SF FOGHORN issue 6_F (3)

08 09
THURSDAY
OCT. 13,
2022
LOVE LETTER TO TIJUANA
OPINION
ISABELLA FLORES
is a second-year
advertising major.
LATINE STUDENTS WANT MORE
SUPPORT FROM USF
As a Latine student in higher education I feel
invisible most of the time. Even with USF’s diversity,
it’s hard to see myself represented in guest
speakers, professors, and peers. Imposter syndrome
is a familiar enemy that I face on a daily
basis: when I look at the people around me, when
an unfamiliar idiom is used in class, and even
in my leadership role at Latinas Unidas where
I sometimes feel like I’m not “Latina enough.”
The one thing that has helped me through these
struggles is joining a Latine organization where
I can share these experiences with others who
know exactly what I am going through.
Although the Latine population makes up
21% of both the graduate and undergraduate
student population at USF, I believe that we are
one of the most underrepresented and underserved
communities here on the Hilltop. Declining
retention rates, staggered club enrollment,
and conversations with friends tells me that it isn’t just me who feels invisible
to the institution.
Isaac Madrigal, a fourth-year design major said he sees a lack of USF
bridge programs — programs created to support Latine students transitioning
into academic and professional life. “It’s important for that to be here because
our people don’t have a long history of going to higher institutions nor family
members who can help guide them through that,” he said. “So it feels like
we’re on our own.”
USF is not currently a Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI). To qualify to
be an HSI, the Latine student population must be at 25%, which USF falls
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just short of. According to the U.S. Department of Education, qualifying as a
HSI would grant USF funding to strengthen institutional programs, facilities,
and services for the Latine community on campus. USF currently lacks the
funding to provide consistent support to Latine students; although they try —
mostly during National Hispanic Heritage Month.
Latine students attend school year round, so who supports us once Hispanic
Heritage Month concludes? The success of the Latine student population
weighs heavily on the leaders of USF’s Latine oriented clubs: Latinas Unidas,
Latinx Undergraduate Network of Activists (L.U.N.A), and USF Folklórico
Club. As the President of Latinas Unidas, I feel the weight of my work for the
organization in everything I do. I fear that if we as an organization don’t keep
momentum and consistency, there would be no support systems for Latine
students to feel safe, succeed, and be seen.
USF Folklórico club Vice President and sophomore politics major, Lidia
Velasco-Robles has had similar thoughts. “Our work shows our perseverance
and how much we care. But, if it wasn't for us, I don’t think the change we
have made would have happened,” she said. “It makes me proud of how resilient
we are, but it's annoying to think that if we weren't the way we are we
wouldn't have gotten this far.”
Students aren’t the only one’s worried about the University’s lack of support.
Graduate Student Coordinator for New Student and Family Programs,
Valeria Ramirez said she’s afraid the energy that student organizations are
generating now won’t be permanently put in place by the University, “I worry
that USF will continually fail to recognize the necessity of providing this
support and care towards our Latinx/Chicanx/Hispanic student community.”
It was this common sentiment among my community and the lack of
institutional events here on campus that drove me to put my all into throwing
a successful Latinx Heritage Celebration. Last month, Latinas Unidas and
L.U.N.A invited students, faculty, staff, and families to attend our celebration
of cultural food, inspiring Latine speakers, dancing,
crafts, vendors, and games. Over the course of
two months, our two organizations were completely
responsible for planning and executing the event
— a huge job coupled with full course loads, jobs,
and extracurriculars.
Student organizations and cultural events are
so incredibly important — more than non-minority
people might realize. It is not just a Bad Bunny
song or a dance party, but a place to connect back
to our roots, to celebrate our culture, to feel like
we’re home again and feel confident in the new
home we’ve created at USF. Cultural events are a
space to feel seen, celebrated, and valued.
Although you can always count on students
to provide for their community, it is not entirely
fair that on top of striving towards our degrees, we
have to worry about maintaining these spaces. As
Madrigal put it, “We shouldn’t always be fighting.
We should be able to enjoy ourselves like everyone
else.”
The Latine community is incredibly resilient
— and if there’s two things we’re gonna do, it's
work-hard and persevere. Está en nuestra sangre. I
hope that our efforts encourage the next leaders of
the Latine organizations to continue the change.
