UMD Offers Latino Studies Minor

COLLEGE PARK, Md. (AP/WUSA) -- The University of Maryland at College Park has decided to create a minor in U.S. Latino studies -- the first such program at a major university in the Washington area.

A University Senate committee approved the creation of the minor on Friday. The program will become official in the fall, though two graduating seniors who have fulfilled the requirements will graduate this spring with the minor.

The decision prompted applause from activists who have been working to establish a formal program for a decade.

"There has been a growing movement among those students to have a recognition on campus," said Dr. Judith Freidenberg, an anthropology professor and Latin American Studies specialist. "When we have graduation in May, it's going to be the fourth year that there will be a separate Latino/Latina ceremony."

Freidenberg offers a few courses that will count for the new minor, including an immigration research course.

"As an educator I think that the students need to know more about their history but they also need the actual experiential part of learning," she said. "I structure a lot of opportunities for them to work and volunteer with various organizations in the area where there is a lot of Latino and Latin American immigrants in neighborhoods around the campus. I put them in direct contact with these populations so they can observe their daily contstraints, what they do for a living, the extent to which a community organization can help them access social and health services."

Supporters hope the new minor also attracts more Latinos to enroll at the University. Currently, only 5 percent of the students are Latino.

"We need to be more responsive to the population trends in the United States," said Freidenberg.

No school in the mid-Atlantic region has a full Latino studies program. There is a similar minor at Loyola College in Baltimore.

Scholars say too many schools neglect the study of Latinos -- a group that represents 15 percent of the U.S. population. They say public universities have a responsibility to serve Latino communities.