Conference
focuses on Latino retention
By Daniel Frias
On-line Forty-Niner
Latino
students have one of the lowest admission,
retention and graduation rates on the Cal
State Long Beach campus, as well as statewide.
The Chicano and Latino Studies Student Association
along with the Chicano and Latino studies
department held the 2nd annual “Latinos
in Higher Education Conference: Strategies
for Latino Success” in the USU Ballrooms
Tuesday to address the issue.
“We put this event on for a couple of reasons,”
said Juan M. Benitez, an associate professor
of Chicano and Latino studies at CSULB.
“One of which is to address the issue of
low Latino admission, graduation and retention
rates.
We need to make people aware and identify
problems so we can begin to develop some
strategies to address these problems.”
The all-day conference featured two sessions
of workshops that focused on issues on campus
and in the Latino community, overcoming
obstacles at the university, resources on
campus, developing techniques for handling
stress, time and money management, and admissions
and enrollment management issues.
Faculty and staff from the Chicano and Latino
studies department conducted all of the
workshops. One of the workshops held was
“How to handle everyday challenges” facilitated
by Rosa Moreno-Alcaraz, psychologist for
Counseling and Psychological Services at
CSULB.
“One of the challenges Latinos face is lack
of parent support,” said Moreno-Alcaraz
in her lecture. “It’s not that they don’t
support you. It’s more that most of them
don’t know what the experience is like and
how to relate to it.”
Alcaraz gave students several tips on how
to deal with the everyday stress caused
by school and other activities. She encouraged
students to establish a planner in order
to prioritize and make time to study. She
also suggested for them to do a relaxation
exercise to help them relax whenever they
felt overwhelmed by school or work.
“I really liked the stress management workshop,”
said Yessenia Kuintero, a CSULB senior criminal
justice and Chicano and Latino studies major.
“[The facilitator gave] really good tips
for students especially with everything
that goes on in their lives.”
The conference was split up into two sessions
with a morning session followed by one after
lunch. Book scholarships were raffled off
and given out at the end of the conference
to students who stayed for the entire conference.
There was over 300 hundred students who
attended the conference throughout the day.
“The conference is really needed because
it helps Latino students form strategies
for success,” said Moreno-Alcaraz. “A lot
of Latinos don’t get that from their family
or were never taught this in high school.
There’s a need for the university to provide
them with this. It’s our job to provide
them with support to help them fulfill their
dreams.”
Several Latino students with the help of
the Chicano and Latino studies department
put the first conference together last year
and they hope to continue to make it a yearly
event.
“Last year was our first year and we’re
doing the conference annually because of
the high Latino drop out rate,” said Juan
Jose Madrigal, a CSULB student and president
of Chicano Latino Students Association.
“[Retention is] not just a Latino issue.
This concerns all students and the campus.
When one group does not do well it affects
the entire university,” Benitez said.
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