Education Rights Groups Call For Admitting More Latinos To US Universities

A group of Latino higher education advocates wants to take affirmative action and turn it up a couple of notches. The group met at the Higher Education for Latinos Conference in Phoenix, Arizona and they discussed, according to a report from examiner.com,

why there are a disproportional amount of White and Asian students compared to Latinos at top universities, including University of Arizona.

One of the problems at the college admittance level is that, according to Cecelia Maldonado of Chicanos Unidos Arizona,

“Many universities try and get Latino students in by subtracting 150 entry points for Asians and 100 points for Caucasians. This system doesn’t help much unless the universities add 150 points for Latinos, just like they do for Blacks.”

The idea being tossed around by conference attendees, including members of Chicanos Unidos Arizona, Nuestros Reconquistos, and Take Back Aztlán, is that Latinos have faced as much discrimination as blacks in the United States. The treatment of Latinos in university admittance, they say, should be no different.

There’s no word as to how they intend to bring about the change that they say is needed.

Follow Victor Landa on Twitter: @vlanda

[Photo by Jason Bache]