For students interested in researching the historical and modern experiences of Hispanic cultures and Americans with Latin American roots, options abound. UCI offers a bachelor’s degree, a minor, a certificate program and a graduate emphasis in Chicano/Latino studies. A Spanish major and minor, a minor in Spanish/English bilingual education and a graduate program are available through the Department of Spanish & Portuguese. In addition, the UCI Latin American Studies Center facilitates dialogue among scholars, students and local community members through public programs, conferences, film screenings and musical events relating to Latin America and its diaspora. Last year, UCI established the Latinx Resource Center, a space to empower and support students by equipping them with the tools they need to make the most out of their university experience.

UCI boasts renowned Latinx faculty, alumni and administrators. Among them is Distinguished Professor Emerita Vicki Ruiz, who was awarded the 2014 National Humanities Medal by President Barack Obama for her pioneering work in Chicana/Latina studies. Héctor Tobar, associate professor of Chicano/Latino studies and English, won a Pulitzer Prize while reporting at the Los Angeles Times. Eloy Ortiz Oakley, a first-generation student who earned a bachelor’s degree and an MBA at UCI, is the first Latinx chancellor of California Community Colleges. And Mario Molina, who as a postdoctoral researcher at UCI, discovered along with UCI chemist F. Sherwood Rowland that chlorofluorocarbons were destroying the Earth’s protective ozone layer. These led to a world-wide ban on these aerosols; for this, Molina and Rowland received the 1995 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

There are at least two dozen Latinx student organizations on campus, ranging from career-focused and recreational clubs and multicultural fraternities/sororities to political and social justice groups and even a Latinx theater ensemble. Typically, an annual Latinx involvement fair showcasing the many options is held at the beginning of fall quarter.

Casa César Chávez, a theme house in the Arroyo Vista complex on campus, provides students with a variety of academic, social and cultural activities. Although it’s sponsored by the Chicano/Latino studies department, all students are welcome. La Casa Nuestra, also in Arroyo Vista, is a strictly Spanish-speaking theme house in which students can improve their language skills and learn more about Hispanic cultures.

UCI is only the second member of the prestigious Association of American Universities to be federally designated as a Hispanic-serving institution – a status that makes faculty, staff and students eligible to apply for minority-serving institution grants, internships and partnerships.

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Of the 122,210 applications the campus received for fall 2020, UCI topped the UC for the most Latinx applicants (26,914).

• Sept. 21 – Maria Rendon, associate professor of urban planning & public policy, sociology and Chicano/Latino studies (by courtesy of School of Social Sciences) – book talk as part of UCI School of Law Book Talk Series: Reimagining the Latinx Experience in America.
• “A novel life,” about Hector Tobar’s (social sciences and humanities) new book.
• Andres Bustamante (education) gets $2.56 million National Science Foundation grant to support STEM learning installations in Santa Ana public areas.
• YouTube video of SAGE Scholar Kevin Mendez, a first-generation student, graduating with economics degree (social sciences).
• Alex Borucki (humanties) receives American Council of Learned Societies Digital Extension Grant.
• Michael Mendez (social ecology) and the future of environmental justice.