Many of the students at the Center for Chicano-Boricua Studies are dealing with issues that could stand in the way of their academic progress. Coming from families in which both parents may work, often more than one job, students are called on to help with family matters, according to Director Jorge L. Chinea.

“Our students have to help their parents shop for groceries, prepare dinner for their younger siblings,
and intercede with school-related issues,” he says. Many may feel the need to skip classes to attend
to these important responsibilities. “Yet, they remain in class and make regular progress toward graduation,” Chinea says.

Because these students have so many responsibilities, the center’s mission includes retention. Making retention a priority has paid off: The center boasts an impressive 80 percent retention rate during the crucial first year.

“The center acts as an advocate both within the university and the community at large for the unique needs of Latina and Latino students,” Chinea explains.

This holistic approach addresses personal and cultural issues, as well as educational issues, to ensure a student’s success and to make recruitment within the Latino community more successful. Students in the program are encouraged to embrace the self-empowerment model for academic success and leadership development.

Another program supports mothers and children. The College of Nursing, with a grant from the National Institute of Health, has created a five-year program to study the adjustment of mothers and their children in the Arab immigrant and refugee community. The program’s goal is to determine the predictors of successful adjustment from early to middle to late adolescence in Arab Muslim teens.

“The study attempts to understand the set of stresses unique to immigrant mothers as well as the added burdens of raising their children in a culture that’s foreign to them,” explains Karen Aroian, professor, College of Nursing. “It’s a very difficult issue to try to maintain and instill cultural heritage in your children while adapting to a new culture.”

This study has broad applications, because one in five children in America today is born
to immigrant parents.