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    10 reasons to feel proud this Hispanic Heritage Month

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    Muralist from Southwest Detroit Receives Prestigious Kresge Artist Fellowship

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    Approximately 1,200 people Shouted ¡Viva México! in Mexicantown, Detroit

    Approximately 1,200 people Shouted ¡Viva México! in Mexicantown, Detroit

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EL CENTRAL Hispanic News
  • Home
  • About
    • Introducing the partnership with the Race and Justice reporting Initiative
  • Español
    Approximately 1,200 people Shouted ¡Viva México! in Mexicantown, Detroit

    Approximately 1,200 people Shouted ¡Viva México! in Mexicantown, Detroit

    10 reasons to feel proud this Hispanic Heritage Month

    10 reasons to feel proud this Hispanic Heritage Month

    Chicano Fest: Celebrating History and Brown Pride

    Chicano Fest: Celebrating History and Brown Pride

    Southwest Detroit Organizations Launch ‘Building a Healthy Future’ Campaign

    Southwest Detroit Organizations Launch ‘Building a Healthy Future’ Campaign

    El Chinchorreo: Detroit’s Day Under the Caribbean Sun

    El Chinchorreo: Detroit’s Day Under the Caribbean Sun

    Muralist from Southwest Detroit Receives Prestigious Kresge Artist Fellowship

    Muralist from Southwest Detroit Receives Prestigious Kresge Artist Fellowship

    Small Businesses Remain Bullish Despite Economic and Labor Concerns

    Sixto Diaz Rodriguez, Once Called a Man of Mystery, Leaves Behind a Prolific Legacy

    Sixto Diaz Rodriguez, Once Called a Man of Mystery, Leaves Behind a Prolific Legacy

    Teens engaged in activism become better critical thinkers, U-M study finds

    Teens engaged in activism become better critical thinkers, U-M study finds

  • Community
    State’s First Historical Marker Honoring Mexican Community to be Placed in Southwest Detroit September 29

    State’s First Historical Marker Honoring Mexican Community to be Placed in Southwest Detroit September 29

    Vince Murray, Godfather of Stanton Park, Honored

    The Godfrey Hotel Detroit & I/O Rooftop Lounge Opens

    The Godfrey Hotel Detroit & I/O Rooftop Lounge Opens

    Michigan Carpenters and Millwrights Unveil Schools to Tools Mobile Field Trip Trailer at Labor Day Event

    Michigan Carpenters and Millwrights Unveil Schools to Tools Mobile Field Trip Trailer at Labor Day Event

    Southwest Detroit Organizations Launch ‘Building a Healthy Future’ Campaign

    Southwest Detroit Organizations Launch ‘Building a Healthy Future’ Campaign

    Final Steps in Gordie Howe International Bridge Tower Construction Underway

    Final Steps in Gordie Howe International Bridge Tower Construction Underway

    Engaging Detroit:  Rep. Rashida Tlaib creates Youth Civic Engagement Fellowship

    Engaging Detroit: Rep. Rashida Tlaib creates Youth Civic Engagement Fellowship

    Copa Motor City Raises Nearly $10,000 for Clark Park Coalition in 8th Annual Soccer Tournament

    Copa Motor City Raises Nearly $10,000 for Clark Park Coalition in 8th Annual Soccer Tournament

    El Chinchorreo: Detroit’s Day Under the Caribbean Sun

    El Chinchorreo: Detroit’s Day Under the Caribbean Sun

  • Featured
    10 reasons to feel proud this Hispanic Heritage Month

    10 reasons to feel proud this Hispanic Heritage Month

    Chicano Fest: Celebrating History and Brown Pride

    Chicano Fest: Celebrating History and Brown Pride

    Muralist from Southwest Detroit Receives Prestigious Kresge Artist Fellowship

    Muralist from Southwest Detroit Receives Prestigious Kresge Artist Fellowship

    Sixto Diaz Rodriguez, Once Called a Man of Mystery, Leaves Behind a Prolific Legacy

