UCLA has opened a new resource center for its diverse community, “a place where students feel (at) home.”
Officials celebrated the opening of the new Latinx Success Center at UCLA on March 31, César Chávez Day.
The university, which boasts around 24.2% Latino undergraduate students, has been making efforts to become a Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI), officials said. In an HSI task force report, UCLA has “yet to achieve equity in representation and reflect the cultural diversity of California.”
Latinx community members make up 53% of high school graduates, nearly half of community college enrollments, and about 40% of all Californians, the report said.
UCLA aims to join other equitable University of California (UC) campuses that are also research-intensive, federal HSIs, officials said — by improving and diversifying enrollment efforts, closing equity gaps and pushing for more graduates. The goal was set in 2020 by then-Chancellor Gene Block.
In 2022, UC President Michael Drake expressed his priority all UC schools to earn dual minority-serving designations, as HSIs, Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-Serving (AANAPISI) Institutions. UCLA earned the AANAPISI designation during the last school year.
“As a member of the Oaxacan and indigenous community on campus, students like myself face complex barriers in higher education, such as overcoming systemic exclusion and navigating spaces where our culture is rarely recognized,” said Diego Emilio Bollo, a third-year labor studies and political science major. “Students believe this center can represent a commitment to acknowledging and celebrating our diversity.”
The new Latinx Success Center is part of the school’s commitment to ensure all Latino, first-generation and low-income Bruins can reach their highest potential, said Claudia Salcedo, the assistant vice provost for academic partnerships, in a news release. It will serve as a campus hub focused on improving student achievement and experiences, and promote culturally responsive services for students and faculty.
Joining UCLA’s Chicano Studies Research Center and the César Chávez Department of Chicana/o and Central American Studies — both founded through community efforts — the new Latinx Success Center will offer academic mentoring, advising and leadership programs, among others. The space also includes study areas and a stocked pantry with cultural foods.
An unveiling celebration on Monday included special remarks and live performances from Las Cafeteras, Mariachi de Uclatlán and Danza Azteca Tonatiuh. Arlene Cano Matute, co-chair of the UC HSI Advisory Board, was named as the center’s inaugural Executive Director.
“It is critical that UCLA be a place of belonging — a place where everyone is valued, and everyone adds value. The opening of this center is part of our commitment to fostering an inclusive and supportive environment where all students can thrive,” said Julio Frenk, UCLA’s first Latino chancellor.
Elizabeth Gonzalez, the inaugural director of UCLA’s HSI Initiative, hopes the center “will show the community they belong at UCLA — and that UCLA is not just in Los Angeles, but of Los Angeles.”