LibGuides: National Hispanic Heritage Month: Latinx Huskies

Building a Community for Latinx Students and Faculty at NIU

The University Resources for Latinos (URL), now known as the Latino Resource Center (LRC) at Northern Illinois University, traces its origins to 1978. The original Latino house was destroyed to make room for a parking structure. Several years later, upon student insistence, the URL received a new location. In 1992, the URL shared its physical space with the International Student & Faculty Office at the Knetsch House. As the number of Latino student organizations increased, Dr. George Gutierrez, director of the URL at the time, requested more space to accommodate the student groups. His persistence resulted in the removal of the International Student & Faculty Office leaving the URL with the entire Knetsch House for its Latino students in 1996.

The Knetsch House, however, required immediate repairs. Also, the goal was to combine the URL and Center for Latino and Latin American Studies offices together under one building to provide more centralized services to Latinos at NIU. Thus, NIU administration proposed remodeling and expanding the house but NIU Latino students and URL staff were eager to have a new facility built. In addition, NIU administration realized the cost of building a new facility was slightly similar to the cost of remodeling the existing structure. After proposals for remodeling were rejected and with student insistence and persuasion by the URL director, the NIU administration decided to demolish the old Knetsch House and build a new facility in 1997. In the summer of 1999, the new Latino center building was completed.

Today, the LRC serves as a central resource for Latinos on campus and in the community to assist and encourage them to persist at NIU. The LRC offers students opportunities to participa te in cultural, social and academic programs that enhance their classroom experiences. Furthermore, in an effort to create learning opportunities beyond the classroom that inspire intellectual, personal and civic growth for leadership, the LRC provides community outreach/service opportunities.

Latino Resource Center (n.d.). History. https://www.niu.edu/lrc/about/history.shtml

Latino Resource Center (LRC)

Mission and Vision

The Latino Resource Center (LRC) is a diversity center under the Division of Academic Affairs at NIU designed to serve the Latina/o student population. The LRC promotes a social justice agenda and an inclusive environment where we seek to recruit, retain, empower and advance Latina/o students at NIU. We achieve this mission by offering mentoring programs, leadership programs, peer support groups and academic advancement programs.

The LRC also possesses a strong commitment to the following:

Providing a safe space for all students irrespective of nationality, language, gender, sexual orientation, citizenship or immigrant status. To support the development of self-advocacy of students so that they may attain their academic and professional aspirations.
Understanding the value of family involvement in a student’s educational journey and engaging the family unit through outreach initiatives and community collaboration.
Promoting an agenda that supports Latino student success by actively participating in nationwide and statewide movements and seeking ways to collaborate with local entities.
Developing programs that not only target the needs of students but also focus on the immediate issues and concerns of our community.

Welcome to the NIU Latino Resource Center

The Center for Latino and Latin American Studies established the NIU Latinx Oral History Project in 2014 to document the lives and experiences of Latinxs in the Midwest. The collection contains over 150 audio and video interviews with NIU faculty, students, and staff, undocumented migrants, community activists and leaders, and other Latinxs in the region. Many of the interviews have focused on themes of family, identity formation, Latinx social and political organizing, and the difficulties faced by the undocumented in the United States. Interviews continue to be collected and processed by NIU undergraduate and graduate students. Some interviews have also been deposited in the Regional History Center at NIU’s Founders Memorial Library and are open to researchers for consultation.

