Wednesday, July 15, 2015

Felipe Rodriguez Jr. Retires From UW-Milwaukee After 39 Years Of Academic Service

Rodriguez Jr. was instrumental in preserving the Spanish Speaking Outreach Institute (SSOI) in the mid 1980's that eventually helped thousands of Hispanic students to attend and graduate from UW-Milwaukee.

By H. Nelson Goodson
Hispanic News Network U.S.A.

July 15, 2015

Milwaukee, WI - On Wednesday, Felipe Rodriguez Jr. retired as an Outreach Program Manager III, Office of Student Affairs in the School of Education from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee after 39 years of academic service. He was a former Spanish Speaking Outreach Institute (renamed the Roberto Hernández Center-RHC) interim director.
 
In 1985, Rodriguez with the aid of H. Nelson Goodson, then a UWM student, President of La Colectiva student org. and Grievance Director of UWM Student Government along with other Colectiva members were instrumental in preventing the SSOI emergence with the multi-cultural student services as one center, thus securing its future autonomy to recruit, offer counseling services and to retain Hispanic students at UWM. Today, the RHC continues to operated as an independent student service center at the Academic Affairs in the School of Education.

"The dean of the College of Letters and Sciences, William F. Halloran, in 1985 released a proposal to strip the SSOI (Spanish Speaking Outreach Institute) of its advising component," Joseph A. Rodriguez, Associate Professor at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and Department of History Director, Urban Studies Program wrote in a revised article titled "Latinos at UWM: A History of the Spanish Speaking Outreach Institute and the Roberto Hernández Center" on December 2005, page 34. https://tinyurl.com/4dkjx6yj

Felipe Rodriguez in 1985 called Goodson at La Colectiva Student Organization and told him that Dean Halloran and the UWM administration were planning to merge the SSOI with the multi-cultural center, which eventually would weaken it and phase it out. Goodson managed to get Yolanda Hernández, Josephine Marie Rivas, Anthony Garza, Havidán Rodriguez, Miguel Ferriera, Nydia Flores, Alicia Herrera, Isidro González, Ruben Burgos and Javier Ortiz also members of La Colectiva to meet with the Acting Vice-Chancellor John H. Schoeder in regards to the proposed merger of the SSOI.

Goodson advised Schoeder, that if the administration and Halloran continued the proposed plan to merge the SSOI with the multi-cultural center in order to weaken the SSOI mission and services, which would violate the 1970 agreement between the Latino community and UWM, Goodson would organize a community protest at Chapman Hall.

Felipe later contacted Goodson and confirmed that the proposed plan to merge SSOI with multi-cultural center was canceled.

However, according to the article written by Associate Professor Rodriguez, Dean Halloran began once again to weaken the SSOI in 1988, when Goodson had graduated from UWM and was no longer a student.

Rodriguez was hired in 1976 at UWM and continued to support the 1970 struggle for higher education and legacy that transpired from the historic August 27, 1970 UW-Milwaukee Chancellor's Office take-over by member's of the Latino Community who fought and challenged UWM's discriminatory policy to prevent Latinos from enrolling by enforcing high prerequisite requirements and testing that kept most Hispanic student's who were not prepared by the Milwaukee Public School system for college bound counseling and studies to help them attend two year or four UW-System state universities around Wisconsin.

Five people were arrested at the first day of the take-over of Chapman Hall on August 27, 1970, they are Jesus Salas, Dante Navarro, Marla O. Anderson, Gregorio "Goyo" Rivera and Jose Luis Huerta-Sanchez. Navarro and Anderson have passed away.

In 1970, there were only about 14 Hispanic students enrolled at UWM compared to 27,000 White students and most Latino students were foreigners. After the August 27, 1970 take-over Chapman Hall where the UWM Chancellor's Office was located, Chancellor J. Martin Klotsche finally agreed to allow Hispanic students to enroll, even if some were still seniors at local high schools and would take credited college classes as long as they promised to continue university studies after graduation from high school.

Rodriguez who is also a well known Puerto Rican and Spanish traditional cultural singer including a musician has recently accepted a part time music instructing position with La Causa Charter School.

Historical video: UW-Milwaukee take-over of Chapman Hall in 1970 https://youtu.be/FzOpOxI_GKw

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