Leadership Conference encourages Latino education

Future Latino leaders discussed culture and education this weekend on campus.
Friday and Saturday, the 15th annual Indiana Latino Leadership Conference invited high school and college students from across Indiana to immerse themselves in Latino culture.

The conference included campus tours, student panels, a resource fair, workshops and, for the first time, high school students stayed on campus for the night.

“The purpose is really to get other Latinos connected with each other,” said Carley Cruz, chair of the Indiana Latino Leadership Conference.

“That, and learning about their culture, is really the purpose of this conference.”

The conference was also open to those who just wanted to learn more about Latino culture.

“The goal is to share knowledge about the culture, and it’s an update for us Latinos as well,” senior Juan Cano said.

“As the world changes, the big issues for Latino culture change. It used to be immigration, but now I believe it’s education.”

The overnight portion this year was intended to give the high school students a taste of what college is like, he said.

“I think the most important reason this conference happens is that we are becoming one of the largest minorities in the U.S., and for some reason our education rates are
still low,” Cruz said.

“We want to promote continuous learning to get more education so we can have more high school graduates who go on to college.”

Zeysha Fuentes, a Bloomington High School North junior, said the conference changed her opinion about college.

“At first I always planned on going to college, but then I looked at my grades and I didn’t see college as a big option,” Fuentes said.

“Now that I went to the conference, I can see that no matter what situation, I can still make it and still do it.”

Fuentes said she heard about the conference when conference representatives visited BHSN. 

“The conference was a great way for us to know we can go to school and make a difference,” Fuentes said. “Just because we’re Latino doesn’t mean we can’t. There
are people that made it.”    

Fuentes said the conference workshops provided resources and advice about how to find scholarships and support programs to get her into higher education.

Previously, the conference took place at a different Indiana college campus each year.

This might not be the case anymore, Cano said.

“We’ve proven we can do this and plan all the details,” he said.

“Because of success this year and how we showed what we can accomplish, I think we’ll be here for a while.”

Cruz said she hopes this conference shows the power the Latino community, as well as other minority groups, can have on IU’s campus.

“Any type of cultural event is important for campus,” Cruz said.

“Because we don’t have a lot of minorities, these events make us able to prove that were not just a number or invisible. Look how successful it is. Look what we can do.”