This segment is date/time stamped: September 21, 2021, 9AM
Latina girls and women make up 1-in-5 females in the United States, and by 2060 are predicted to form nearly 1/3 of the total female population. As a fast-growing and influential constituency, Latinas have made significant strides and progress in a number of areas. Yet progress has been extremely slow and there is a long way to go to fully close gender, class, educational, and racial/ethnic disparities. Latinas are incredibly entrepreneurial, as the number and rate of Latina-owned businesses has increased eight times that of men-owned businesses...yet, remain significantly underrepresented, especially among the Fortune 500 companies. In terms of economic (in)security, the disparities are leaving a growing portion still more likely to live in poverty and as single heads of households, still earning less in the labor market (earning less than 60 cents for every dollar a white man earns for the same job). For decades too, Latinas have been more likely to lack health coverage among America’s uninsured, and still have the least access to health care of any group of women. In terms of civic and political leadership, Latinas have a rich history of leadership in our communities, but remain underrepresented in all levels of government. As a group, Latina females start school significantly behind other females, and without proper support and intervention are never able to completely catch up to their peers. Latinas graduate from high school at lower rates than any major subgroup, and are also the least likely of all women to obtain and complete a college degree. This capstone presentation will be offered by past and current LEAD events honorary chairpersons, all strong advocates/activists themselves, who have made significant contributions to our community. Affectionately known as madrinas ...
*This segment is date/time stamped: March 29, 2018; 11:35AM PST Maya Arce, a sophomore student at the University of Arizona majoring in computer science and a mariachi performer since the age of 7, was a plaintiff in Arce v. Huppenthal/Douglas case in the U.S. District Court (District of Arizona) and in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals for the United States, which helped lead the successful constitutional challenge to Arizona’s anti-Mexican American Studies law. While being denied the opportunity to take Mexican American Studies courses while in high school because of the state of Arizona’s elimination of the program, Maya nonetheless, in the tradition of strong Chicana educational advocates, chose to be a plaintiff in this precedent setting case. Being intimately involved in this case since 2010, Maya had remained steadfast in her convictions that studying Chicana/o history and culture is a basic human right, testifying in U.S. District Court in June 2017, “I believe in standing up for what I think is right, and I believe that I am a voice for those who otherwise may not be heard, for my ancestors, for my community members and for generations to come.” Arizona’s anti-Mexican American Studies law was found to be unconstitutional in August of 2017 and in violation of Mexican Americans’ First Amendment and equal protection rights under the Fourteenth Amendment by the Honorable Wallace A. Tashima, Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, who noted that the state of Arizona acted with “discriminatory racial animus.” The U.S. District Court of Northern California recently cited Arce v. Huppenthal/Douglas to allow students to move forward in their equal protection challenge to the current administration’s attempts to end the federal ...
Representatives from three different groups that have advocated for greater access to California higher education will discuss perspectives on this problem. The panelists include Audrey Dow, Vice President of External Affairs and Operations for the Campaign for College Opportunity, Dr. Daniel M. Estrada, Chair of the California LULAC Latino Educational Attainment Committee, and Irene Tovar, Chair of the Statewide Coalition Against CSU Impaction. Audrey Dow explains the recent Campaign report, “Access Denied: Rising Selectivity in California’s Public Universities.” This report highlights the mismatch between California workforce needs for college degrees and shortages of college seats in California’s public universities. Demand for college admission, among state high school and community college students, forced both the University of California (UC) and California State Universities (CSU) to raise admissions standards. The CSU calls this impaction. Coincidently, California reduced financial support for higher education from previous levels as federal spending, through student Pell Grants, increased. As state higher education spending decreased, UC tuition, since 2000, has increased by 200 percent and CSU tuition by 175 percent. Meanwhile California is 49th among states in the percentage of undergraduate students enrolled in a four year university – public or pbrivate not for profit. Dr. Estrada discusses how the 1960 California Master Plan for Higher Education was visionary but not sustainable. Baby boomers benefited from tuition free public universities; but later generations now pay rising tuition to attend these schools. Universal access through a three tiered system of community colleges, CSU and UC campuses no longer exists. Meanwhile, baby boomers are retiring. After review of CSUs campus endowments, these funds are small for the number of students attending yearly. Also, aside from UC flagship campuses, Berkeley and ...
