Diversity Statement
I grew up in Pomona, a city referred to by Mike Davis as the “The Suburban Nightmare” for its downward trajectory from a garden city to a crabgrass slum. The combination of family financial struggles, a disinterested high school guidance counselor, and a demanding work-study schedule as an on-call maintenance worker marks my academic career as unlikely. However, it is my personal trajectory as a bicultural (Mexican and Puerto Rican) working-class woman raised in the suburban nightmare that draws me to promote diversity in higher education.
I credit overcoming the barriers of economic and social disadvantage to mentorship by faculty of color and pipeline programs, first as an undergraduate in the McNair Program, later as a National Science Foundation EDGE Fellow, and currently as a Ford Dissertation Fellow. Realizing the important role played by teachers from underrepresented groups to my own success, as an undergraduate I took on leadership roles as a Latino Student Affairs Mentor, Board Member of the student organization Empowered Latinos in Action, and a resident advisor at the Oldenborg Center for Modern Languages and International Relations. As a graduate student, I have actively sought academic service opportunities that allow me to institutionalize a commitment to diversity within higher education.
For instance, as a member of the Graduate Admissions Committee and Faculty Staffing Committee within the urban planning program at UCLA, I was responsible for reviewing and making recommendations on student selection and faculty promotion. At USC, I have individually mentored and held workshops on professionalization targeting underrepresented students. As part of my commitment to diversity, I seek to render historical questions, perspectives, and stories socially meaningful for present populations. For instance, my collaborative article “Building People’s Histories” in the March issue of the Journal of American History offers a frame to talk about the many ways historical knowledge has been produced, distributed, and used in California social movements. In my teaching, I strive to create opportunities where student learning and community engagement align to produce a learning environment that promotes critique of contemporary social inequities.
Through my training as a historian in ethnic studies, participation and service in pipeline programs, and commitment to pedagogical principles promoting diversity both inside and outside the classroom, I aspire towards a model of higher education characterized by full and equitable inclusion.