Raíces y Alas – Hispanic Youth Symposium in the Western U.S.

The first Hispanic Youth Symposium in the Western U.S. with the theme Raíces y Alas (Roots and Wings) is scheduled this summer at California State University, Fresno.

The symposium was announced on Tuesday, March 1st by officials of the Hispanic College Fund and Fresno State at the César E. Chávez Monument on campus. The symposium Aug. 4-6 will host more than 150 Central California high school students from Fresno, Kings, Madera and Tulare counties. The event will encourage Hispanic youth to explore their roots of family, culture and community and develop “wings” to reach their potential through college education and career exploration, said George Cushman, executive director of the Hispanic Youth Symposium, a program of the Hispanic College Fund based in Washington D.C. Cushman was joined at today’s announcement in the Fresno State Peace Garden by Dr. John D. Welty, university president, and Fresno State alumna Theresa Speake, director of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Economic Impact and Diversity. Her office is a major sponsor.

Welty and Fred Ruiz, CEO of Ruiz Foods in Dinuba, are honorary co-chairpersons for the Fresno symposium, whose organizing committee is led by Edwin Luevanos, a Fresno State student, and Jim Oftedal with the U.S. Forest Service. Both have worked as symposium volunteers in Washington, D.C. Frances Pena, director of Fresno State’s University Outreach Services in the Division of Student Affairs, is the university liaison.

The three-day project is the third in the nation offered by the Hispanic College Fund, a private non-profit organization founded in 1993, which has supported the education of more than 3,000 financially disadvantaged Hispanic students seeking careers in business, science, engineering and technology with over $6 million in grants.

The mission of the symposium is to create a pathway to success for Hispanic high school students by connecting them to the public and private sectors and nonprofit organizations, Cushman said. “By stressing academic achievement, community service and personal responsibility, the Youth Symposium coordinates multifaceted workshops, seminars, networking and mentoring opportunities focusing on building an infrastructure for future success,” he said. “Students compete for leadership, essay writing, speech, art and talent scholarships and will receive a certificate at the conclusion of the program.”

Welty said that with Latinos composing 44 percent of the Fresno County population, Fresno State is a logical choice for the program, especially with the university’s success in serving the Latino community. Fresno State’s student body is nearly 35 percent Latino with 5,996 enrolled – the highest figure in the past five years. The university is annually rated by Hispanic Outlook among the nation’s Top 100 Colleges Awarding Degrees to Hispanics, registering No.17 in 2003-04 with 784 degrees.

“We welcome the valuable opportunity this project provides for Hispanic youth in the region especially as it will help them become familiar with the process to gain access to a higher education,” Welty said. “We are equally proud to showcase our excellent academic programs and services that have helped Fresno State consistently rank as one of the top Hispanic-serving Institutions in the nation.”

Ruiz, a founder of the Hispanic College Fund, is particularly pleased to see the Hispanic Youth Symposium in California, saying, “We have a pending crisis in California, and the Central Valley is a focal point. Half of our state’s population is Latino, yet Latinos represent only about a quarter of our college enrollment. We must increase the number of Latinos in college for a strong California in the future.”

Speake said the supporting nonprofit organizations, corporations and federal agencies provide an environment of support for young Hispanics who could become ideal candidates for internships or other hiring programs in a few years. ”Students will learn from role models how to, in turn, become role models in their communities,” she said. “As a major sponsor, we see this as a way of connecting the important science and technology mission of the Department with the young people from the Valley,” Speake said. “Once these students get into college, they will discover internship and scholarship opportunities and, eventually, job opportunities at DOE.”

For the past two years, the Forest Service has been involved in youth symposia in Washington, D.C. and Baltimore. “We are proud to help bring this unique program to Fresno,” said Ed Cole, Sierra National Forest supervisor. “Through this partnership we will be helping the youth of our community continue their education and learn about opportunities with the Forest Service.”

Luevanos, who was instrumental in bringing the project to Fresno State, noted that the Chávez monument was the ideal place to introduce it and the concept of roots and wings. Chávez, who is memorialized in a bronze statue of him overlooking fields and holding out a diploma, championed education. One of two inscriptions on the Chávez statue reads:

“The end of education should surely be service to others. We cannot seek achievement for ourselves and forget about the progress and prosperity for our community. Our ambitions must be broad enough to include the aspirations and needs of others for their sake and for our own.” “The quote by César on his monument is the seed for what the Hispanic Youth Symposium stands for: college, community, career,” said Luevanos, a political science major who plans to graduate from Fresno State in May.

The Hispanic College Fund also will hold Hispanic Youth Symposium events in July at Marymount University in Virginia and the University of Maryland, Baltimore County Campus. Information about the Fresno symposium and the program schedule are available at http://www.hispanicyouth.org, including student applications and volunteer opportunities or contact Luevanos or Oftedal at 559.292.0104.