Yesterday evening, I had the pleasure of speaking before Latina/o parents and their students at Woodburn High School. The evening was packed with OSU departments, from admissions to financial aid, from honors college to the college of health and human sciences. An entire delegation of faculty, staff and students came out, and it was nice to see OSU Chicana/o and Latina/o students leaders from their respective organizations engage with high school students. It was as if OSU picked up and moved its entire operation to Woodburn. It felt nice. I met several parents, one in particular, Jose Rojo, inspired the possibilities. Rojo immigrated to the U.S. over 25 years ago and had originally studied engineering back home and built a successful business. Today, he’s a small business owner in Washington County with two high-achieving sons. Rojo is hoping his oldest son will select OSU’s Austin Entrepreneurship Program and study entrepreneurship & innovation after high school. Thanks to Gustavo Martinez, Director CASA Latina/o de OSU for the warm invitation! An excellent job to all the presenters– keep up the great work!!! I look forward to supporting CASA Latina/o de OSU in its mission to recruit the state’s largest and fastest-growing group, high achieving Chicana/o and Latina/o students to Oregon’s land, sea, sun and space grant university.

Originally posted on Posterous