The Roberto Hernández Center at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee formerly the Spanish Speaking Outreach Institute officially reached its 53rd year of providing student recruitment and advising services to Latino undergraduates at the University.
Hispanic News Network U.S.A.
Contributors: H. Nelson Goodson and Robert Miranda
November 9, 2023
Milwaukee, Wisconsin - On November 1, 2023, the Roberto Hernández Center (RHC) at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (UWM) formerly the Spanish Speaking Outreach Institute (SSOI) reached its 53rd year of providing student recruitment and advising services to Latino student undergraduates at the urban University. The SSOI was established and began to operate on November 1, 1970 after a successful struggle by the Latino community seeking equal access to higher education.
On August 27, 1970, members of the Latino community held a sit-in protest during a "Takeover" of the Chancellor's Office at Chapman Hall in a defiant act to seek equal access to higher education at a time when the UW-Milwaukee administration practiced an unwritten discriminatory policy that kept Latinos from enrolling at the University.
Here's the untold story of two separated Latino Student movements as told by H. Nelson Goodson and Robert Miranda, both graduates from the University that helped reinforced and keep intact the Latino community's original goal to have the SSOI/RHC continue to provide recruitment and advising services to incoming Latino students and undergraduates at UWM.
According to Goodson, here's an untold story in Wisconsin's higher education history: In recognition of all the members of La Colectiva Student Organization at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in 1985, who united in one common goal to keep the Spanish Speaking Outreach Institute (SSOI) now renamed the Roberto Hernández Center (RHC) intact to continue with its mission when then Dean William F. Halloran from Letters & Sciences and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee administration attempted to merge the SSOI with the multi-cultural center in order to weaken it and eventually phase it out.
The SSOI was instrumental in recruiting and advising undergraduate Latinos at UWM and under the Roberto Hernández Center continues to do so today.
Felipe Rodriguez, a former SSOI advisor and interim director of the SSOI who retired in 2015 was instrumental in 1985 as a whistle blower who received word that Dean Halloran and the UWM administration wanted to weaken and eventually phase out the SSOI.
The SSOI was established on November 1, 1970 at UWM after a Latino community Chancellor's Office Takeover at Chapman Hall on August 27, 1970. In 1970, there were less than 14 Latino students enrolled at UWM compared to 25,000 White students. Most of those Latino students were from foreign countries except for a few who were from Wisconsin.
In 1970, an unwritten discriminatory policy was practiced to keep Latinos from enrolling at UWM and the Milwaukee Public School District system in the City also failed miserably to prepare Latino students for college bound courses, until our united Latino community raised up to fight for equal access to higher education.
In brief: Felipe Rodriguez in 1985 called H. Nelson Goodson, Student President of 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 then Acting Vice-Chancellor John H. Schoeder in regards to the proposed merger of the SSOI.
Goodson told Schoeder, if Dean Halloran and the UWM administration continued with their proposal to merge the SSOI with the multi-cultural center in order to weaken it and eventually phase it out, Goodson and members of La Colectiva would organize the Latino community to protest at the Chancellor's Office at Chapman Hall again like our community did in 1970.
Rodriguez from SSOI afterwards called Goodson and confirmed that the Dean Halloran and UWM administration proposed plan to merge SSOI with multi-cultural center in 1985 had been canceled.
Fredy Canales, originally from Peru who was a graduate student at UWM working on his second Master's Degree told Hispanic News Network U.S.A. (HNNUSA), that he remembers La Colectiva's student movement to block the elimination of the SSOI in 1985, "I knew about the movement that Goodson (also, members of La Colectiva) were part of and in 1985-1986 during my MS degree studies, myself and Anselmo Villarreal (UWM graduate students) were supporting and participating with Felipe Rodriguez against the proposed plan to merge SSOI with the multi-cultural center, which was canceled in 1985."
Also, Goodson was the first Hispanic and UWM graduate to write the well known article "Venceremos, The 1970 Struggle For Education" in July 13, 2001 of the UWM Chancellor's Office Takeover at Chapman Hall and published by El Conquistador Newspaper 31 years after the Takeover happened at UWM.
Goodson recalled that the National Council of La Raza (NCLR) was scheduled to hold a conference in Milwaukee and many local Latinos had signed up to be volunteers at the 3-day conference in downtown Milwaukee.
