Program sparks civic service

news@dailylobo.com

An agreement will aid education designed to improve students’ understanding of national issues, such as poverty and immigration policies, through community service.

A memorandum, signed by directors of El Centro de la Raza, the Southwest Hispanic Research Institute and the Chicano Hispano Mexicano Studies Program, created the Community Based Research and Learning Initiative, a project dedicated to improving educational opportunities for Latino Students. The agreement will provide additional instruction and community service opportunities for students who enroll in “Community Based Learning in Chicana-o Hispana-o Communities,” which requires at least 31 hours of research, service learning, and community engagement. Although the class is closed for this semester, it is available every fall and spring semester.

The Memorandum of Understanding was signed Sept. 20, accompanied by live mariachis.

But Chicano Hispano Mexicano Studies Program Director Irene Vasquez said that all UNM students can participate in the project.

“Latinos are a majority (of the initiative),” Vasquez said. “But it is definitively opened to everyone.”

Vasquez said that under the memorandum, the organizations will provide students with the necessary tools to better understand how to help their community, such as additional advisement and classes that focus on economic and social issues that impact local and foreign communities, such as poverty, undocumented immigration and education. She said students will learn to apply the material discussed in class to the real world, which will allow them to closely engage with their community.

“We will offer an innovative learning environment that prepares our students for the 21st century and that is responsive to local and national social issues and challenges,” Vasquez said. “The community-based learning prepares students to be civically engaged members of their community and well-rounded professionals working to create a better U.S. society.”

Fran­cisco Uviña-Contreras, who teaches the class and has worked on community projects for the past 15 years, said the class offers students the opportunity to engage in different projects depending on their interests. He said the course requires students to work with nonprofit organizations, such as Peanut Butter & Jelly Family Services, which supports childhood well-being, and El Centro de Igualdad y Derechos, an organization that promotes Latino immigrant rights.

One project, led by UNM student Juan Gonzalez, will provide an art class for undocumented students at El Centro de Igualdad y Derechos, and another, which includes a group of seven students from El Centro de la Raza, will research the Atrisco area of the South Valley to address issues common in the area, including afterschool programs and homelessness.

Uviña-Contreras said he enjoys teaching the class because it allows him to mentor students and help them better understand how to become a more prominent part of their community. He said the class helps students who want to better connect with the community.

“My position is more like pushing students to the right direction instead of telling them what to do,” he said. “I set tools and advise them, but they are the ones who actually work in their own projects.”