right, so that when someone walks into the room, they're like, Oh, why are we just listening to the Mexican music? Right? Why why are we only just eating Mexican pastries, right? The the Mexican student population? Well, the Mexican population in the United States is the largest of all Latin American countries, it's still important to be mindful. So I think, in terms of a programming event, and I think that kind of highlights this question is that we did a Kahoot game. And the Kahoot game was comprised of all Latin American countries. So we found specific things about all animation countries, add them to a game so that they all were represented. And most importantly, use as an educational piece, right? If you're going to have a programming piece is great to have, yes, maybe certain things but educate other students as well about other Latin American countries. I think that's one of the best ways we could go about this. As for students, a few representatives is also educating because students also want other students to know more about their culture, right. And I think when you tie in education will also have fun, I think that's probably the best way to tackle it. But it is a challenge. I can't sit here and say I have the all the answers to it. I think it's a very, very hard thing. I don't think there's a best practice. What I do try to do though, is as you look here, right, I have a set up in that set up is a very cultural cloth, as you can see in across many Latin American countries, and it kind of started around Peru, many people think, oh, that's, we see that a lot in Mexico. No, but it actually started around the proof. Um, you started to see this, and then it went up into other Latin American countries, right? But being mindful that when a student sees that they know that, oh, they feel right culturally representative, right, I also try to include a lot of bilingual language in my programming, or when I talk to students, so that they also see that and I do speak Spanish, I leave the door open for students so that they almost because a lot of these Latin American countries, not all of them, most of them speak Spanish, right. So that's also a way for me to connect with the student, and for him, for me, for me to really do right by the student. But it's a very, very hard thing to do. But you know, we're trying and I think more than anything, we have to be as creative as possible. Creativity is the infinite resource, and we have to lean on it a lot more. You

know, one of the things you talked about, it's connecting with students, my first teaching position, I was a bilingual science teacher to eighth grade students, and I had all Mexican students. And so for me, you know, my job is not teaching. My job is student learning. And in order for that to happen, I really had to accommodate the culture. And that meant connecting with the parents, you know, and having learning to do my newsletters in Spanish and things like that became very, very important if I wanted the parents to be involved, which was necessary for the students achievement, especially at eighth grade. You know, some of the students had already been out of school. And then the I remember one year I got Guatemalan students And you know, just the difference in cultures. I think it's important as educators, for us to really embrace the culture not for students to assimilate, right, because we all grow, we brought, you know, when we accept someone else's culture to add to the different cultures that you and Dr. Amy were speaking about, you also are dealing with DACA students, those deferred action for childhood arrivals. And we know some of the laws have changed recently, regarding DACA students. There's a lot of tension right now intended to give some relief to immigrants who came here, when they were children, you know, to give them opportunities for jobs going to school. And we know that ourselves and dealing with DACA students, they're still a lot of gaps, there's gaps in financial aid, there's there's gaps, and even them getting involved. Right, having that status, kind of limits them, they feel like it limits them. So talk about some of the challenges of DACA students, and some of the things they might face. And what are some of the things they need to consider if they're going to pursue a college degree? Man,

that's a that's a very, very challenging question, because there's so many implications, right? There's federal or state level, and then there's institutional level, like, there's so many barriers for these DACA and undocumented students, that makes it really, really hard as me even me as the undocumented student liaison, right? I have to first kind of look at a lot of these things and see how they play out and it changes a lot by state. Right. So luckily, we're in Illinois, we're in an undocumented friendly state for students in which you're right, Joey, we do have the undocking alternative fast application that is open for DACA undocumented students, which allows them to get state not federal state aid. Right. But this that's, that's a great that before before many students don't have any opportunity to get any state level aid. So I think you're No, no, we have a lot of good things. The issues, though, is that many DACA undocumented students don't know that that's the resources exist in the law that starts at the high school level. And that's one of the areas that I do want to tackle very heavily is when I do go speak to these high schools, I want to make sure that they are very well informed about these resources that they have at their disposal, and they're and they're up to date, right? And if they're like, hey, well, this is great, but this is outside of my my work, you know, I don't this is this goes beyond me, well, then they can lean on me then to be like, hey, well, if you're open and willing to come speak to our students, I will get you the students, I will happily go and talk to the students. Right. So one of the many in terms of challenges, I think more than anything, is the legal uncertainty. Right? And you know, just imagine how hard it is that yes, you have DACA, you could temporarily work, but that could change. Right? So so here you are, you're like, Okay, I can do this. I'm going to invest maybe four to afford years of college, four to five years of college. I don't know what the landscape is going to look like for the next president. Right? I don't know how that's going to impact. So here you are all these questions in your mind that you're dealing with? And you're like, is it going to be worth it? Right? Am I gonna go to college and then DACA disappears, right? It just imagine wrestling with that idea as a college student. That's a lot. So I think I waste a lot on the students minds. Because they don't know, right? And unfortunate, they lean on me, and unfortunately, I don't know. Right. So what I do, what I do tell them, what I do try to affirm them is that, you know, luckily, they could apply for an ITIN, they could apply for an EIN, because, you know, essentially become contractor employees, that doesn't necessarily rely on citizenship. There's ways to going around that, right. But it is challenging. So at the bare minimum, I try to listen to the students, I try to tell them the wishes that we have here GSU, I tell them how I could support and that could be if you don't know something, I will help you do the research. Or we could go through this journey together. At the bare minimum. That's something that I could do for you as a student here at Governors State University, I could be that person alongside you. And yes, well, I might not have all the answers. I have a network of people in higher education who I can lean on and get answers for you. Sometimes those answers are not the answers the students are seeking. But at the bare minimum, I'm getting clarity in their mind, I'm giving them an opportunity to have some clarity and and that does allow them to feel a little bit better, but it is very challenging, but I would say at the very top is the legal uncertainty. As we mentioned

