“Growing up in El Paso I never had any problem finding my place as the daughter of immigrants in a border town. But when I came to UT in search of stimulating experiences that would challenge me out of my comfort zone, it became too much all at once. Feelings of homesickness and depression led me to believe that I did not belong here…until I took a Latino Studies course.
I discovered this whole new world that was previously unknown to me. I began to see myself and my experiences reflected in not only the coursework, but also in my instructors and my peers. We talked openly about ourselves. We laughed. We cried. We built a community. Each Latino Studies event was more like a family reunion (waiting for your favorite primo to show up). Each book, each lecture, each discussion all led me to better understand who I was, where I came from, but most importantly, where I am going. Latino Studies is where I found my place. It’s where I found myself.”
--Ashley Nava, Class of 2019
Anthropology and Mexican American & Latina/o Studies
Not every single one of the almost
2000 students
that attended our events and took our classes last semester
was a Mexican American & Latina/o Studies major.
Some came from engineering, others from history, English, political science, and so on.
Yet, they found their way to us because we provided something that
no student should go without:
a place where they weren’t the only one,
a place that spoke their language—
in short, a place that felt like home.
But it doesn’t happen by accident.
We work hard to design classes and events that speak to our students,
rather than at them,
engaging with the topics that they are already curious and passionate about,
connecting their still-forming opinions to
history, culture, politics, art, literature, and social science.
We also introduce them to activated scholars, artists, non-profit organizations, businesses, etc. to teach them that an education lives not just in books, but also, in the communities they hope to impact, like the ones many of them came from.
So, you see:
Your donation is an affirmation.
It says, our Latinx students matter. Their interests matter.
Their communities matter.
But most of all, it says that they, too, deserve to have a home here, especially when (for so many reasons) here feels so far away from home.
Help us make a home for them today.
Follow us today on social media @LatinoStudiesUT to hear more stories from our students.