Interview with Luis Narvaez, 2015 July 10
Ayde Flores interviews Luis Narvaez, the College Specialist for Special Populations for Chicago Public Schools. Narvaez describes the responsibilities of his job and discusses the challenges facing undocumented and first-generation high school students. Narvaez also discusses his own educational journey, from immigrating to the U.S. and attending American high school; his undergraduate education at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; and graduate school at Northeastern Illinois University.
Interview by Suzanne Serrano, 2015 July 11
The interviewee speaks about how the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, program has positively affected her life and also how it falls short when attempting to find, and hold, a job. She describes how the desire for better treatments for her walking disability motivated her parents to come to the United States. She illustrates how her disability was treated differently in Mexican and U.S. public schools. The interview was conducted at the interviewee’s residence, where she lives with her mother and siblings. There is a cut in the audio due to technical difficulties.
Interview with Maribel Taboada, 2015 July 14
Maribel Taboada, at the time of the interview, was the new principal of Melrose Park Elementary School. She had been a bilingual mathematics teacher for years before getting her Master’s and becoming management. She served as an assistant principal in Elk Grove, Illinois before becoming a principal in Melrose Park. She discusses her upbringing in predominantly Hispanic neighborhoods in Chicago and the move her family made to a non-Hispanic area of the city. She describes her educational journey as a nontraditional student and how she secured an undergraduate and graduate education while raising a family. There is a discussion of the shift from the policies of the No Child Left Behind Act to the Common Core State Standards. Special emphasis is placed on Taboada’s insistence on maintaining her mother tongue and the culture and values of her Mexican parents. This interview was conducted as part of the 2015 Summer Research Opportunities Program at NIU.
Interview with Elisa Flores Mejia, 2015 November 2
Elisa Flores Mejía discusses her life in Mexico, her travels to the U.S., her husband's work in the U.S., and her efforts to secure access to her husband's pension.
Interview with Erick Flores, 2015 July 6
As part of her project for the NIU Summer Research Opportunity Program, Ayde Flores interviews her cousin Erick, a fellow college student. The interview was conducted in one of the conference rooms at Founders Memorial Library on the NIU campus. Erick discusses his dual identity as a Mexican born in the United States. He describes his ignoble motivation for his participation in a protest called “A Day without a Mexican” against the Sensenbrenner Bill (H.R. 4337) in 2006, and his surprise at some teachers’ quiet solidarity with the action. Because both the interviewer and narrator share the same family name, this transcript breaks from convention and refers to speakers by their first, or given, names.
Interview with Cindy Augustin, 2016 July 12
At the time of this interview, Cindy Agustin was the executive assistant to the chief executive officer of the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights. Before working for ICIRR, she was a member of the Immigrant Youth Justice League, one of the first undocumented-youth-led organizations to take part in acts of civil disobedience in protest of U.S. immigration policy. Agustin discusses ICIRR’s work on several initiatives at the state and national level to improve the lives of undocumented immigrants living in the U.S., including Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, Deferred Action for Parents of Americans, the Illinois and federal DREAM Acts, temporary visitor’s driver’s licenses, and the Illinois Access Bill.
Interview with Dick Durbin, 2017 September 28
U.S. Senator for Illinois Dick Durbin describes his efforts to pass comprehensive immigration reform over his senate career and President Trump's efforts to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program established by executive order by President Obama.
Interview with José Luis Escalante, 2018 February 25
José Luis Escalante, an immigrant and self-described political exile from Honduras, talks about his experience from childhood until adulthood before coming to the United States. The interview was conducted in Hoffman Estates, Illinois in Escalante’s kitchen. The interview took place in his empty house. Escalante and his family rent the home that they are living in, because of their idea of going back to Honduras after their daughters graduate from college. Towards the end of the recording, Escalante’s wife comes back from doing laundry. The recording began at 8:00 PM.
Interview by Michelle Nuñez Salas, 2018 March 22
This is the first of two interviews conducted with the interviewee. The interview was conducted in the interviwee's living room in the far north side of Chicago in the Rogers Park neighborhood. There was nobody else in her home at the time. There were a few interruptions, such as knocking on her door and some sirens passing. There are also a couple of issues with technology in which the audio clips or makes a sound a couple of times toward the end of the interview. However, it does not render the recording inaudible. The interviewee recounts her life story in chronological order for the most part. The subject describes her home life in Mexico and the motivations that drove her to pursue a better life in the United States. Listeners learn that difficulties follow immigrants across borders. The interviewee discusses her home life in Mexico, abuse, her mother’s alcoholism, her migration journey, her brief stay in Los Angeles, her life in Chicago, and building her own family. The subject relates most of her experiences through the lens of work and discusses the harsh realities that she was forced to face at a young age.
Interview with Maria Isabel Valdovinos-Bhatia, 2018 March 23
This is the first of two interviews conducted with Dr. Valdovinos-Bhatia. At the time of the interview, she was the new principal of Sunnydale Elementary School located at 716 Sunnydale Blvd, Streamwood, IL 60107. She is the first Latinx to hold this position in this primarily Hispanic community. The interview was held in the school's conference room. It was conducted after hours to avoid any disruption from teachers or students. The only interruptions are the sounds of the bell and occasional turning of pages.

NIU Latino Success

NIU Latino Success
Profiles of successful NIU graduates.

Center for Latino and Latin American Studies (CLLAS)

We serve as a home for the interdisciplinary study of the Latino experience in the United States as well as Latin America and the Caribbean. Our curricular offerings in the humanities, arts and social sciences are enhanced by our academic and cultural programming and community outreach activities.

We offer a minor in Latino and Latin American Studies. Our minor features classes and research led by NIU faculty from several different colleges and provides detailed knowledge of the Latino experience in the United States as well as Latin American civilization, which enriches the general educational experience of students and offers several practical applications. Future educators gain knowledge of the cultural heritage of their Latino students.

Our minor also provides other future professionals with the knowledge to maximize their job performance in regions with Latino populations. Latino students enrolled in the minor also acquire a broader understanding of their history and culture.

Courses (Minor in Latino/Latin American Studies)

Coordinator: Christina Abreu, director, Center for Latino and Latin American Studies

The minor in Latino and Latin American studies provides students with detailed knowledge of the Latino experience in the United States as well as Latin American civilization, enriches the general educational experience of students, and offers several practical applications. It prepares future teachers to lecture in Latino and Latin American studies and provides them with knowledge of the cultural heritage of their Latino students. The minor also provides other future professionals with knowledge to maximize their job performance in regions with Latino populations. Latino students enrolled in the minor also acquire a broader understanding of their history and culture. The 18 semester hours required for the minor must come from at least two departments, with no more than 12 semester hours from one department. Students participating in the Latino/Latin American Studies Minor may apply up to 9 semester hours from their major toward the minor.

Check departmental information for additional requirements.

Student Resources

Adela de la Torre Latino Honor Society (ATLHS)
Mission is to recognize and achieve excellence amongst Latinos through scholarship, promote leadership in students and help render service through a unified effort.
De Mujer a Mujer
The mission of "De Mujer a Mujer" (DMM) program is to provide social, cultural and academic support that will increase the retention and graduation rates of Latinas and all women at Northern Illinois University by providing programs, activities and leadership opportunities that foster self-confidence, self-awareness and self-esteem. Program is open to all women but it is specifically targeted towards Latina freshmen, sophomores and first-year transfer students.
Mentoring and Engaging thru Academic Success (METAS)
The METAS mentoring program serves to provide a welcoming environment and a "home away from home" atmosphere for Latinx freshmen students. The program assists them in their transition and adjustment to college life by providing social, cultural and academic support.
Vanguardia Afirmativa de Latin@s Unidos (VALU)
An after-school program that creates a space for Latino high school students to engage in dialogue and interaction with the campus community at DeKalb High School.