Latinx Culture Centers: A History of Exclusion as Told Through Oral Histories of La Casita

• In Event: 63.029 - Whose University? Constructing Identities and Narratives of Resistance in Higher Education

Abstract

Latinx students are the largest growing ethnic minority group to enroll at colleges and universities, particularly for universities in Florida (Campus Diversity Index Database, 2018). In 1994 the University of Florida administration created La Casita, a Latinx culture center, as a resource to ease the transition of college life for this growing population. Within the last couple years, questions about the future of culture centers on UF’s campus has prompted student unrest and civic engagement. This paper incorporates both primary document analysis and oral histories to create a complex narrative about the history of La Casita, its ties to the greater student activism movement, and the connection between institutional history and administrative actions.

Author

• Jacqueline Pedota, The University of Texas at Austin