Hispanics Enroll In Record Numbers

Students Prepare for College

Last updated Sunday, August 7, 2005 9:23 PM CDT in News

By Yvette Scorse
The Morning News

"If (Hispanic students) came here (to the UA), they would feel by themselves" because there aren't a lot of Hispanics, said Prisma Martinez, who will start classes at NWACC this fall.

While the UA has promoted student diversity for years and Chancellor John A. White called diversity his top priority during the 2004 state of the university address, Hispanics are hearing a different message.

"The talk about diversity is all talk. Small talk is cheap," said Jorge Amaral, director of Reaching Educational Aspirations of Latinos, a program preparing Hispanic high school students for college. "They've got to put their money where there mouth is. The university needs to send a stronger message to the community -- that Hispanics are welcome here."

Amaral, in conversations with UA officials, offered suggestions on how to enroll more Hispanics.

"They know they need more scholarships; they need to be more aggressive with transfers; and they have to have someone at the higher level who is Hispanic. They're just not doing it."

Carmen Coustaut, UA associate vice chancellor for institutional diversity and education, said she wasn't able to comment on Hispanic involvement at the university. Jose Ricardo, a minority recruiter for UA, did not respond to several messages from The Morning News.

Charles Crowson, manager of UA media relations, however, confirmed the university doesn't have a specific goal for Hispanic enrollment but does have a plan to encourage diversity in general.

The Diversity Task Force did prepare a plan, specifying action the university should take between 2002 and 2005 to enhance and support diversity, Crowson said.

Many Hispanics come to NWACC to take advantage of the college's location, smaller campus and English as a second language classes, said Jim Hall, NWACC public relations director.

Members of Amaral's REAL group, who will be college freshmen this fall, say the community college is a better fit because it's cheaper and has only one admission requirement -- a high school diploma.

Barbara Gutierrez lived in the United States about three years before taking the ACT college entrance exam. She scored too low on the exam to be accepted at the university.

"The U of A didn't look at my English. I've been here three years. They don't understand." She was admitted to NWACC, where she has the option of taking intensive English classes.

"The ones that really want to be someone in life might go to NWACC then transfer," Gutierrez said about her plans to move on to a four-year university.

But Amaral said many students don't pursue education beyond NWACC.

"We're losing students at the community college because they don't end up transferring. They're missing out," Amaral said, adding the university should hire someone to recruit Hispanic transfer students.

The university and community college, however, are trying to prepare dozens of young Hispanics for college.

Without programs like REAL at the university and "Paso a Paso" (step by step) at the community college, students wouldn't know how to take advantage of the opportunity to go to college, Martinez said.

Martinez and Alejandra Aldaco, REAL students who enrolled at NWACC, say high schools and colleges should educate everyone, including Hispanics, about the process of applying, preparing and paying for college.

With less than 100 openings, the two college prep programs can only serve a fraction of the 8,599 Hispanic students enrolled in Rogers and Springdale school districts last year.

"Friends ask me, 'How do you apply for college?' They don't even know," Pecina said. The students that don't know how to get into college oftentimes don't end up going. "They don't think they could make it (in college), but some of them could," Pecina added.

"These kids have a great advantage -- being bilingual. Combined with an education, you can't go wrong," said Al "Papa Rap" Lopez, school community liaison for Springdale High School.

Hispanic high school graduates who enroll in college will be role models for future generations, Lopez said. "We have kids that are doing it. We have kids that are being successful," he said. "The community needs to tap into these kids, make them feel wanted, make sure they are being taken care of and make sure the money is there to go to college."

Ely Guerra moved to Springdale three years ago from El Salvador and has begun paving the way for her 2-year-old daughter to go to college. "I want her to go to Boston, to Harvard Law School," she said.

"Our moms fight for opportunities for us. We might as well take them," Gutierrez said. She will attend classes in a couple weeks, knowing that "College is a better way to have a better life."

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