Student organizations prepare to help out

Rey Diaz lived 20 years of his life without ever tasting mashed potatoes, biscuits and gravy or any other country cooking.

He ate those foods for the first time in the early 1990s after he came to SIUC from a predominantly Latino area of Chicago. An elderly neighbor paid Diaz in southern cooking to mow his lawn.

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A few weeks ago, Diaz returned to the University to work as an undergraduate admissions counselor.

“He still fed me, and I still cut his grass,” Diaz said.

Diaz cites hospitality when telling high school seniors about SIUC. Now he works with all students, but there was a time he concentrated his efforts specifically on Latinos.

Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs Larry Dietz said speaking Spanish and English makes Diaz the University’s primary recruiter among Latinos, a demographic the administration hopes to increase.

The number of Latino students enrolled at the University has increased from 513 in 1995 to 667 in fall 2004. Dietz said the numbers for this semester would not be available until February or March.

Carmen Suarez, the campus coordinator for diversity and equity, said those numbers are not large, given the state’s population.

Dietz admitted more could be done to recruit Latinos.

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“Are we doing all we can?” Dietz said. “No. Are we interested in improving? Of course.”

A number of initiatives have begun to increase minority enrollment, but the University has not done anything to specifically increase Latinos, Dietz said.

Suarez, who sponsors Hispanic Student Council, said Latino student groups do not actively recruit, but they do what they can to improve retention.

“I think it’s problematic to leave it on the shoulders of students,” Suarez said of student groups being the only help minorities have in adjusting to a predominantly white area. “I deeply believe we need a multi-cultural center for students on this campus.”

Diversity is one of the core values in “Southern at 150,” the administration’s plan to move SIU into the nation’s top 75 public research institutions. Suarez said Chancellor Walter Wendler is on the right track with that goal.

Marcia Phelps, deputy director of the affirmative action office, said university employment of Latinos is also lacking.

However, a goal has been set to hire a number of Latinos that is proportional to the student population.

“The Chancellor’s initiative is to increase people of color as faculty to look more like students on this campus,” Phelps said.

Diaz said having Latinos physically visit Carbondale is vital in increasing those numbers.

Smiling, Diaz once again recalled the 83-year-old neighbor with the talent for southern cooking that gave him support while he was a student here.

“It’s people like that who really make a difference,” Diaz said. “They don’t care who you are or what your background is. People here are hospitable.”

Reporter Zack Quaintance can be reached at [email protected]