earlier, Governor State University is an emerging HSI and a Hispanic serving institution. And we anticipate that Gulf state will reach the 25% of Latinx population within the next couple of years and join the ranks of the other 31 HSI in Illinois to become a federally designated Hispanic Serving Institution. Could you talk about what this status will mean to Gulf state in the community and how the students might benefit?

Yeah, no, I It's an exciting time here at Governors State University. And part of my role too, is to make sure that I educate internal stakeholders as well as external stakeholders in regards to what does it mean to be an emerging HSI that is not a federal designation. So that's a designation that institutions made up to kind of give them the the incentive to pursue the HSI designation, the Hispanic Serving Institution designation, because that is a federal designation, but emerging HSI is not but I think there's a great opportunity there because even for me, I'm going to be working with with marketing and I want them to create an E HSI logo, right so that when we have whenever I have flyers or presentations, I could put the the G issue logo and then on the site you know, e HSI, right emerging issue sign, it's all starts with the branding and visibility right. But in terms of what that means for the university, it's a responsibility being an emerging HSI, as much as it is a designation. It's a responsibility that institutions have and it's an opportunity that institutions have to be able to to fund foundationally structure themselves to aid and support and service a large population that is growing in the United States. Right now just in Illinois, Illinois, a fifth largest Hispanic enrolling state in the United States. There's 31, HSI is already in the state of Illinois alone, and there's 26 emerging HSI, which means that those emerging are eventually going to become HSI. And we're probably going to be top four, we're going to be able to surpass Florida in terms of the schools that we have here. So Illinois, as a state, we really have to be thinking about increasing that visibility, right? educating ourselves a little bit more, what does it mean, and owning that designation, only what it means to be truly owning, not just using it as leverage point, not just using as talking points, but using it as a way to transform institutions a little bit better, because I think those as we start thinking about those lessons going to college, well, then it's going to become more competitive, right? The markets gonna become even more competitive. We're not that far from Chicago, which is hyper competitive, right? There's students they're fighting for the same batch of students, right. comes down to is how is the question is this? How is Governor state positioning themselves? What is our competitive advantage to attract Latin X students, which we know, especially in the areas that we serve, is one of the largest student populations largest opportunity that we have. So I think now, but I think even with the Latin X Research Center, it shows the level of leadership intentionality of our president, Dr. Green and those who are make those decisions to be like, Hey, we're gonna go on the offense, right? We're just coming off a pandemic, right? But we're not going to be like, Oh, well, let's wait, let's see how this is going to impact us. No, let's go ahead and build this Latin X Research Center, let's invest in the student experience, because we know that's going to pay dividends in the long term. And and I'm very excited in terms of what it can be once we reach that HSI status is multi million dollar grant opportunities for the university. I mean, we're talking about 5 million, 6 million, there's three really big HSI grants that are up for grabs. And like I said, five to $6 million, that's $600,000 per year that we could utilize to layer on top of what we already have. And we're positioning ourselves really, really well. So it's a tremendous opportunity that we have, and I'm excited to be a part of that I'm really, really forward to I really want both states to become the dominant University in the south servers when it comes to when when Latino students graduate from from pray state, Kankakee Joliet moraine, South Suburban when they graduate, they think, Oh, what a university do I want to go to? I want to think of Governor state as a as a hub for Latin X students success, I want to create a course in students for our Latin X students. So that's, that's where I'm at

with that. Absolutely. And I think you should not have a very big budget for that E. HSI, because pretty soon you're going to have to get rid of that E. So don't spend too much money on the E. Okay.

