“It feels good to be honored and it speaks to the effort everybody put in to an organization that is really having an impact,” said Gisella Garay, who served as president of Sigma Delta Pi in 2016-17 before graduating with a master’s degree in Spanish last May.

Sigma Delta Pi was founded at UC Berkeley in 1919 and is the only honor society devoted exclusively to students studying Spanish in four-year colleges and universities. It offers scholarship programs for undergraduates, yearly research grants for graduate students, and lifelong networking opportunities for all. CSUSM’s Psi Epsilon was honored with the Ignacio and Sophie Galbis Award, presented each year to a chapter excelling in programming and activities that further the group’s purposes.

During the 2016-17 academic year, Psi Epsilon organized a Spanish poetry recital that attracted scores of students to hear professors and teaching associates present their works, a Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) celebration and workshop, an International Women’s Day exhibition honoring Latinas who influenced the Latino-American world with their achievements, a tutoring marathon to help students prepare for their finals, an end-of-the-semester bash, and more.

Psi Epsilon members visited virtually every Spanish classroom at CSUSM seeking new recruits. The result: a chapter that had a little more than a dozen members just two years ago now has more than 50.

“It’s important to maintain a presence and let the campus community know that we’re here,” said Diego Lecca, a native of Peru who is earning his master’s degree in Spanish literature and who took over as Psi Epsilon president after Garay graduated. “We’re hoping to build on the momentum and have an even stronger presence this year.”

Meléndrez, honored with the Minaya Álvar Fáñez Award recognizing a chapter adviser for exemplary initiative in encouraging and assisting with chapter activities, said her recognition is a byproduct of what Psi Epsilon accomplished.

“This is about a group of hard-working, dedicated students who are developing outstanding leadership and public speaking skills, about being proud of your language and your culture,” Meléndrez said. “It is not about me. I tell them, ‘If you are willing to work hard, I will help you, but it’s up to you. You are the ones who have to put in the work.’ And they are the ones who did the work, not me.”

Lecca said Psi Epsilon already is on track to expand upon the advancements the honor society made last year, and the results have been positive. Nearly a dozen new members have pledged to join the CSUSM chapter, which is receiving an abundance of support from faculty and staff, and Psi Epsilon leadership is planning at least five events – including another Día de los Muertos – in the coming months. In addition, Meléndrez said the group is aiming to send a pair of CSUSM students to a Sigma Delta Pi conference in Spain next year to hone strategies at developing innovative programs.

“We’re working hard to be as active as we can,” Meléndrez said.

The project, Cultivando Liderazgo (Nurturing Leadership), is funded by a grant from the Corporation for National and Community Service, a federal agency that helps millions of Americans improve the lives of their fellow citizens through programs such as AmeriCorps. The grant was initially awarded in the amount of $852,201, but the Corporation for National and Community Service recently contributed an additional $100,000 for the second year of the project, bumping the total amount to almost $1 million.

Cultivando Liderazgo evolved from Universidad Popular, or People’s University, in which CSUSM students and professors led seminars at libraries and community centers on topics ranging from the importance of education to Chicano history and culture. Interest spiked when Universidad Popular tackled the subject of Latino civic engagement. That’s when Arcela Nuñez­-Alvárez, research director at the National Latino Research Center, and Marisol Clark­-Ibáñez, a CSUSM sociology professor and faculty director at the National Latino Research Center, decided to expand their effort to include a study measuring the impact the civic engagement courses were having.

Cultivando Liderazgo was born. The effort is aimed at identifying barriers keeping Latinos from civic participation and determining the most effective methods to overcome those barriers, while also providing educational seminars to increase engagement.

More than 200 people have since taken part in Cultivando Liderazgo’s eight-week class for low-income, Spanish-speaking residents that scholars say is similar to a crash course in Civics 101. Participants are tested on their knowledge about government affairs before taking the class, tested again immediately after taking the class, and then tested once more three months later to gauge how much they have retained and to understand how their civic participation has been impacted.