The NCLR conference organizers were surprised to noticed a large number of Latinos highly educated compared to other states they have held conferences and they wanted to learn how so many Latinos in Milwaukee were highly educated.
Victor Huyke, the Publisher of El Conquistador Newspaper who attended one of the volunteer organizing meetings decided to let Goodson, who was the Managing Editor of El Conquistador write an article about the history of the SSOI. Huyke knew that Goodson had been contemplating in writing the history of the SSOI, since no one had taken time for the last 31 years in writing the historic protests and creation of the SSOI, was later renamed the Roberto Hernández Center.
On July 5, 2001, Goodson went to the RHC at UWM, which was located at Bolton Hall just across from Chapman Hall, the Chancellor's Office.
In the mid 1980's, Goodson while taking courses at UWM had noticed that when the SSOI had events at the Student Union, it always displayed historic photos of the August 27, 1970 Takeover of the Chancellor's Office by the Latino community.
In 1996, the SSOI was renamed the Roberto Hernández Center.
Goodson wanted to get copies of the photos so he could include some of them on the upcoming Conquistador article.
When Goodson went to the RHC on July 5, 2001, most of the offices and advisors were gone for the Summer, but Carmen Cepeda, the RHC secretary was the only one present and holding the RHC office open.
Goodson asked Cepeda that he was at RHC to get an update of the Institute and to see, if he could get copies of the historic photos of the 1970 Takeover. Cepeda told Goodson that she didn't know where the photos were stored and that William Velez, the Interim Director of the RHC was on vacation. When Goodson asked Cepeda for an update of the RHC, she responded that she didn't know the latest developments or what future the RHC had expected to have.
Goodson left the RHC and went to talk to the Dean from Letters & Sciences, but his secretary told Goodson he wasn't in and when asked about any update of the RHC, the Dean's secretary responded that she didn't know and referred Goodson to the Chancellor's Office for any information about RHC.
Goodson had heard previously that a committee had been formed by the Chancellor's Office to plan and discuss the future of the RHC.
Goodson went to the Chancellor's Office and was able to talk to Vice-Chancellor Leslie Schultz who told Goodson that UWM had information to be released to the Latino community on what would transpired concerning the future of the RHC. Schultz open her desk drawer and took out two draft pages of the proposed plan for the RHC. Goodson asked for a copy, once Goodson received the 2-page draft about the future plan of the RHC, he included the information in the article that was published on July 13 - 19, 2001. Once the information that Schultz provided to Goodson was published, UWM had no choice, but to implement the plan.
Associate Professor Joseph A. Rodriguez at UWM wrote an article about the SSOI and RHC history and revised on December 2005, which mentioned briefly, the Dean Halloran's proposal to strip SSOI's advising component in 1985, but it didn't include proposed merger and that members of La Colectiva were instrumental and managed to stop Halloran's discriminatory plan to change the SSOI, which would gradually phase it out.
Here's the Rodriguez retirement article that recognized members from La Colectiva Student Organization at UWM that continued the fight to keep the SSOI in one piece to continue with its goal to recruit and advise Latino student undergraduates at UWM.
WI: Felipe Rodriguez Jr. Retires From UW-Milwaukee After 39 Years Of Academic Service https://tinyurl.com/2h9vyjxb
According to Miranda, here's the second untold story in Wisconsin's higher education history: The Latin Student Union (LSU) was instrumental in blocking attempts to eliminate SSOI. The continuing saga of Latino presence at University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee did not end with the heroic actions of activists in the 1970's, but continued well into the early 2000s as Latino student activists organized to defend, protect the Spanish Speaking Outreach Institute (SSOI) and ultimately established the Roberto Hernández Center (RHC).
In recognition of all the members of the Latin Student Union created on campus in 1992, (Bernardino Alvarez, John Torres, Marshall Vega, Carlos Arseniga, Miguel Soto, Bobbi Lepiles, Selahattin Kurter, Stella Miranda, Patricia Torres, Rafael Acevedo, Alberto Maldonado and many more) who not only fought to defend the Spanish Speaking Outreach Institute (SSOI), now renamed the Roberto Hernández Center (RHC), but also created the Latino Studies Program and hired the first director of the RHC after defeating then Dean William F. Halloran from Letters & Sciences and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee administration attempt to merge the SSOI with other programs and ultimately have it phased out.
The SSOI was instrumental in recruiting and advising undergraduate Latinos at UWM and under the Roberto Hernández Center continues to do so today.
