FRESNO, Calif.
Despite the name, California State at Fresno's first Chicano-Latino Issues Forum isn't just intended to address problems Chicanos and Latinos face. It's meant for everyone on campus.
The two-day event is hosted by Chican@Activist for Student Academics, a coalition of Chicano and Latino student organizations. The forum is the first attempt in trying to collaborate with students and gauge what issues they want to discuss, Sarina Iniguez-De La Rosa said.
"We need to begin ... to share issues all students are facing," Iniguez-De La Rosa said. The senior sociology and Chicano and Latin American studies major said problems with receiving financial aid, tuition increases and lack of child care are some of the issues she hears about.
"Regardless of ethnicity, we're all facing similar issues," she said. "This is for everybody."
The forum is to last for 26 hours, from opening ceremonies Thursday at noon to 2 p.m. Friday.
Standing behind the sign-decked information table the organizers set up in the Pit Thursday, Ernesto Saavedra said his purpose was to obtain valuable feedback from students and find out exactly what their concerns are.
Saavedra, a senior psychology major, said Latino students make up 35 percent of the student body at Fresno State, but their representation among the staff was substantially lower.
But Saavedra was particularly concerned about statistics pointing to a drop-out rate of about half among Latino college students.
"Only 50 percent of new [Latino] students end up graduating," Saavedra said. "It's ridiculous. Do we want an uneducated majority?"
He described the forum as a grassroots effort to bring these issues to the foreground.
The forum is entirely informal. "If anyone wants to come up and speak or play an instrument, they're welcome," Saavedra said.
Student concerns were collected in the form of pieces of paper dropped into a basket.
Iniguez-De La Rosa said the comments they receive will be shared at a future breakfast meeting with Dr. John D. Welty, university president, and Dr. Paul Oliaro, dean of student affairs.