You're right, Joey. I think, you know, given that we're not a large institution, we could make significant leaps now with the level of intentionality, the level of intentional work that we're doing to get there faster.

Yep, yep. Yep. Here's something really important and years past, because I've studied this. And Amy, you probably studied this, probably most people who have an education doctorate knows that there's been a huge achievement gap, right, between Latin X students and their white counterparts. Today, that has shifted right. So that has shifted Latin X students, they are staying on par with their white counterparts, and then some data shows that they're even exceeding. So that is fantastic news. What do you attribute to the huge success and turnaround that we're seeing?

You know, there's, I think, as someone you kind of self study myself, right?

Example

The Level representation that we're starting to see at the at the student facing level, so I think before there wasn't a lot of Latinx representation at the recruiter level at the advisor level at enrollment management level right? I think where we've tremendously may have made a significant leap in regards to that so when when you're going to a college fair, you start to see a lot more of that next recruiters, right so in terms of access, that's huge, right? Because now oh, that person looks like me. I'm gonna go ask them questions. All they speak Spanish. Now they could talk to my parents and educate them as well. Now in terms of getting into the school, that's easier, right? So I think for the longest time is that there wasn't just enough of us getting into and out the other is right in terms of the next level. I think that there's also um, oftentimes we look at first generation students, especially Atlantic students not having like capital, right as as a deficit lens, right. And I think Tara Tara Yosa cultural wealth model, right, kind of highlights that Latin X students has a Latin X and color and students of color, have a lot of capital that may not just be like, we might, we might not have the largest networks going into college, right? We're first generation we're building our own capital, but we do have is aspirational capital, well, we do have is navigational capital, well, we do have is a sense of pride to, to represent ourselves and to and to honor our parents and honor our country, right, we feel a lot of pressure internally, because when we go when I go back to Mexico, I look at my cousins, and they're like, Wow, they look up to me, they're like, Yo, you went, you made it to United States, like we're really proud of you, we know that you're doing a lot of great work over there, we know that you're presenting our heritage really, really well. And we get a lot of pressure. So that pressure ends up becoming a fuel for our Atlantic students to be ambitious, right to be at once again, highlight that aspirational capital, and to be the first in their family to do it. And not only that, but I think there's also once you become the first they want to make sure that they're not there last night, we have a lot of students who graduate college just like myself, I was able to help my brother now get his master's degree from U of I in accounting. And I was able able to help them graduate Debt Free From U of I, as he lived there for almost four years, because I was able to do it. So we start to see a lot of these older brothers, my generation, almost getting them to the end goal and facilitating the process for students and be like, hey, once you get there, it's going to be difficult, but here's how you can navigate it connect to these people make sure that you use these offices. Because by frankly, I think there that we're still there still an opportunity I thought we are on par with our white students is that we're still not taking advantage of all the offices that we have here. There's still a lot of ways that we could even improve there. I like I talked to a lot of my Latin X students, and they haven't gotten to the Career Services, right. They haven't gotten to edit the resumes, so I have to overcome them. How do I close that gap? But I think we're in a good spot. But I think on to your to your question, Joe. I think there's a lot of different things, but and especially centers like this, right now centers like this, that's also going to help they're going to be like, hey, the university is invested in students like me, I want to like that's, that could be the push that they need. Now they come talk to me now they feel more affirmed, they feel more motivated, they feel more empowered, all that stuff trickles down to higher retention, all that stuff. trickles down to once again more Latinx student success here at Governors State University,

you're speaking about something that is so valuable and important for our local school districts to recognize when students see and are taught by someone who looks like them. There is that element of relationship and that mentorship, and I can do that mentality. So what you are saying is so very important, not just at the university level, but in all levels of education. And I'm curious to to propel success forward, we still need to identify and address challenges that are still existing. So what are you saying are some challenges that Latinx students face when they come to college? Yeah,