Felipe Rodriguez, a former LSU advisor and director of the SSOI who retired in 2015 alerted Miranda with Dr. Suleyman Kurter that Dean Halloran and the UWM administration were planning on eliminating the SSOI.
Dr. Suleyman Kurter, an advisor to the Latin Student Union took strong stand with Miranda, founder and first president of the LSU to fight back against the administration. The actions that followed (such as as the Blue Ribbon Committee) from 1992 to 1998 eventually cost Dr. Kurter a high position at the university but to this day does not regret his support for the LSU.
We recognize Dr. Kurter for his strong and unyielding resolve to help the students in 1995 ultimately force the University to agree to create the Robert Hernández Center.
Felipe Rodriquez in cooperation with Dr. Suleyman Kurter kept student leaders informed of the decisions the administration was making regarding LSU demands to rename and recreate the SSOI into the RHC. Under Chancellor Nancy Zempher and Dean Grosslan of the College of Letters and Science, an agreement was made with the Latino Student Union to establish the RHC by 2003.
In 1993, Miranda became the first Latino student body president at the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee. Under his leadership he pushed the university administration to established the RHC and to create a Latino Studies Program. It was under Miranda's leadership as Student Association president the U-pass program was established in 1994.
The program gave UWM students buss passes paid from tuition fees to use MCTS service in order to be able to ride a bus to get to university and back home. The program is still in use today.
Miranda as Student Associate president was able summon then Chancellor John Schoeder to attend meetings with the students and community leaders Ernesto Chacon, Abel Ottis and others to inform Dean Halloran and the UWM administration hands off of SSOI and their proposal to merge the SSOI and ultimately phase out SSOI will not happen, but that SSOI will be enhanced by RENAMING AND RECREATING the SSOI into the Roberto Hernández Center. To let the Chancellor know LSU was serious, student leaders took over a class room to give show of force to the administration LSU was for real.
Associate Professor Joseph A. Rodriguez at UWM was commissioned to write a brief history of SSOI BUT FAILS TO GO IN MORE DETAIL ON THE contemporary student actions to create RHC. A more detailed report is needed to give historical facts and details to show the continuing efforts to fight to maintain Latino presence at the University.
According to Miranda, Dean Halloran was outed by LSU for allegedly scheming more than $17.5M from the Black student and Latino student funded programs and illegally redirecting those student program funds to other areas in a 10-year period. Halloran was forced to retire as Dean after he was exposed, but no criminal charges were ever filed against Halloran.
Video: RHC 40th Anniversary, includes actual news footage of the August 27, 1970 Takeover of the Chancellor's Office at Chapman Hall: https://youtu.be/FzOpOxI_GKw
Joseph A. Rodriguez, Associate Professor at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and Department of History Director, Urban Studies Program revised article titled "Latinos at UWM: A History of the Spanish Speaking Outreach Institute and the Roberto Hernández Center" on December 2005. https://tinyurl.com/4dkjx6yj
Update:
WI: H. Nelson Goodson spoke about his student experience at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee between 1984 to 1988, which included his effort along with other La Colectiva Student Organization members to stop the UWM administration and Letter & Sciences Dean William F. Halloran from phasing out the Spanish Speaking Outreach Institute (SSOI) in 1985, which was later renamed the Roberto Hernández Center by merging it with the multi-cultural department.
Goodson on November 27, 2023 had an interview with Ann M. Hanlon, Head of Digital Collections and Initiatives and Digital Humanity Services at the UW-Milwaukee.
Goodson's oral history will be included in the HOLA Archives, a podcast series that takes a deep dive into the stories of Milwaukee Latinos/as who fought to make Milwaukee a more welcoming community.
Link to The HOLA Archives at UWM Library and Wisconsin Humanities in collaboration with the RHC, a podcast series that provides multiple interviews of stories of Milwaukee Latino/as who fought to make Milwaukee a more welcoming community, especially at the UW-Milwaukee from the 1970's to later years. https://uwm.edu/libraries/digital-humanities-lab/hola-podcast/
Source: Interview and video courtesy of H. Nelson Goodson https://youtu.be/DxEU0QXWJz0
Letter by H. Nelson Goodson sent to Joseph A. Rodriguez, Associate Professor at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and Department of History Director on March 30, 2004 with additional names of students involved with La Colectiva and Satélite at UWM in the mid 1980's to late 1980's that supported SSOI. Click to enlarge.
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