    Sixto Diaz Rodriguez, Once Called a Man of Mystery, Leaves Behind a Prolific Legacy

    Your Guide to a Career in Green Mobility in Detroit

    Your Guide to a Career in Green Mobility in Detroit

    MANA de Metro Detroit Annual Brindis Luncheon Celebrates and Supports Area Latinas

    MANA de Metro Detroit Annual Brindis Luncheon Celebrates and Supports Area Latinas

    Southwest Detroit and Mexicantown –

    Southwest Detroit and Mexicantown –

    Beautifully Revamped Roosevelt Park Unites Corktown and Mexicantown

    Beautifully Revamped Roosevelt Park Unites Corktown and Mexicantown

    Renovations Transform Clark Park into First Class Neighborhood Recreation Hub

    Renovations Transform Clark Park into First Class Neighborhood Recreation Hub

  • Culture & Arts
    Approximately 1,200 people Shouted ¡Viva México! in Mexicantown, Detroit

    Approximately 1,200 people Shouted ¡Viva México! in Mexicantown, Detroit

    Beyond Fashion: Mexican Indigenous Clothing has become a symbol of Resistance and Identity

    Beyond Fashion: Mexican Indigenous Clothing has become a symbol of Resistance and Identity

    Chicano Spirit Celebrated at Third Annual Festival

    Chicano Spirit Celebrated at Third Annual Festival

    Chicano Fest: Celebrating History and Brown Pride

    Chicano Fest: Celebrating History and Brown Pride

    Amanda Almanzar in 4 Daughters Minus 1, 2000 A.D.

    Amanda Almanzar in 4 Daughters Minus 1, 2000 A.D.

    El Chinchorreo: Detroit’s Day Under the Caribbean Sun

    El Chinchorreo: Detroit’s Day Under the Caribbean Sun

    El Chinchorreo!

    El Chinchorreo!

    NALAC Announces Open Call for the 2024 NALAC Fund for the Arts (NFA) Grant Program

    NALAC Announces Open Call for the 2024 NALAC Fund for the Arts (NFA) Grant Program

    Muralist from Southwest Detroit Receives Prestigious Kresge Artist Fellowship

    Muralist from Southwest Detroit Receives Prestigious Kresge Artist Fellowship

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More than 50 Years Later, Wayne State University Center for Latino/a and Latin American Studies Continues to Graduate Leaders in Detroit and Beyond

EL CENTRAL by EL CENTRAL
June 22, 2023
in Community, Education
Reading Time: 7 mins read
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In the fall of 1971, members of the Detroit Hispanic community, organizing through Latin Americans for Social and Economic Development (LA SED), launched a program with the goal of giving young people from Southwest Detroit and surrounding neighborhoods leadership training and access to a college education. The Latino en Marcha Leadership Development Training Program (later renamed the Chicano-Boricua Studies Program) was conceived by community leaders in partnership with educational experts, many from Wayne State University, and funded by New Detroit, Inc., an organization created to address challenges faced by Detroiters after the 1967 civil unrest. Fifty students enrolled in the program, taking classes at Wayne State and working on community-focused research projects.

Over a half century later, the Center for Latino/a and Latin American Studies (CLLAS) at Wayne State University, born from Latino en Marcha, continues to honor the legacy of its founders by graduating students ready to address the through careers in various disciplines. It does this by providing underrepresented students with access to higher education, courses in Latino/a and Latin American studies and leadership development opportunities.

Wayne State University El Nuevo Comienzo Class of 2023. This Latina/o/x and Native Student Graduation Celebration is hosted by the Center for Latino/a and Latin American Studies (CLLAS) in partnership with other units across campus.
Wayne State University El Nuevo Comienzo Class of 2023. This Latina/o/x and Native Student Graduation Celebration is hosted by the Center for Latino/a and Latin American Studies (CLLAS) in partnership with other units across campus.

