"You Can't Be What You Can't See"

Missrepresentation has probably become one of my favorite eye opening documentaries.  Watching it in 6020 marked the 5th time I had seen the documentary.  The first time I watched the film was actually during Interview Days at BG.  It was a bonding moment for PJ and I.  Each time I have viewed the film I find something new to take away from it.  This time I took something else away which was really an unexpected take away.  Every time I have watched the film a quote by Marie Wilson, Founder and President Emeritus of The White House Project has always stuck with me.  She says, " You can't be what you can't see" in regards to women in leadership roles and positively empowered women in media.  How does this message apply to a male Latino? Well, my thought process led to adapting the quote into a different context.  What role models does Chris have in his life?  It has already been established that he is a first-generation college student and is not surrounded by people who have experienced college or have knowledge of the system.  Who can Chris look to for an example of leadership?  Who can he look to as someone who fulfilled the goals he wishes to like graduating from college and working in the engineering field?  At the same time these questions are occupying my mind, the other graduate assistant working with University Activities Organization is preparing a presentation on diversity for our UAO leadership team.  The presentation includes the demographics of Bowling Green State University students, faculty, and staff.  According to the presentation 27 out of 797 faculty members identify as Hispanic American and  12 out of the 576 staff members at identify as Hispanic American at BGSU.

Granted, at a predominately white institution the number of minority and/or Latino faculty may be proportionate to the number of minority and/or Latino students, but that still leaves me wondering are there enough role models for Latino students among faculty and staff?  My hope is that Chris is able to find a mentor and utilize resources, but how can someone who is unable to get involved due to academic and family commitments supposed to navigate finding a mentor?  At this point, Chris would be unfamiliar with resources and would become decreasingly disconnected and probably increasingly unsure if he will make it through college.  Which also leads me to ask if predominately white institutions are seeking to build diversity and use race as a factor in the admissions process, or what are they doing to support their students while they are there?  It's not enough to have programs or systems in place if students are unable to utilize them or find them.  How are Latino students, faculty, and staff supported as a whole and encouraged to reach out and connect to one another.

This video demonstrates the need for Latino students to have mentors early on.