“We’re hoping to see a transformation where people who have traditionally been marginalized will become more engaged and have a greater voice in civic affairs,” Clark­-Ibáñez said.

Hundreds of residents taking part in and supporting Cultivando Liderazgo will celebrate first-year milestones at a Nov. 17 gala at Centro Civico Universidad Popular in Vista. Special guests include Asim Mishra, chief of staff at the Corporation for National and Community Service; Mary Hyde, director of research and evaluation at the Corporation for National and Community Service; and Andrea Robles, the organization’s research analyst. All will be brought up to speed on the project’s progress.

“On this night, we will honor hundreds of Latino families, youth and elders, who have demonstrated exemplary commitment to civic engagement and community service,” Clark­-Ibáñez said. “They volunteered thousands of hours helping people in schools, libraries, community centers, churches, food banks, senior centers, jails and prisons, and community gardens.”

Cultivando Liderazgo comes during sustained growth in the local Latino population, as the number of Latinos calling San Diego County home has increased steadily over the years to more than one in three residents, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

“Community participation in civic leadership for Latinos is especially relevant in San Diego County given that civic engagement among Latinos lags far behind their white, Asian and African-American counterparts both in California and nationally,” Nuñez­-Alvárez said when the project was launched. “Although individual experiences that motivate civic engagement are well­ documented, research on factors such as age, educational background, socio­economic status, familial upbringing, cultural context and geographic locale, which are also related to civic engagement, have not been studied empirically.”

The project, Cultivando Liderazgo (Nurturing Leadership), was launched through a partnership led by CSUSM and the CSUSM-based National Latino Research Center. The federal Corporation for National and Community Service is providing nearly $1 million for the three-year project, which includes $100,000 that was recently awarded for photo documentation and an oral history project on how Latinos are civically engaged in non-traditional ways.

Cultivando Liderazgo is aimed at uncovering how Latinos engage in civic society, identifying barriers keeping Latinos from civic participation, and determining the most effective methods to overcome those barriers. Educational seminars to increase engagement is a key component of the effort, and more than 200 community members so far have enrolled in an eight-week civics course for low-income, Spanish-speaking residents.

The Nov. 17 gala begins with a 5 p.m. reception at Centro Cívico Universidad Popular, 1234 N. Santa Fe Ave., in Vista. Dinner and the program begin at 6:30. Guests must register through this link by Nov. 11.

Special guests include Asim Mishra, chief of staff at the Corporation for National and Community Service; Mary Hyde, director of research and evaluation at the Corporation for National and Community Service; and Andrea Robles, the organization’s research analyst. Also on hand will be Arcela Nuñez-Alvárez, research director at the National Latino Research Center, and Marisol Clark-Ibáñez, a CSUSM sociology professor and faculty director at the National Latino Research Center.

Cultivando Liderazgo evolved from Universidad Popular, or the People’s University, in which CSUSM students and professors led seminars at libraries and community centers on topics ranging from the importance of education to Chicano history and culture. Interest spiked when Universidad Popular tackled the subject of Latino civic engagement, and Cultivando Liderazgo was born.

About California State University San Marcos 

Building on an innovative 26-year history, California State University San Marcos is a forward-focused institution, dedicated to preparing future leaders, building great communities and solving critical issues. Located on a 304-acre hillside overlooking the City of San Marcos, it is the only public four-year comprehensive university serving North San Diego, Southwest Riverside and South Orange Counties.

The University enrolls over 15,000 students. With approximately 2,000 employees, the institution is a Great College to Work For® (The Chronicle of Higher Education). As a recipient of the annual HEED Award since 2014—a national honor recognizing U.S. colleges and universities that demonstrate an outstanding commitment to diversity and inclusion—CSUSM is committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment.

