By: Betsy Carreno
Dr. Gina Ann Garcia, the author of Transforming Hispanic-Serving Institutions for Equity and Justice, came to Dominican on Sept. 7th to talk to students and faculty members. The event of “Una Tarde en la Plaza” followed the lecture, which consisted of games, music, and food.
During her lecture, she explained the different ways on how to become a “Latinx-enhancing” Hispanic-Serving Institution. By the end of her lecture, Garcia answered a series of questions from a panel.
Garcia discussed a variety of topics including how to be a conscious educator and serving underrepresented communities. She then talked about how institutions could be intentional with their actions.
“Structurally doing things different,” said Garcia. “The big one is curriculum because we often expect this work to happen in like spaces like this, the center for cultural liberation… this is an amazing space, absolutely necessary… and people are changing this space…but if you leave and the next door down is not a good space, then is the whole campus really enhancing?”
Garcia also encouraged her audience to open their minds to change and to admit when something is not working.
“To be in HSI you have to adapt, and you have to move on from what you’ve always been,” said Garcia. “You have to be willing to kind of let go a little bit of where you’ve been in order to grow into something new.”
The key take aways from the lecture is to provide a comfortable place for everyone. An inspiration to all, Dr. Garcia says, “We can critique it all day, but how are we going to do different?”