This May, CLLAS saw a record number of students graduating and participating in its annual Nuevo Comienzo Latina/o/x and Native Student Graduation Celebration event. Many of the 71 participants were CLLAS alumni who had returned to Wayne State to earn graduate degrees. Among them were Southwest Detroit natives Daniela Silva Tilson and Vanessa Reynolds, both of whom graduated this May with a doctor of education (Ed.D.). Silva Tilson teaches high school math and spends her summers working with CLLAS to prepare incoming college students for the rigors of university math courses. Reynolds is a counselor with Wayne State University Office of Undergraduate Admissions and works closely with high schools in Southwest Detroit and Downriver communities to ensure that all students have access to the same life-changing opportunities that she had.

Also earning graduate degrees from Wayne State this year were CLLAS alumni Jorge Lopez (MS, Manufacturing Engineering), Gabrielle Lopez (M.B.A., Finance; Entrepreneurship & Innovation), Luis Chapa (M.S., Mechanical Engineering); Noribeth Mariscal (M.S., Civil Engineering) and Nathan Chavez (M.Ed., Learning Design and Technology).

In the past few years, CLLAS has made big strides in helping Latino/a students at Wayne State earn a college degree (note: while CLLAS programs are open to students of all backgrounds, 97%of participants identify as Latino/a or Hispanic). From 2015 to 2022, 170 CLLAS students graduated with their bachelor’s. Most recently, 40% of first-time college students from its 2019 cohort graduated in four years or less, an impressive and promising figure. The latest data showsthat 88 percent of CLLAS students are the first in their families to attend college and more than 75 percent graduated from a high school in Detroit.

anessa Reynolds, (Ed.D.) proudly surrounded by her husband, children, parents, siblings, grandmother and other extended family members.
anessa Reynolds, (Ed.D.) proudly surrounded by her husband, children, parents, siblings, grandmother and other extended family members.

The areas of study of CLLAS undergraduates earning degrees span the broad range of majors atthe university and include Abril Ayala-Rodriguez, a Cesar Chavez Academy High School alumna who earned a B.S. in Marketing and will be working in renewal energy at DTE Energy; Sergio Muñoz, a graduate of Western International High School who earned a B.S. in Global Supply Chain Management and works for Boeing; Emily Jaramillo, also of Western International, who earned a B.F.A., works as an aide to Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson and aspires to open a coffee shop in Southwest Detroit; and students who will be entering law, medical and other graduate school programs.

“Our students and graduates continue to follow in the footsteps of our pioneering alumni of the early 1970s,” states Micheline Silva, LLMSW, an academic advisor at CLLAS and coordinator of itsCollege to Career Program. Silva, who graduated from Wayne State with a degree in Psychology and later earned an MSW from the University of Michigan, participated in CLLAS as an undergraduate student and serving as student speaker at the same graduation celebration that she now oversees. “After the hard work and sacrifices, coming together to celebrate is like receiving a bendición from our community, elders and ancestors who made this moment possible.”

Abril Ayala-Rodriguez (B.S., Marketing) served as a student speaker.
Abril Ayala-Rodriguez (B.S., Marketing) served as a student speaker.

CLLAS faculty and staff point to increased support from the Wayne State administration as well as community and corporate partners as a major contributor to the rise in the number of students graduating. “We know what works and employ best practices to meet our students’ needs,” states Melissa Miranda-Morse, CLLAS Assistant Director. “For example, taking summer courses to catch up or get ahead on credit requirements, welcoming parents and families to connect with us, and cultivating and strengthening partnerships across campus and the external community.”

CLLAS students have access to advising, research and career opportunities, and direct liaisons to many offices on campus. Advisors and mentors work hard to develop strong bonds with each student; bonds that often last beyond graduation. “Our alumni serve as instructors, professional mentors, ambassadors and advocates. They are proud of the center and very devoted,” adds Miranda-Morse.

More than 2,500 students have participated in CLLAS (Latino en Marcha/Chicano-Boricua Studies) since 1971. The newest cohort of students is scheduled to begin classes on June 26, justdays after completing high school. They will undergo an intensive eight-week accelerated program (sponsored by DTE Energy Foundation) prior to matriculating as full-time college students in the fall. 

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