Athens Eco Latino

	Agosto / August 2006 Vol. 4 Número / Issue 5

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UGA program inspires Hispanic youth to tackle college

by Rebecca K. Quigley
Athens Banner-Herald

Duluth High School graduate Alfredo Morales wants to be an architect, not a construction worker - a job that some of his Caucasian peers have told him would better suit his heritage.

Morales, a native of Mexico, said he will attend Georgia State University in the fall and eventually transfer to Georgia Tech. "I felt I would be more comfortable (at GSU) because there are more Hispanic students there," Morales said of his choice to attend GSU instead of the University of Georgia. "I didn't choose UGA because of my accent."

Fear of prejudice combined with low self-confidence is high on Morales' list of barriers that talented Hispanic students face in seeking out a college education, he said.

Morales is not alone in his attitude.

Many Hispanic high schoolers across Georgia say they are concerned they will be isolated from other Hispanics by attending a predominantly white university like UGA, and because of past experience of discrimination by other students.

But after taking part in UGA's Latino Youth Leadership Program, a four-day college prep program for 15- to 19-year-olds that ends today, Morales changed his mind about UGA a little. "It was inspiring," he said of the leadership and camaraderie among the Hispanic student mentors from UGA and the participants in the program. "We will eventually change the stereotype."

The leadership program has brought 30 Hispanic high-schoolers to UGA for the past four years to teach students how to be proactive advocates for their communities, which includes how to prepare for college and what their options are in terms of programs of study and financial aid.

The high-schoolers hear from current Hispanic UGA students about what to expect in college, from applying and finding scholarships to the academic and social life.

The program is not intended as a recruitment tool for UGA, but a way to build confidence among Hispanic students that they not only can get in to the college of their choice, but succeed once they are there, said Darlene Rodriguez, program coordinator.

While Kennesaw State University and Georgia State University attract a large population of Hispanic students, UGA is trying to shed its reputation among minorities as a "white" school by attracting black and Hispanic students through recruitment and outreach programs and scholarships. It is all made possible with thousands of dollars in bookstore surplus revenue and multimillion-dollar grants from the Goizueta Foundation and the Hispanic Scholarship Fund.

Offers of admission to Hispanic students increased to almost 200 Hispanic students for fall 2006, which UGA officials have said likely is the largest number of Hispanic students offered admission since UGA stopped using race as an admissions factor in 2000.

Of the 4,836 students who paid a commitment deposit by June 1 for fall 2006, 7 percent are black, 21 percent are nonwhite or of unknown ethnicity and 4 percent speak English as a second language, according to a UGA report released last month.

Of 4,405 students who submitted commitment deposits in June 2005 for fall semester 2005, 7 percent were black, 21 percent were nonwhite and 5 percent spoke English as a second language, according to the report. Hispanic was not included as a category in the report.

Financial aid and distance from home are the two biggest challenges facing UGA in terms of increasing its Hispanic student population, said Maritza Soto-Keen, director of UGA's Latino Initiative. The greatest challenge "is convincing the parents," Soto-Keen said.

To that end, Soto-Keen is planning an orientation weekend in September for 20 eligible high school seniors and their parents to learn about UGA, quell parents' fears about sending their children away and encourage students to apply to UGA through the early application process. "People are scared to get away (from the safety of home)," said Argentina-native Julieta Martinelli, a rising senior from Lilburn. "They don't want to come somewhere where they might feel uncomfortable."

Fear of prejudice and lack of information about what UGA is really like keeps many Hispanic students from thinking of UGA, but now that Martinelli has seen the strength in UGA's small Hispanic community, "I want to be part of that," she said. "I want to prove people wrong."

For many Hispanic students and their families, when it comes to thinking about college "immigration is like a fence you cannot cross," said Ingried Ramirez, who originally is from Mexico but attends high school in Gainesville.

Many families are ill-informed about the possibilities open to Hispanic students, a problem universities can address by being more visible in high schools around the state and sharing that information early on, Ramirez said.

Ramirez is not sure where she wants to go to college - she wants to be a fashion designer or a psychiatrist - but is open to attending UGA, she said. "My mom wants me to be really close to home, but I want to be independent," Ramirez said, adding that she mostly is looking at Armstrong College in Savannah and UGA. "But (my parents) will support me wherever I want to go."

Published in the Athens Banner-Herald on 07-12-06

From left, Gabriella Baetti, from Pope High School; Ingried Ramirez, from R.W. Johnson High School; and Diana Rodriguez, from Forest Park High School, listen as Brant Evans of the University of Georgia Welcome Center talks Tuesday about the campus during a tour of UGA for the 2006 Latino Youth Leadership Program participants.

Latino Youth Leadership Program participants Julieta Martinelli (right), 17, of Lilburn, and Deborah Rodriguez Garcia, 16, of Hinesville, joke around while eating dinner Monday night at the Georgia Center. (Photo by Briana Brough.)