La Alianza Latina Demands Action

To the Editor:

We, the undersigned, as members and allies of La Alianza Latina, support the membership of the same, in its struggle for greater recruitment and admission of Latina/o students, from a diverse geographic, racial, gender and class-based makeup.
As active members of the Latino/a community at Oberlin, we are writing to express our concern and dismay in regards to the admission practices engaged in, and not engaged in, by the College regarding Latina/os. 

–We demand that the admissions offices of both the College and Conservatory recruit underrepresented Latina/os –– from urban and rural settings, low income and first generation college students. While Oberlin does recruit students of color (although not sufficiently), we demand that the student body be reflective of the demographics of this country across racial, ethnic and class-based lines. 

–We demand that high school recruitment efforts be made across the country in a conscious effort to reach a more representative and broader base of the Latino/a community. Admissions officers must visit public as well as private schools in areas where students of color are the majority population.

–We demand that there be at least one full time Latina/o Admissions officer, dedicated solely to recruiting Latino/a students. 

–We demand a reinstatement of need-blind admissions. Without need-blind admissions, students of color, as well as other low income students, are not admitted to schools such as Oberlin with the same ease as those who can afford to pay the full tuition. Given that a disproportionate number of people of color come from a low-income background, need “sensitive” admissions serves as another firewall between Latina/os and higher education.
–We demand that the Admissions offices of both the College and Conservatory collaborate with the Latino/a student body on campus in recruiting Latino/as. Several ideas for new admissions practices include a concerted effort to include Latina/o students on campus in recruitment programs such as the fly-in weekend and All Roads, programs which would actively work to place Latina/o prospective students with Latino/a dorm hosts, the distribution of bilingual informational pamphlets and letters to parents, et cetera. Students are more than willing to work on these and other projects in conjunction with Admissions.

–We demand more recruitment in Latin America for both the College and Conservatory. We ask that this recruitment also focus on underrepresented students in Latin America. Currently, Latin American students comprise only a minimal number of international students, which leads us to believe that there have been little to no recruitment efforts in Latin America –– or perhaps there is talent only in Europe and Asia?

The Latino/a community here at Oberlin will continue to struggle for fair admissions practices. We will continue to write letters to the administration and faculty demanding that the aforementioned policies be put into effect. We will engage in student and community petitioning to demonstrate the need and desire for a larger and more representative Latino/a student body. And we will engage in further actions regarding admissions as necessary. We ask for your support in this struggle, as faculty, administration, students and community members. ¡La lucha continua!

–Maria Victoria Albina
College senior

–Alexandra Del Valle
College sophomore

On behalf of the members of La Alianza Latina