so I would say that, um, I think it starts at the high school level, I think a lot of our high schools are not educating our Latino students in regards to the pathway starting at a community college, I think many of them are being pushed to the university level, and that's fine. But I think that there's educational pieces at the high school level that we could do so that they better understand and feel better about when they do make that step into the community college and not feel like, Oh, I'm a failure. Oh, I'm starting here, right? I think we flipped the switch and be like, hey, that's just a stepping stone because that I didn't know that. Right? When I went to community college, I was like, oh, man, like, and no one told me I could graduate debt free here. No one told me that I could transfer 60 credits here. No one told me that this was just my GPA was going to transfer to university, right? No one, like no one told me none of these things. No one told me that I was going to actually get an associate's degree along the way to having a bachelor's degree. Right. If they would have taught me that much earlier. I'm like, oh, man, that's a steal. Right. So in terms of challenges, do I think that we, you know, faculty, right. And that's not just a Gov State, I think across Illinois, across the United States, if our Latino students already kind of doing well imagine what that could look like if we actually had greater representation at the faculty level. And now I'm not saying we need to only start recruiting Latin X faculty, I just think that it should represent that population a little bit better, I think across all, all state schools or community colleges, but that's just an area an opportunity, right. And in terms of what we could, what are some of the challenges? I think that we're still lacking a lot of representation at the faculty level, because sometimes, when you're taking an English one on one class or something, or a math one on one class, I think if there were that that professor was Latinx, I think it could, it could I don't know, a lot of these classes I look at that could be huge challenges for our students to think that could be overcome if we were to have more representation at the faculty level. Yeah, I

want to comment on that, as you know that something that we identified here as a knee So we are making some strides, and we're changing some policies. And that goes all the way to where do you look for faculty? Right? What is the lab team community reading? What are they looking at? Where do they search for jobs and make sure that we're in those places and spaces to attract letting faculty and how do we provide mentorship? So the latching faculty that we have, right, that we keep them? Yep, that we retain that intellectual capital here. So so all those things are in play. And so we anticipate seeing that growth of Latino faculty, because I think it's really, really, really important to have that representation. I also want to go back to something that you when we were talking about the huge success in the achievement gap that we're seeing, one thing I think we need to mention is first gen, you toyed around that a lot without us really talking about first generation students, because many of the students that you are seeing in the Latin X community are first generation students, too. So there's a double challenge there. Right? So part of that, how do you navigate college and when you're talking about I could because you're the oldest, I didn't know this, I didn't know that. I didn't know this, I didn't know that is not just being a Latinx student, but as being a first generation students. So it's compounded. And thankfully, your brothers, they have you. You know, although they're considered first gen as well, at least they have a very, very successful, older brother that can say, this is kind of what I've learned, these are some of the hurdles I've had to overcome. This is how you can get around that. And I think more and more of that messaging like this, this is important for our Latin community to hear this. Where are the resources? You don't have to know all the answers, all you'd have to do is know at least one person that mentor that helped you that Manny and Governor State University that helped me that's going to help me navigate college. So what are your hopes? I know that your new indisposition is the new Latinx center. And it's the inaugural position. So all you have his hopes and dreams at this point, you know, right of what you imagine it to be. And what is your hopes of what you can offer students and how do you see your role and the Latinx center evolving?

Yeah, luckily, I've never lacked ideas, Joi. And luckily, I've been wherever I've gone, right, I was a student, but I was the vice president for the Latina club at Prairie State College, the president for the Latin X club at IU in and out of state school, I was very involved with Northeastern right. And then at Northwestern University, I helped I was under their Multicultural Student Affairs Department working with Latin X students at the private right at a very prestigious level. So I have I've been able to kind of be like, Okay, I like that. I like what I do here. All this university did this really well, I go to a lot of conferences. So I learn from a lot of folks. But in terms of hopes, you know, I want I think the challenge right now, right, and the work, the first thing that I'm gonna have to address right is, is getting people to know that we have that here at Governors State University. Right. That's the number one thing because I cannot help as many students, as I envision if people do not know I exist, right? Period. Right. So I think my number one goal, and this is really going to take off is once I actually hire my assistant director, is that that that person is essentially going to be running the center itself, right? I'm going to be here. Absolutely. But I want to be out there, right? I want to be at the high schools, I want to be educating counselors, right? Who are going to be some of my my advocates who are going to be sort of people advocating, oh, you need you need to talk to many. That's why we need to talk to you, they're going to help you right, because I know that that high school counselor level, they meet with a lot of students I know it's very hard, right? They, it's almost impossible for us to imagine that to meet with so many students and expect them to educate them all very well. Right, in terms of college access, and community colleges. I understand that, right. So that's where I think there's an opportunity for me to kind of insert myself there. And once again, to your point, joy, they just need to be telling when they when they meet with parents or a student, they don't need to know everything. But what they can know is like, I know someone who could help you, right, and I want to be that person, I want to be that contact so that when they do attend the meeting the students, they I build that relationship, and they know where we're students they sent to me that I'm gonna take care of them, that I'm gonna educate them that I'm gonna educate their parents to that they're gonna feel a lot more confident about these next steps. And I think if I could do that, that's going to be a huge thing, because then we're going to widen these pathways that we have with high schools. That's my goal. Right now. We have pathways that Latino students are coming to Governors State for Moraine, a little bit from Prairie State, some from free something from high school. I want to widen those pathways, though. So it's very, very clear what we have here to offer at a governor State University, but that's not where the visibility right. So that's one of my hopes, I think, once we because I focus on recruitment, focus on enrollment, right. And once we get to the HSI level, and we get some of those funding I think you know, investing in hiring more Latinx faculty investing in and developing our first generation Senator more, right? Because the HSI funding and this is the biggest misconception is that all we only want to get HSI funding because we only want to get that money for to help our Hispanic students. That money. Nowhere in the writing doesn't say you only have to support Hispanic students, and some money that you utilize to help all students. But we do need to track how Hispanic students are being helped in particular, but it's nowhere we're going to say, Oh, this is this money is only going to be used for Hispanic students. No, that's somebody that we're going to utilize in the best way that we think the institution needs to utilize that money. And then we're going to track how Hispanics are being helped. But that's a lot of money. So that's a really, really exciting, I think we're gonna get there a much faster pace, like you mentioned joy, but there's a lot of great opportunities, I want to become that hub. Right? That Latin X students access hub, I want people to know when they when they think of Governor State University, besides just thinking of me, right thinking, oh, there's a space for like for Latino Latina Latin X students there that could support you, that could mentor you that can empower you that could help you even after you graduate college that create, they'll connect you with resources where they're Latino club, our Latin X sorority and fraternities, right, a place where you could write, right, because I want us to go from Hispanic enrolling, which is where we currently are where Hispanic enrollment, we're getting into the serving this part now. But eventually, that third part is to Hispanic thriving. Right? That's where I want to get to that's kind of like the three phase model here. And it's going to take time. Absolutely. But I would argue that we're positioning ourselves really well. I'm excited.

