Document Type
Article
Abstract
In 1970, there were about 10 million Hispanics living in the United States out of approximately 200 million total population. By 2000, this number had more than tripled to about 36 million (12 percent of the total U.S. population) and in 2006, the number had quadrupled to 44 million (15 percent of the total U.S. population (United States Census Data). Today, there are 53 million (17 percent of the total U.S. population) By 2050, if this trend continues, about 25 percent of the population will be of Hispanic origin. Given these remarkable trends, why is so little known about residents or citizens of Hispanic descent in this country? As the above quote by Carlos Fuentes, renowned Mexican writer and author, alludes, this quote holds true in several aspects of the United States. Mainstream textbooks and other school curricula have only recently recognized the contributions of this minority group in America. Regrettably, researchers, educators, and historians have only in recent decades begun to reconstruct the story of people of Hispanic descent in this country. Until recently, American universities have been generally inattentive to the distinctive experiences of the Hispanic student. This humble essay is only a beginning in the telling of the story of the student of Hispanic origin at Indiana State University. The researcher hopes that this essay will spur others into researching this long neglected history of this remarkable group both at Indiana State and at other universities and colleges across the country. This essay examines the student of Hispanic descent at Indiana State from 1870 to 1985. Although Indiana State was established in 1865 and admitted its first students in 1870, the story of the Hispanic student at ISU seems not to have begun until the early 1960s. The essay then narrows in on two distinct periods in the School’s history: 1963 to 1966, the Cuban Students and 1975 to 1985, the Three Waves of South American Students. A description of each period is included with firsthand accounts when available with a heavier emphasis on the Cuban period. For purposes of this essay, the researcher uses the term “Hispanic” which refers to persons of Hispanic origin: Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, Central or South American (including Brazilians) or some other Hispanic origin regardless of race, ethnicity, or American citizenry. “Chicano” will be used to refer to Mexican Americans or United States citizens or residents of specifically Mexican descent. The term “international” will be used to refer to those individuals who are not citizens of the United States.
Publication Date
2014
Recommended Citation
Reynolds, Crystal Mikell, "A History of the Hispanic Student Experience at Indiana State University: 1870 to 1985" (2014). Student Diversity Histories. 3.
https://scholars.indianastate.edu/diversity/3