As more Latinx students fill leadership positions on campus, nowhere is their rise more striking than how they are reshaping the Student Government Association. The first all-Latinx executive board ever elected oversees a $1.7 million budget and more than 60 student
\norganizations \u2013 and is being mentored by alumni who were once on the SGA themselves.<\/p>\n
Not only do they share a Latin American heritage but they are also on track to be the first in their families to graduate. \u201cWe noticed during our first interaction that, wow, this is historical,\u201d says Executive President Ashon Lanada, a senior majoring in Business Administration.<\/p>\n
They also share a sense of purpose to make a positive impact as the campus readjusts to the COVID-19 pandemic. \u201cThere\u2019s so much newness in this year,\u201d Lanada says. \u201cWe call it \u2018The Revival.\u2019 This is our theme, this is our mantra because we are coming to not just put SGA on a map, but to put student life back into its place.\u201d<\/p>\n
Montclair State is the largest Hispanic-Serving Institution in New Jersey \u2013 30% of this year\u2019s freshman class identify as Hispanic \u2013 and the University has created an environment where Latinx students feel they belong, thrive and can succeed, says Associate Provost for
\nHispanic Initiatives and International Programs Katia Paz Goldfarb.<\/p>\n
The SGA executive board members say they have been given the training, support and resources \u2013 including being mentored by alumni \u2013 to be well prepared to shape campus life, and ultimately the world, in ways that matter.<\/p>\n
Among the former SGA leaders mentoring the group is George Juzdan \u201914, \u201921 MBA, manager of corporate accounting at Eisai US, a Japanese pharmaceutical company. They talk regularly.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been a good experience for me to be able to mentor the students and provide lessons. You don\u2019t really get to see the full picture while going through college or what the results were and what the impact is until after you finished your term,\u201d Juzdan says. \u201cHaving that insight and providing it to them has been helpful, I think, in their decision-making.\u201d<\/p>\n
Family members and other role models have greatly influenced these student leaders, and Executive Vice President Karla Farfan Miguel, a senior majoring in Justice Studies, says she grew up quickly as the daughter of immigrants from Peru and Mexico.<\/p>\n
\u201cI translated every document for my parents. I ordered food. I made phone calls for doctors who didn\u2019t understand Spanish. That brought me up with initiative,\u201d Miguel says. \u201cMy parents work incredibly hard, cleaning houses, working in warehouses, cleaning schools after hours. I grew up watching that and understanding that education was my only way out of this lifestyle.
\n\u201cBoth Guillermo Estrada, executive treasurer and a Public Health senior, and Christie Rosales, executive secretary and a senior studying Psychology, say coaches and mentors have been especially important. Estrada, who grew up without a father, says \u201cI think that overcoming that type of adversity is what made me who I am today.\u201d
\nRosales credits her sister with helping raise her while her parents worked. \u201cShe was the one who took on the heavy burdens. She\u2019s been my inspiration.\u201d<\/p>\n
What the executive board is accomplishing together is connecting them to the future, says Miguel. \u201cAll of us want to go into our respective fields to create change \u2013 change that\u2019s going to last, change that\u2019s going to help our communities reach another level and to be visible.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2013Marilyn Joyce Lehren<\/p>\n