To fulfill its mission as a research and teaching institution, the University of Kansas must be representative of the people it serves. We seek and welcome students of all backgrounds because they help us create a rich learning environment.
The current KU student body is the most diverse on record, with 12.7 percent of our students representing minority groups. That’s encouraging, but we must continue to enhance the diversity of KU because it is our mission to serve the population of Kansas – a population that is growing more diverse every year.
The Latino population of Kansas, in particular, has seen significant growth, increasing nearly 300 percent since 1980. This population is also younger, with 37 percent of Latinos in Kansas being under age 18, compared with only 25 percent of the overall state population.
Our mission calls us to reach out to these Kansans. An important beginning is the creation of the Latino Vision Council.
This council brings together leaders from around our state to help guide KU as it reaches out to prospective students, their families and the rest of the Latino community. We seek to encourage all Latino students to pursue higher education, especially those who would be first-generation college students. We are asking the Latino Vision Council to assist KU in reaching out to these students.
Creation of the council was spearheaded by Liliana Merubia, senior assistant to the provost. She has traveled throughout Kansas, meeting with leaders in the Latino community, seeking their input and guidance on how KU can best serve Latino youth.
Liliana has recruited respected community members to serve on the council and met with community college leaders, forming a strong relationship between KU and those institutions that serve large numbers of Latinos.
She’s been joined in this effort by Danny Anderson, vice provost for academic affairs, and by KU graduate student Evelia Sandoval, who has been helping coordinate outreach for the Provost’s Office.
Danny, whose area of study includes Spanish and Mexican literature, last week traveled to Garden City and Dodge City. There he met with local Latino leaders and community college officials, as well as local students, seeking input and discussing KU’s commitment to the Latino community.
Later this week, Danny and I will travel to Liberal for additional meetings and conversations. We’ll be joined by Ben Fuentes, who is vice president of KU’s Hispanic American Leadership Organization and Juan Izaguirre, the KU staff sponsor for HALO. The more than 1,000 Latino students already enrolled at KU are an important part of this overall effort.
The work of the Latino Vision Council has led to the publication of a new bilingual student recruitment booklet, as well as the translation of financial aid materials into Spanish. Additional portions of the KU Web site will be translated into Spanish as well.
The mission of the Latino Vision Council will not be accomplished overnight. Just as with all aspects of our drive for diversity, this work must be ongoing. But it also must happen if KU is to be truly representative of the state it was created to serve and if it will continue to be the forward-looking institution we all wish it to be.
Sincerely,
Richard Lariviere
Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor
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