En la Unión está la Fuerza: The Union for Puerto Rican Students at Northeastern Illinois University, 1970–1972

• In Event: Activism in Higher Education in the Late 20th Century

Abstract

This essay examines the ways in which Puerto Rican students mobilize to call for institutional change at Northeastern Illinois University from 1970 to 1972. I argue that Puerto Rican students that composed the Union for Puerto Rican Students used community cultural wealth to demand change at the University. Instead of using a deficit perspective, these students, I argue, utilized salient cultural characteristics not often recognized in mainstream society. I employ Tara Yosso's Community Cultural Theory to understand the variety of capitals Puerto Rican students used to question the racial and cultural injustices they faced during the Social Movement Era.

Author

• Angel Luis Velez, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign