Monday, January 22, 2024

54 Years After The UW-Milwaukee Chapman Hall Take-over By The Latino Community In 1970 To Eliminate Discriminatory Barriers To Enroll, The UW-System Will Implement Automatic Admission In 2024 To Graduating High School Students In Wisconsin

The UW-System announced last year, that in 2024, students graduating from high school will be automatically admitted to enroll at participating universities, which comes 54 years after the Latino community and allies in Milwaukee staged a sit-in protest and take-over of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (UWM) Chancellor's Office at Chapman Hall on August 27, 1970 in order to eliminate the practiced discriminatory barrier that kept Hispanic students from enrolling at UWM.

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

January 22, 2024

Madison, Wisconsin - In 2024, graduating high school students in the state will receive an automatic admission letter from the University of Wisconsin System based on grade point average and class rank, according to University of Wisconsin System President Jay Rothman. The automatic admission program will be available to most universities in the system, but three UW-System universities this year.

Each university in the automatic admission program will create their own admission criteria, except for UW-Madison, UW-Eau Claire and UW-La Crosse, which opt-out from participating in the admissions program, according to Rothman. (https://www.wisconsin.edu/direct-admissions/)

The implementation of the automatic admission program comes 54 years later, after the Latino community staged a sit-in and protest during the August 27, 1970 take-over of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Chancellor's Office against the practiced discriminatory barrier that kept Latino/Hispanic students from enrolling at UWM.

The Latino community succeeded in opening the doors of higher education to Hispanics in 1970 by helping to create the Spanish Speaking Outreach Institute (SSOI), which in 1996, it was renamed the Roberto Hernández Center (RHC). There were only less than 14 Latino students enrolled at UWM, most were from foreign countries compared to 25,000 White students at UWM in 1970.

During the take-over protest at the UWM Chapman Hall on August 27, 1970, Jesús Salas, Dante Navarro, Marla O. Anderson, Gregorio "Goyo" Rivera and José Luis Huerta-Sánchez were arrested.

The success of the UWM Chapman Hall protest and educational movement by the Latino community in 1970 continues to strive today.

This year, the RHC will be celebrating its 54th Anniversary on August 2024.

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

Also UW-Milwaukee announced in a press release that UWM has reached new agreements with four regional technical colleges that will guarantee admission for their graduates and make transferring credits to UWM a simple, stress-free process. It’s one of the latest ways UWM continues to reduce barriers for students to attend college so they can earn a life-changing education.

The agreements are with Milwaukee Area Technical College, Waukesha County Technical College, Moraine Park Technical College and Gateway Technical College. All associate degree holders from the four colleges are guaranteed a seamless transfer of at least 60 credits toward a bachelor’s degree at UWM. Interested students will only need to complete a brief intent form – for free – rather than a lengthier, formal admission application. (https://uwm.edu/news/uwm-guarantees-admission-to-regional-tech-college-graduates-2/)


Hispanic News Network U.S.A. (HNNUSA)

Donations accepted/ se aceptan donaciones: https://tinyurl.com/3y8ej92t

No comments: