When Hernandez arrived at the campus about 60 miles north of Philadelphia, she immediately noticed a missing link.
“When we started sending out fliers for events, they were only posted in English. The most important thing is to understand the community,” Hernandez says. “Fliers are now done in both Spanish and English. Being bilingual can help open doors where families trust me and it has gotten to the point where I know the families and come into their homes. Th en these families come to our campus and become even more involved.”
Hernandez’s latest initiative is serving as co-chair of Lehigh’s year-old Council for Equity and Community, a coalition of students, professors and administrators that promotes diversity on the 7,000-student campus. The student body is 6 percent Asian or Pacifi c Islanders, 5 percent Hispanic, 3 percent Black and 1 percent American Indian or Alaska Native.
Hernandez says the 16-member council is an advisory board and makes recommendations to university president Dr. Alice P. Gast.
“Carolina is a vital person at Lehigh,” says Dr. MJ Bishop, associate professor of instructional technology and co-chair of the Equity Council. “The Community Services office has just done a tremendous job from the grassroots level enhancing Lehigh’s outreach to the community. If it hadn’t been for Carolina’s outreach, then Lehigh wouldn’t have been able to make more strides than it has been able to do.”
© Copyright 2005 by DiverseEducation.com
