As a high school
student in Spokane, Washington, Amanda Reed viewed standardized tests
the way a lot of high school students view them — as a drag. A bummer. A
tedious, if necessary, step toward graduation.
“They were annoying,” she said. “But I never worried about passing.”
Then came a dose of perspective. While serving as a teacher’s
assistant in her school’s English-as-a-second language (ESL) classroom,
Reed confronted another reality. For students in this space, many of
them immigrants not yet fluent in English, such tests represented more
than just an inconvenient task to check off before soccer practice —
they represented one of several uber-stressful potential barriers to
commencement and, possibly, a university education.
“This was really eye opening,” said Reed, now an Honors
student at the University of Delaware. “As a white person from a
middle-class background, I had never been exposed to some of these
issues in the educational system. To see how much these students wanted
to learn, and to know it still might not be enough? That made me really
sad.”
The experience crystallized Reed’s decision to pursue studies at UD in Spanish, education, and race, culture and equity in education.
Eventually, she said, she would like to become a teacher, advocating
fairness from within the classroom trenches. But she is not waiting on a
career to take up the social justice torch.
As an undergraduate researcher with the Community Engagement Initiative’s Summer Scholars program, Reed spent the summer of 2021 building the LASER (Latinx Space for Enrichment and Research) at Delaware initiative. Modeled off a program at The Ohio State University that won a Bright Spots in Hispanic Education award
from the Obama Administration, LASER will send student mentors from UD
into area high schools. Their goal: providing the guidance and resources
that will help young members of the Hispanic/Latinx community pursue a
college career. The program will launch during National Hispanic
Heritage Month, which kicked off Sept. 15.
The effort works locally to address a nationwide problem:
Historically, Hispanic/Latinx people have been excluded from
postsecondary education at disproportionately high rates. Issues of
classism and systemic racism are in effect, and these issues are
compounded for first-generation students. As Reed witnessed, members of
this community and their caretakers may face a language barrier — or
they may be unfamiliar with the American system of higher education —
and this makes navigating the bureaucratic process of applying to
college and finding adequate funding all the more difficult.
Once Hispanic/Latinx students are enrolled in a university, the struggle is not over. A 2014 study conducted by Rosalie Rolón-Dow, associate professor in the College of Education and Human Development,
found that the experiences of individuals from this demographic on UD’s
campus mirror the experiences of individuals from this demographic on
college campuses across the country — they face microaggressions, a
sense of disconnection and a limited sense of community, among other
challenges.
“So LASER is about increasing the number of Hispanic and Latinx
students on campus until we build a critical mass,” said Meghan
Dabkowski, an assistant professor of Spanish, Portuguese and linguistics
at UD and Reed’s adviser on the project. “The goal is to make everyone
feel like an integral part of the community, rather than siloed off or
invisible.”
Reed and Dabkowski, who do not have Hispanic/Latinx heritage
themselves, said they hope that, one day, LASER will be run primarily by
members of this demographic. In the meantime, they recognize the
importance of listening to and learning from this community. Throughout
the summer, Reed sought the perspectives of students enrolled in various
Hispanic/Latinx organizations on campus.
This work helped flesh out the program framework and content: Student
hub coordinators (eventually a paid position) will supervise volunteer
student mentors, who will go into Newark High School, Alexis I. duPont
High School and Las Américas ASPIRA Academy on a weekly basis. For ninth
through 12th graders, they will provide information on everything from
developing study skills to writing the personal statement required by a
college application. Additionally, planned community days on UD’s campus
will allow aspiring scholars a glimpse at university life, while
faculty and staff speakers from UD and other institutes of higher
education in the region will hold workshops for parents in both English
and Spanish on funding that university life.
Put simply, it is “all about making college a tangible experience,” Reed said.
For one Latina student currently enrolled at UD, LASER represents the
helping hand she could have used as a teen. Lucia Pastor, a junior nursing
major, is first-generation — her parents came to the U.S. from Ecuador.
Because they speak limited English and never attended a university
themselves, she said, they were not able to assist with her college
search. Instead, Pastor worked through various deadlines with support
from a classmate who was — having immigrated from India — in the same
boat.
“I had to do a lot of my own research, and the financial component
was very confusing for me,” said Pastor, who, along with Reed, is
serving as co-president of LASER. “I love that this program will help
people feel less alone in this process. I hope we can reach a wide
audience, and that we can let them know: Higher education is possible,
and there are resources to help you achieve it.”
One group LASER specifically hopes to reach is the undocumented
community. People in this demographic experience perilous barriers to
higher education, from financial (40% live below the poverty line and federal aid is not available) to psychological (fear of deportation leads to compromised mental health).
Because these students are often flagged by a college admissions office
as international, they are required to provide additional materials,
like proof of language proficiency, even if they have lived in the
country since infancy. LASER representatives hope to liaise with these
offices on behalf of individual applicants, to help mitigate
institutional challenges.
“It can be a really hard road, and there are no great solutions,”
Dabkowski said. “But we are trying to figure out ways to help alleviate
this — to help make education more accessible — so that we sort of force
the system into solving this problem.”
Many who hear about the work of LASER may mistakenly label these
efforts as purely philanthropic, but organizers have a different
perspective — this is not merely about helping those in need. This is
about helping everyone.
“It’s not just charity work,” Reed said. “As the U.S. becomes more
diverse, our college campuses need to reflect this diversity, because if
we don’t, we’re missing out on the contributions of millions of people —
contributions that will make our communities, and our country,
stronger.”
One potential benefit of LASER for all populations at UD is greater opportunity for cultural humility.
“This means not just learning about another culture, but using that
to reflect, do some personal critique and acknowledge biases,” Dabkowski
said. “It’s about understanding that your culture is not the default.”
As LASER leaders work toward this vision, they are feeling gratitude
for numerous units at UD that have provided assistance, including the Honors College, the Office of Undergraduate Admissions, the Office of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion and, particularly, the Community Engagement Initiative,
which seeks to help faculty and students on campus apply their research
for the betterment of society. While LASER is now a registered student
organization, the program will be looking for a permanent home,
potentially within one of these units, in the near future.
In the meantime, those wanting more information about the LASER cause can visit the program website.
“We are still actively recruiting student mentors,” Reed said.
“Anyone from any background is welcome. If you are passionate about
seeing a more diverse community on campus, we want to work with you.”
Article by Diane Stopyra, photo by Kathy F. Atkinson
Published Sept. 29, 2021