Hispanic students, UNL officials meet, share ideas
■ Inspired by a program
at UNK, the meetings give
UNL students a forum to
voice their concerns.
ByDaneStickney
Staff writer
Two percent of UNL students are
Hispanic, and members of that percent
age are taking strides to make their
voices heard.
The U.S. Hispanic Leadership
Institute sponsored the Collegiate
Leadership Development Program at
the University of Nebraska-Lincoln
this semester.
The program is aimed at promoting
dialogue and interaction between
Hispanic students and key university
officials.
Over the past six weeks, a group of
Hispanic students has been meeting
with various university officials includ
ing the chancellor, the director of hous
ing and deans of various colleges.
The three-hour sessions began on
Sept. 27 and ended Monday.
Jimmy Hynes, a freshman biology
major, said the program was a valuable
experience.
“I wanted to be a more active leader
on campus,” he said. “This program
really helped me get to know people in
different offices, so when I need a con
tact, I know who to talk to.”
Hynes said he was surprised he was
able to share his opinion on matters that
affected the university.
“I was able to tell people like the
chancellor what I thought,” he said.
“This program was great because I was
able to make my voice heard.”
i
Juan Izaguirre, a senior social sci
ence education major, said the
Hispanic students involved with the
program made valuable ties with
prominent UNL faculty.
“The program was rewarding to the
faculty and the students,” he said. “The
faculty was able to hear what we
thought, and the Latino students were
able to learn the ropes of the universi
ty.”
Izaguirre said it was important to
know who the top officials on campus
are, so the students could go straight to
the top official if they had a problem.
“Everyone greeted us with a posi
tive attitude and commended us for
starting the program,” he said.
The university officials and the
Hispanic students spent much time
talking about recruitment of minority
students, Izaguirre said.
The officials asked what they could
do differently to make Latino students
want to come here, Izaguirre said.
“Now they know Latino students
care, and that is valuable for every
body.”
Izaguirre said the idea for the pro
gram originated at the University of
Nebraska at Kearney. Some Hispanic
students went to UNK to observe the
program and eventually brought the
idea to UNL.
Six to eight students were then cho
sen to take part in the weekly meetings.
Carlos Guerrero, a freshman pre
chiropractic care major, said he joined
the program to learn just how commit
ted UNL is to diversity.
“There are a lot of sections that do
try to incorporate minority students
and faculty, but some have no minori
ties,” he said. “They say they are trying
to change, so we gave them input on
how we’d like to see them change.”
Guerrero said the group had a posi
tive influence on most of the people it
talked with. , ' v
“People seemed to better under
stand the Hispanic point of view after
the sessions,” he said.
Hynes said the group will have one
final meeting Monday to determine
what its next steps should be.
“We’re just going to bring all of the
information we received together and
make a decision on what needs to be
done,” he said. “We need to make a dif
ference, so now we just need to figure
out how to do that.”
Hynes said the program was
rewarding on many levels.
“It was one of the best experiences
I’ve had on campus,” he said. “I would
encourage the other minority groups on
campus to look into developing some
kind of program like this for them
selves.”
Mortar Board members
honor their inspirations
By Margaret Behm
Staff writer
Elementary school teachers, par
ents and University of Nebraska
Lincoln faculty are some of the people
students chose to thank for their inspi
ration Tuesday night.
Members of the Mortar Board
National Senior Honor Society brought
the people in their life who inspire them
to the fifth annual People Who Inspire
Banquet in the Nebraska Union.
' “Tonight’s goal is to honor the peo
ple who have made an impact on our
lives and to say thanks,” said Mortar
Board President Christy Jensen, a
senior agribusiness major.,
Randy Stotler, a senior water sci
ence major, chose his fourth and fifth
grade teacher, Merry Witzki, as his
guest. He has kept in touch with her
since elementary school, occasionally
calling her to inform her about how he’s
doing.
“She had a big impact on my life
when I was younger,” Stotler, a Mortar
Board member, said. “She was the first
person to get me involved in academic
extra-curricular activities.”
Kristie Baack, assistant director of
Student Involvement, said she gains
strength when she sees students
inspired.
“Students inspire me,” Baack said.
“I absolutely love watching students
get new ideas. I like seeing the light
bulb go*on in their head. They encour
age me to keep striving.”
Baack asked the honored guests to
say who inspired them to inspire others.
Teachers, family and spouses were
some of the people named.
Students gave short speeches about
their guest and explained why they
chose them.
Chanda Miller, a senior interna
tional studies and political science
major, honored her mother, Mary Ann
Coupland. Her mother’s accomplish
ments have inspired Miller to strive to
reach her own goals. ^ \
Miller was grateful for the opportu
nity to thank her mother. She encour
aged other students to let the people
who have made a difference in their
lives know their impact
“It’s especially important to thank
the people who have inspired us before
we graduate,” Miller said. “We are
about to achieve our greatest accom
plishment of our lives so far, and we
should-thank them for helping us
achieve our goals.”
Faculty guests such as Reshell Ray,
Correction
The City Council considered one
ordinance to change the sizes of fast
food restaurant drive-thru signs at its
Monday meeting. The ordinances
were miscounted in a story in
Tuesday’s Daily Nebraskan.
tt
Tonights goal is to
honor the people
who have made an
impact on our lives
and to say thanks ”
Christy Jensen
Mortar Board president
assistant director of Student
Involvement, agreed students should
give recognition to people who have
helped them. *
“It inspires us to continue working
with students, because we know that
our efforts are beneficial,” Ray said.
“That makes me want to continue to
inspire other students.”
Special guest John Janovy Jr., a
1998 honorary member, said some of
the best inspiration he gets is from see
ing students succeed.
“Watching students move through
the system and move on to be success
ful is why I’m in this occupation,”
Janovy said.
Ray was happy to know she
inspired senior LaTonya Floyd to
achieve her goals.
“After watching her grow and
develop into a student leader, it is very
heartwarming to know that I inspired
her,” Ray said. “I’m very thankful that
the Lord allowed me to be in her life.”
I.
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