Penn State is a land-grant institution founded in 1855. Traditionally this institution attracts students from all over the world because of its top quality instructional reputation. Hispanics are no exception among the groups attracted to this high quality academic experience.

At the end of the 1980s the African-American students made it clear to the administration that their needs had to be prioritized. The way they were able to attract the administration's attention took both friendly meetings and special measures.

Now entering the 1990s, we Hispanic students are confronted with band-aid methods to meet our needs. Throughout my experience at Penn State, and now as an alumni involved with the Puerto Rican Student Association at PSU, I can identify a few situations that could become sources of negative publicity in recruiting students from our communities.

As Hispanics we have the impression that the administration utilizes the number of Hispanics in this institution to establish a need for services of minority students; yet once these funds are approved and the services are implemented, no special consideration is adopted to deal with the Hispanic student.

An example of this would be the lack of Hispanic staff, faculty and staff throughout the Penn State system.

Second, the administration and particular PSU units, once they see the need, will create temporary positions to be filled by Hispanics personnel; yet in their search process they would look for the candidate that will best fill the mainstream model both in language proficiency and appearance.

I feel the people in the decision-making positions in this institution sometimes forget that the majority of the Hispanics in the state of Pennsylvania are United States citizens, and if we want to cherish diversity at PSU, we need to promote the hiring and promotion of the Hispanic professional that is really committed to it's community.

The third situation is that the majority of Hispanics who work for this institution are in non-power holding positions which could be instrumental in improving the situation of Hispanics in PSU.

Fourth, and I am very sad to say this, Hispanics in PSU (students, faculty and staff) are not united toward a common goal.

If you like me are concerned about these four situations presented above it is in our hands as Hispanics to educate the administration that we have rights and that we are willing to work for them as our ancestors have done in the past, that the majority of us living in this state are not only citizens but residents who pay into the tax system and that we are capable to contribute as students and/or professionals as well as any individual or group can.

So my friend let's not deny our culture just to eat our share of the American pie. Instead let's realize that as proud Hispanics it is in our hands to decide which educational method we will utilize to improve our status in this and coming University administrations.