Until then, I want USF to recognize our significance
with action that will solidify the change
student organizations are making. I would love for
students to be allowed to cater from community
restaurants that can prepare cultural foods for our
events, rather than being forced to order from Bon
Appétit. USF should also continue to increase the
budget for the New Student Family Programs department’s
Latinx Student Orientation and should
work to highlight and hire more Latine staff. These
small, but significant actions would simultaneously
benefit USF and the Latine community here on the
Hilltop.
SOFIA CHAVEZ is a
fourth-year international
studies major.
A couple of days ago I called my mom to
tell her how I was going to write an op-ed for
the Foghorn about how proud I am to be from
Tijuana, Mexico. I consider myself extremely
lucky to be from Tijuana. There's a vibrant
music and art scene and my friends and I orchestrate
jam sessions and art exhibitions. Tijuana
has, in my opinion, the best cuisine in the
world, and without a doubt the best tacos in the
country. The people are so warm and open. I
wanted to write about the beauty of being Mexican,
but something my mom said brought me
back to reality.
“Oh, speaking of [home], there was a
shooting yesterday at the Clamatos. Yeah,
a couple was shot at 2:30 p.m. in a drive-by
shooting,” she said. The Clamatos is a bar in an
affluent neighborhood only a five-minute drive
from my house. Usually, when I drive by, I honk
at friends sitting at the bar and wave. Two people died there this week.
This didn’t even make the news. Crime
used to be contained to some neighborhoods
I’ve never even been to, but recently it has
seeped farther into my home city and it has
become impossible to ignore. Just before I
came to San Francisco this fall, I was buying
beer and chips with a friend when she
received a desperate call from her mother
telling her to return home immediately
and lock the doors. We were shocked but
didn’t question it. Later, my mom told me
that there had been an explosion across the
street. Tijuana had become a war zone.
An important narco, or drug trafficker,
had been detained by the police and they
were not accepting bribes to let him out.
Because of this, organized crime blazed
through major cities across Mexico to put
pressure on the government to release their
leader. This meant bombings, fires, carjackings,
and assaults. People were advised
to stay inside all weekend while the narcos
went to town on our homes. Businesses
were closed and the streets were desolate
in eerie resemblance to the first days of the
COVID-19 lockdown in 2020.
I escaped to San Francisco a few days
later, grateful to be aways from the mess, but
worried for those I love back home.
Tijuana is the most dangerous city in
the world. According to Salvador Rivera
from Border Report, the presence of three
drug cartels vying for power in the region,
as well as Tijuana’s proximity to California,
creates a high murder rate. In August alone,
the Drug Enforcement administration reported
more than 120 murders or supicious
homicides in the city.
Two weeks ago, a longtime employee of
my father’s was murdered in his home along
with his family. Local newspaper TJNoticias
explains that he was murdered because
he reported criminal activity to the police.
When I heard the news I was shattered, but
a part of me was so relieved to be in San
Francisco. I was safe here and there’s a special
type of guilt that comes with that.
I’ve bragged to my Tijuana friends that
here, I am able to walk the streets without
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being scared, even at night (which took me a while to do when I first moved
here). San Francisco is not the safest city in the U.S., by a wide margin, but
the weight I feel lifted off of my shoulders speaks volumes.
Both of my siblings and I moved to the U.S. for college, as our parents
encouraged us to. We also crossed the border every day to go to private
schools in San Diego. According to USMex at UCSD, 21% of ninth and
10th grade students in San Diego have lived and studied and Mexico before
and, on the flip side, 11% of ninth and 10th grade students in Tijuana have
have lived in the U.S. Like many others, my parents gave us the gift of being
Mexican, of learning Spanish as our first language, and of growing up
surrounded by family — but they understood that staying in Tijuana and
building a life there like they did is not worth our peace, or our lives for that
matter.
Today we are scattered across California but we ache for home. Home
will always be Mexico and I am so grateful for that. But, the fact that violence
is intrinsic in our lives and knowing that I can never be at peace there
is heartbreaking.
In Tijuana, we live well and we love each other deeply. We move on fast
and we mourn our losses with dignity. Tijuana is so beautiful and so broken,
it hurts to love it, but we do. We can’t help it.
OPINION