1/28: Ventanilla de Educacion unveiled at Mexican Consulate
Friday, January 23, 2009
Contact: Media Contact: Tracy Kremer, tkremer@nl.edu, 312.261.3847
PRESS RELEASE
For Immediate Release
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
CONTACTS:
Tracy Kremer, NLU, 312.261.3847
Lino Santacruz, Office of Consul General of México in Chicago, 312.738.2383, ext.181
NLU, Mexican Consulate unveil Ventanilla de Oportunidades Educativas
CHICAGO (January 28, 2009)— Access to education—and information about education—is one of the biggest obstacles facing new Mexican immigrants when they first come to the United States. The Consul General of México in Chicago and Chicago’s National-Louis University are hoping their new initiative, called the Ventanilla de Oportunidades Educativas (U.S. Education Resource Sector), helps change that.
 Beginning Wednesday, February 4, the new Ventanilla de Oportunidades Educativas will give visitors to the Consulate, which serves nearly 1,150 people each day, convenient access to information about preschool through university-level education. This pilot project may be used as a model for all Mexican Consulates in the United States.
Richard J. Pappas, Ed.D., president of Chicago’s National-Louis University (right), joined Ambassador Manuel Rodriguez Arriaga, Consul General of México in Chicago (left), and seven sponsoring educational partners on January 28 to launch the Ventanilla at the Consulate, located at 204 S. Ashland Ave.
“The need for an effective and practical solution was clear,” said Ana Maria Soto, executive director of Latino initiatives for NLU. “So we worked with some of our strongest partners and approached the Consul General with a proposal for the Ventanilla de Oportunidades Educativas.”
Those partners, now sponsors of this initiative, make up a who’s who list of leaders in Chicago’s Latino community:
- Vincent Allocco, Ph.D., President of El Valor
- Juan Salgado, President and CEO of Instituto Del Progreso Latino
- Magdalena Rivera, State Director of League of Latino American Citizens (LULAC)
- Ricardo Meza, Regional Counsel of Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF)
- Elba Aranda-Suh, Executive Director of National Latino Education Institute (NLEI)
Professionals from these sponsoring organizations will staff the Ventanilla de Oportunidades Educativas and offer advice, arrange educational workshops and be available to answer questions like:
- How does financial aid work?
- Which documents are required to register children for public school?
- Will college credit from Mexico transfer to US colleges?
- Which colleges, universities and vocational schools offer programs near my home?
This multi-organizational effort is, in part, a result of NLU’s Proyecto Comunidad strategic initiative to recruit, retain and graduate Latino college students, and to place them as successful leaders in Chicago’s businesses, community organizations and schools. Learn more about NLU’s Proyecto Comunidad initiative at www.nl.edu/proyecto.
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