Hispanic Students, Teacher Push for Cultural Center at Missouri
COLUMBIA, Mo. — Hispanic faculty and staff at the University of Missouri-Columbia are pushing for a cultural center to recruit more Hispanic students and keep them on campus once they arrive.
Nancy Olivares, president of the Hispanic American Leadership Organization, says the center would be important to other Hispanic students: "It really bothers me not to see as many Hispanic faces on campus as there could be."
The junior was invited this fall to speak to minority scholarship recipients involved in a retention program. Most students were Black, she says, and she recognized only one Hispanic woman from Kansas City.
Political science professor Patrick Peritore and his wife, Karina Galve-Peritore, put together a proposal for the cultural center they've already dubbed Casa de las Americas. They expect nothing close to the $2.4 million Black Culture Center that opened in September, Peritore says, adding that many Hispanic students are the first in their families to attend college. Students need "culturally sensitive advisement and TLC," he says.
Charles Schroeder, vice chancellor for student affairs, says he recognizes the growing Hispanic population in Missouri and wants to raise enrollment. He's reviewing potential sites for a center, but said administrators won't settle for just any space.
The proposal also calls for revising Missouri's Latin American studies minor, says Richard Schwartz, dean of the College of Arts and Science.
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