Dedicated Sept. 17, 2015, the Latin@ Center was envisioned as a resource-rich enclave in the University Student Union to foster academic achievement, promote greater awareness of Latino/Latina issues, promote workshops and discussions, and offer the services of peer coaches to provide guidance.

Mission accomplished.

“Opening the doors to a space that gives dignity and cultural validation to our Latin@/Latinx scholars has exceeded the expectations of the original vision for the center,” said Latin@ Center Director Maria Mendoza-Bautista. “I have been given a precious gift in this lifetime to work with an extraordinary group of students and who have given valuable feedback to make the Latin@ Center their home away from home, a space that is inclusive and promotes cross-cultural collaboration. Every corner of the center permeates the spirit of our community and the roots of Latin@ culture; from indigenous roots to contemporary influences and heroes/sheroes of our time. This space represents the daily struggle of our community in America, to never take for granted what our immigrant parents came to this country to do, to work hard and give their children a better life.”

For Mendoza-Bautista, the 1,200-square-foot Latin@ Center with computers, printers, and free green books and scantrons is a far cry from what she found when she arrived as an undergraduate student at San Jose State University after transferring from Long Beach City College. Support services for Latinos and Latinas were hardly bountiful in those days.

“We had a small area tucked away on the last floor of the university library, basically two shelves, dedicated to Chicano/Latino literature,” she said.

Today, Latinos are enrolling in colleges and universities in record numbers, making support services such as the Latin@ Center as vital as ever. At CSUSM, which has been designated as a Hispanic Serving Institution, Latinos constitute 40 percent of the student population.

However, according to The State of Higher Education in California – Latino Report published in the spring of 2015, too many Latinos at campuses across the country lack access to the resources that can help them succeed. The result: in the CSU system, the four-year graduation rate divide between white and Latino students has almost doubled from an 8.5-point gap for the freshman cohort enrolling in 1998 to a 15.4-point gap for the cohort enrolling in 2007, the report found.

Deyanira “Deya” Hernandez, who was the first peer coach hired at the center, is among the program’s biggest fans.

“It’s a safe, comfortable place for students to come in and talk to someone about whatever might be on their mind,” she said. “A place where students are able to have a voice. A place where students can come and talk to a peer mentor and have access to a number of resources.”

Hernandez said the Latin@ Center underscores CSUSM’s commitment to inclusion.

“Cal State San Marcos has done a wonderful job in terms of diversity,” she said. “You see people with backgrounds from everywhere. This is a campus that definitely gives an opportunity for minorities to get a quality education.”

Brenda Diaz, a senior majoring in kinesiology who has worked as a peer coach since the Latin@ Center opened, said she is getting as much out of the facility as anyone she is helping. Her job has provided her with the valuable “soft skills” such as leadership and ability to work with others that employers often complain are lacking in today’s college graduates.

“It’s had a huge impact on me,” she said. “It’s provided me with a place to focus on school, a safe haven, a place for familia. College can be a struggle sometimes, and having a center that can inspire you is invaluable.”

Comments from 530 students surveyed who were asked how the Latin@ Center impacted them this first year include: “The Center has helped me be more positive about the my semester and the environment within the center has helped me believe I can do it when I feel like giving up;” “Has given me the necessary resources to succeed in my classes;” “It has helped me with finding a safe spot to do work and feel comfortable;” and “It provided me a place where I felt at home & could relax while still being able to complete my work.”

Most popular resources used were the study area, printing services, lounge area, and scantrons and green books. What’s more, nearly 60 percent of students who responded said they stayed on campus longer because of their visits to the Latin@ Center.

The Latin@ Center is not restricted to Hispanic students. Everybody is welcome. On average, up to 120 students visit per day and up to 2,100 people visit monthly when K-12 students and those from community groups are included.

“We get a wide variety of people from different cultures who drop in,” said Javier Jara, a junior studying history who has been working as a peer coach at the center since it opened. “A lot of people come in with their friends, feel at home and keep coming back. It’s a place where people can have a home away from home.”