There’s a fine line between enabling students and offering them the vital services they require to succeed. The Hispanic Council at Cuyahoga Community College in eastern Ohio has been walking that fine line successfully for the past 25 years.

“We talk a lot in college about not enabling students. What we really do is a lot of walking through and navigating the process. Not everybody needs that, but the student population that we serve typically does. It really gets students set up, giving them a great foundation,” said Esther C. Kraft, program manager, Hispanic Council at Cuyahoga Community College (Tri-C).

Tri-C’s Hispanic Council identifies, develops and facilitates the implementation of initiatives that benefit the school’s students, the college and the Hispanic Community of Cleveland. “We see a lot of students who are on their own, a lot of students who are first generation and a lot who have financial issues and other obstacles. So, they need support, and we provide that through case management,” Kraft said.

The Hispanic Council is a place where Hispanic students can get support and direction. “It’s all here for the taking; all they have to do is ask for it,” Kraft said.

Finding A Home

Opened in 1963, Tri-C was Ohio’s first community college. Today, it’s the state’s largest public community college. It boasts the lowest tuition in Northeast Ohio and one of the lowest in the state. Currently 23,340 students are enrolled at its six campuses. Of those 1,705 are Hispanic. On Tri-C’s Western campus, the largest of its campuses and home to the Hispanic Council, 800 of its 9,324 students are Hispanic.

The Hispanic Council welcomes not just Tri-C’s Hispanic students but also those who confront similar obstacles. “We are a community college, so we do not currently have a multicultural center. We support Spanish-speaking students, but we also support (other) multilingual students. There’s no department with their name on it to go to,” Kraft said. Students from the Congo, Rumania and Middle Eastern countries all find a home at the council.

English language learners need more time to register, to take placement tests and to find accommodations, especially first-generation students. The council should be the first stop for those who require extra care while navigating the college process. “If you’re not sure where to go…start with us,” Kraft said.

Getting In The Groove

All students, Hispanic or otherwise, bring with them a variety of talents. Kraft’s job is to tease out those talents, but more importantly, identify the deficits. She interviews each student and compiles a mental checklist that paints a picture of his or her situation. Some students are working parents, some have no transportation, and others have lost one or both parents. “It’s all just really listening and determining where they might be lacking in resources and being a support system for them at the same time…(We want to get our students) started on the right path until they get into the groove of college and know what they need to do,” Kraft said.

Tara Medina graduated Cum Laude in May of 2018 from Tri-C’s Nursing Program. She lost her father at about the same time she was graduating. Medina realizes her father and mother made sacrifices, so she could have opportunities they themselves never had. After attending the council’s annual Hispanic Luncheon she reached out to Kraft through email with a heartfelt thank you. “(I) was very close to my dad. He worked so hard all his life to make sure I always had what I needed, even if that meant him and my mom going without...When I was at the Hispanic Luncheon, I looked around the room and felt so honored to be among such potential and promise. Everyone that spoke was so supportive and their words carried such depth. It truly meant a lot and it made me feel stronger knowing I had such wonderful people rooting for my success. Thank you Ms. Kraft, thank you so much,” Medina wrote.

History

In 1993, Al Lopez, a professor and academic counselor at Tri-C, established the council’s mission, laying the ground work for the council. For the first few years Lopez ran the council on a shoestring budget with the support of just one secretary. As the council entered its second decade Lopez realized it needed an endowment. In 2003 Tri-C established the Hispanic Scholarship Fund. In its first five years, it provided more than $350,000 in scholarships to Hispanic students. “We’ve grown (this endowment) through donors and through employees,” Kraft said.

In 2018, the Hispanic Council awarded $70,000 in scholarships to Hispanic students, and in 2016 and 2017, it award $100,000 from its endowment. In the past five years, the Hispanic Council has awarded a total of $250,000 in scholarships.

Beyond The Campus

Last year marked the council’s 25th anniversary. To celebrate this milestone, the council did what it does best: supported those in need. In late 2017, it embarked on a collaborative project called Bienvenidos a Cleveland, which supports families relocating to Cleveland from Puerto Rico because of Hurricane Maria.

In late 2017 and through 2018, hundreds of families arrived in Cleveland seeking support from community-based organizations. Some have no place to live and little to no income. “We spent a lot of our 25th year meeting with members of the community. We received a grant for $25,000. In some of those meetings people identified holes and needs as people were coming in,” Kraft said.

For example, International Newcomers Academy, a school that welcomes non-English speakers in the Cleveland area, found that many students were arriving without backpacks and supplies. “We did a drive and collected all these things and money too…for that school,” Kraft said.

In another initiative the council deployed its Hispanic students as bilingual experts in the greater Cleveland area. Many of the organizations that were assisting Puerto Ricans arriving in the area didn’t necessarily employ Spanish-speaking staff members. “We had five or six bilingual students out in the field for the entire year providing bilingual support in Cleveland,” Kraft said.

When Kraft speaks of her work at Tri-C’s Hispanic Council, she sounds gratified. “I feel very good that I work somewhere where we can offer these types of services for certain types of student populations. And we are supported,” Kraft said. “I’m proud about the work I do and even prouder when we get to see those students graduate or they come (back) to see us and tell us where they’re working or what they are doing,” Kraft said. •

Table of Contents’ Photo’s Credit: Cody York Photography