Clarisa Hernandez December 3, 2013 Final Paper The Growth of the Latino/Hispanic Population being represented by the Southern

Universities that are looking forward to expand their Campus Diversity

By the year 2020, minority students will account for 45 percent of the nations public highschool graduates, up from 38 percent in 2009. In short, the number of white and black graduates will decline, and the number of and Asian-American/pacific islander graduates will rise significantly (Hoover, 1).

Why is there an underrepresentation of Hispanic students in higher level educational institutions with such a high population? According to the statistics the number of Latinos in the United States has increased drastically. The U.S. News states that the U.S. Hispanic population surged 43%, rising to 50.5 million in 2010 from 35.4 million in 2000. Latinos now constitute 16% of the nations total population of 308.7 million (Reddy1). In other words the Latino population is constantly growing, and with this growth there should be a progressive growth within colleges and the number of diplomas being obtained by Hispanic students, yet thats not the case. Therefore, this paper will focus on the number of Hispanic students enhancing their education by attending college as their post-secondary option in southern colleges.

Due to the underrepresentation of Hispanic students, southern state universities have taken the lead to welcome and recruit Hispanic students into their community. I was one of those students from a southern state, more specifically Georgia, who was exposed to Emory University as a community that wanted and needed me to become a part of their community. It all started with an online registration that would expose me to the admissions team as well as the campus of Emory University. The registration was for an event called Exito Emory. This event was sponsored by the admissions office of Emory, specifically for Hispanic students. During the event the students are exposed to the application process, financial aid resources, and the community of Emory University. Within this event, I was able to introduce myself to the admissions officers who would be reviewing my application. This was a great opportunity for me because now they would be able to put a face to an application instead of just having an application on paper. Also during this event I was able to meet a group of Hispanic students that were proud of their roots and proud of their organization known as The Latino Student Organization at Emory University. As soon as we crossed words, I knew they were the family that I wanted to join as soon as I became an Emory Student. They were full of energy and words of advice that motivated me to continue to fight for my roots. No doubt in my mindI was going to become a part of the organization. It had been a long dayWednesday September 18, 2013. It was 9:00 p.m. and I was rushing back to my dorm from my chemistry lab to change into a nice black dress and a nice business suit that would give me a professional look. I had less than 20 minutes to change and fix my hair and head out to the fishbowl at the Cox where my interview would be held. The interview that would change my whole freshman experience at Emory. I would be sitting in front of the Latino Student Organization board members, explaining why I should be the Freshman

Liaison of their organization. Walking in and sitting down was the most nerve-wracking moment of my life. I wanted this position more than anything else. The questions started and all the answers flowed out of my mouth naturally. My inner passion was answering all the questions. Once the interview was over, I returned to my dorm and prayed that I would get an email confirming my acceptance into the organization. Time passed by, and I didnt hear anything from them as I laid myself to sleep my phone ringed. I had received an email, it was from the Latino student organization Congratulations, you have been chosen to be the freshman liaison. I was astonished and speechless. I remember the only thing I could do was my happy dance! This organization has opened up my eyes to a family that motivated Hispanic students to graduate from high school, pursue a post-secondary option in college, and not only attend college but graduate college with a degree in their area of interest. The overall goal of our organization is to recruit all of the Latino students at Emory and make them feel welcome and increase the Latino representation here at the Emory Campus. We are a family, helping each other achieve success. Not only is Emory encouraging Latino/Hispanic students to attend college, but there are other southern colleges that understand the importance of the Latino population growing within their campus, such as: Central Connecticut State University, Eastern Connecticut State University, Southern Connecticut State University, and Western Connecticut State University. This doesnt stop there, there has been an increase of more than 700 students of 34%, in Hispanic students attending the Connecticut State University System between 2007 and 2010 (Admin). As we can see this other southern University has also been impacted by the dramatic

growth in the Hispanic population within the United States. The result has been positive. Now the southern universities have a larger diversity. The increasing population of Latinos in the United States has had a positive perspective within southern universities. These colleges are accepting of the growth and understand that its important to incorporate them within their community in order to move forward and adapt to the change that doesnt have an end. Its an adaptation process that has had an incredible outcome, both for the Latino students looking to pursue college after high school, and the colleges that are looking forward to expand their diversity.

Bibliography
1. Admin, Analeh. U.S. Census Data Reflects Changing Demographics in Connecticut;

Central, Easter, Southern, Western Are Responding. EL SHOW DE ANALEH. 13 Jan. 2013.18 Nov. 2013 <http://analehshow.com/u-s-census-data-reflects-changingdemographics-in-connecticut-central-eastern-southern-western-are-responding/> 2. Hoover, Eric. Minority Applicants to Colleges Will Rise Significantly by 2020. The

Chronicle of Higher Education. 10 Jan. 2013.18 Nov. 2013 <http://chronicle.com/article/Wave-of-Diverse-College/136603/>