Latinx

The 2022 to 2023 UC Berkeley Chancellor awards for public service recipients have been announced after nominations closed in December. 

Coming to Berkeley, I was scared of losing something as essential to my identity as my heritage. And to be quite frank, at times I feel like I have lost parts of it. Yet, I also know that the love I have for my raíces has never been stronger. 

I’ve seen the beauty that diversity can bring, and I now have the tools to understand the alienation I feel. I feel empowered to no longer take this feeling as a given. 

UC Berkeley has seen an increase in Latine student enrollment and representation in several academic disciplines following the establishment of initiatives to improve diversity and inclusion.

A UC Berkeley program focusing on Latine students in environmental fields is expanding to UC Riverside with a $342,000 grant from the UC-Hispanic Serving Institutions Doctoral Diversity Initiative.

I was immediately filled with childhood giddiness when I saw my first and only street vendor in Berkeley. For a second, I had completely forgotten I was so far from home, and that moment instantly placed me back in the beaming days of the San Fernando Valley.

Campus sophomore Enrique Martinez is running independently for the ASUC Senate on platforms centered around prelaw students, the Latine community, undocumented students and mental health and basic needs advocacy.

Since arriving in the United States, I’ve stumbled upon the concept of racial identity. In Mexico, we don’t talk about race.

This language belongs to every person of color, regardless of anyone’s racism or bigotry. We belong in the English language, the English curriculum and the literary world.

The threat of deportation is what kept many members of my community silent — unable to advocate for their basic needs of safety, fair wages and a retirement plan.