Latino alumni crowded at USC’s Alumni Park before Saturday, Nov. 4 homecoming day. The members ate enchiladas, carnitas tacos and drank mojitos, reminiscing on the years of attending USC as a scholar for the Latino Alumni Association.
“As a student, our job focused on creating programming to help with college retention and improve the graduation rate for Latino alumni,” said Maxine Enciso, an LAA Scholar and alumnus from the class of 1996. “It was a lot of pride to see that Latinos were very present at USC and that we could celebrate in a really special way that is uniquely authentic by being with the program.”
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The LAA was founded in 1973, known then as the Mexican-American Alumni Association, to assist Latino students with the cost of college. It was established to help increase the number of Latino students attending USC. Another student who benefited from LAA’s early creation was Francis Quintero, who graduated in 1977 with an engineering degree.
“Becoming a scholar enabled me to socialize a bit more and extend myself to students who were coming in,” Quintero said. “They helped me get a job in the administration offices and I was able to meet incoming students and a lot of Latino students coming in and direct them to resources like tutors and events.” Adding that without the funding and mentorship and overall support from LAA was a critical part of her success at USC.
Funding and academic support were what many LAA scholars found the most helpful, but even with all those benefits, connecting with other Latinos was just as important.
“I think the networking and the community was so important coming to USC,” Gina Galasso, an accounting graduate of 1993, said. “I didn’t have anybody in my family who went to college, so it was daunting. But having those bridges and friends to be able to ask questions and help me navigate the campus was tremendously helpful. It was just a big family.”
Over the past 49 years, LAA has awarded more than $22.4 million in scholarships to about 9,400 Latine students. Many of the graduated alumni are in different fields such as communications, engineering and accounting. Roberto Garcia, who graduated in 1982 with a degree in social science, later became mayor of Santa Monica in 2015 to 2016.
“I rarely saw any Latinos, not only in my classes, but even in the professors,” Garcia said. “So my support system came from the association and honestly without them I probably would have dropped out.” Adding that due to LAA, he aimed to enrich other Latine individuals and support those who will come after.
Thanks to LAA, many students who came from a time of prejudice and isolation found a home. For many alumni, the program gave them a new “family.”
The LAA will host a 50th-anniversary celebration on March 2, 2024. In collaboration with USC DÍMELO, they will be creating a yearbook with alumni of the past 50 years. Submissions can be turned in here.
For more information on the event, visit their website.