2024 Outstanding Unit

Wright State’s Latino Center is more than just a physical space. It is a wholistic strategy that supports the Latino/Hispanic student experience through all stages of university life.

Wright State University’s Latino Center received the Outstanding Unit Award for its dedication to the Hispanic and Latino community at Wright State and in the Miami Valley.

Through initiatives like the Latino Center Summer Programs and Latino High School Student Visit Day, the Latino Center supports all Wright State colleges in recruiting and retaining Latino and Hispanic students. Through these efforts, Wright State has seen a 27% increase in its total Latino/Hispanic student population and a 46% increase in registered first-year Latino/Hispanic students since the fall of 2022.

Catherine Hernandez Hogan, the senior director of Latino affairs and community engagement, said the Latino Center effectively recruits, retains and enables students to succeed.

“The Latino Center is a force to be reckoned with,” she said. “It is more than just a physical space. It is a wholistic strategy that supports the Latino/Hispanic student experience through all stages of university life.”

Through the Latino Center’s coaching, Hispanic and Latino-led student organizations are thriving. The Amigos Latinos Student Association received the Student Organization of the Year and the Inclusive Service Award, and the Latino Medical Student Association received the Community Service Award and the Program of the Year for its Latino Wellness Clinic.

To help retain new students, the Latino Center offers the Latino Success Peer Mentorship program and the course Latino, Si Se Puede, which coaches students on how to have a positive first-year experience, with all the content taught through the lens of Latino culture.

To retain current students, the Latino Center provides a wide variety of programming, including the Family Weekend Dominoes Tournament, Financial Literacy Programming, Scholarship Workshops and the Amigos Latinos Gala. Many of these initiatives are organized in partnership with the Amigos Latinos Student Association and the Latino Medical Student Association.

Local media, including WDTN and Spectrum News, regularly feature the Latino Center for its efforts to increase the education attainment level in the community and the monthly bilingual Latino Wellness Clinic, which seeks to improve access to health care for the Dayton community.

“The Latino Center is constantly working to break the glass ceiling for Latino and Hispanic students by sharing again and again that they belong on campus, that they matter, that they have what it takes to succeed at the university, and that by getting their college degree, they can impact their families for generations,” Hogan said.