We pride ourselves in being a Hispanic serving institution but fail to analyze the ways in which the university fails to provide a safe and understanding space for students who identify as Latin@.

We can first begin by asking why we choose to use a term such as “Hispanic” to identify our people. If we were truly an institution made for the betterment of our communities we would know the history of that word and the way it reminds us about the colonization and mass genocide of our people. Our brown students may populate most of the school but there voices are one of the least heard. With Halloween coming around we see even some of our faculty and administrators allowed to wear sombreros without consequence while our people have to continue going to school and ignoring people who claim to be here for the betterment of their future.

We see jokes about our people and try to fight it but are faced with resistance from the very people who claim to support us. Also a very common theme regarding Latin@ issues is that we tend to focus on all the positives, the highlights; the events that make the institution look better. Instead of being proactive and addressing issues of concern since we have the privilege of being an institution that can address such matters, we instead ignore this. Although different groups and allies have been created within the institution there is much more work that needs to be done to ensure we don’t just talk but walk the walk.

In moving forward I hope that we can truly begin to care about the Latin@ students and all students for that matter, who attend the university and their unique individualities to help them succeed to the fullest.