Your excitement is contagious. And we are excited for you. We are excited for us to have you. And I've just really enjoyed this conversation. You've fired me up for what you have in store for us. And thank you, because we will need to talk to you again. Yes, about phase two and three.

Yeah, and, and I also aside from educating the community, I also want to educate the internal stakeholders as well, right, educate more about undocumented resources about the Latinx ways that we do the research that we do have, I want my faculty and my staff across campus that I perhaps I don't meet that probably we don't get to engage often for them to know that the resources that they have here, right so that I maximize also other getting allies that are going to send students my way, because there's no way that I'm going to be able to personally be cross paths with every single Latin X students here on campus. That's impossible. But if I build and increase my ally ship across campus, and have that indirect students my way, then once again, the goal of helping more Linux students is being achieved. Right? So an extremely exciting time. And I want to be that really, when we talk about where you find this energy, where do you find this fire? Why are you Why do you sound so excited? I think I am extremely grounded and making my parents proud. Right? That's, that's my engine, right? That's the twin turbo engine that I have inside. At the end of the day, I want to make my parents proud. And I know by doing this work, I'm going to highlight the great work that my parents did on me. Right. And to me, that's just a dream come true. So that's why I always had this energy because I am very grateful I am here in the United States of America, right? Like my like, I saw my parents call my mom who taught herself English and sign language. Right? She did not graduate from high school here. She cried. She taught herself English and sign language to do her job better. No one could tell me what's impossible here in the United States of America, right? There's nothing impossible. So I think I'm very much grounded in the sacrifices that they've given me. And I just want to make them proud. And I think I could do that I could hide all the love that my mom gave to me. My parents gave to me and channel that onto every single student that I meet, right? I'm just a reflection on my parents. Okay,

promise me one thing Manny, that you will share this recording with your parents. Yeah,

absolutely. I'm gonna take it a step further. I'm gonna have my mom and we do have our annual inaugural ribbon cutting. I want her to be alongside whoever the highest level my president green or vice president Maginnis or join her there. I want her to be a part of that that ribbon cutting as well. I think that's going to mean a lot to me too, for her to be implanted in history. Without her I'm not here, right with her. I'm not doing this work without her. I don't get a master's degree. I don't have an honours degree. Right. I think the only degree that I still have left is that doctoral degree at that point. I will have the gauntlet of education right out of an associate's, bachelor's, honorary, and now a doctoral degree but with without them I'm not here. So I love that I absolutely would share with them. Thank

you. Thank you for being here, Manny.

Thank you. It was a pleasure. Thank you for listening to teaching and leading with Dr. Amy and Dr. Joy. Visit our website at govst.edu/teaching and leading podcast to see the show notes from this episode. We

appreciate Governor State University's work behind the things to make publishing possible. Stay tuned for more episodes with Dr. Amy and Dr. Joi