DETROIT, Mich. - Wayne State University's Center for Latino/a and Latin American Studies, in collaboration with the WSU Graduate School, will host the third annual La Academia del Pueblo Regional Undergraduate and Graduate Latino/a and Latin American Studies Research Conference from 8:30 a.m.-7 p.m. on Monday, April 23, in the McGregor Memorial Conference Center. 

The theme for this year's conference is "Urban Revival and the Latino/a and Latin American Community: Challenges and Opportunities," and it will feature poster board and panel presentations by students from six states representing more than 10 universities. Student panels address themes such as "Centering Minorities in the Educational Pipeline" and "African Americans and Latino/as in Urban Spaces."

Panel presentations also will be offered by faculty members and professionals in the fields of law, business, health sciences, STEM fields, the social sciences and humanities, in addition to panels presented by community leaders addressing Latino/a political and civic engagement as well as work in the visual, literary and performing arts.

Tamara Serrano Chandler, coordinator of the center's College to Career (C2C) Program and conference organizer, said, "La Academia del Pueblo represents a deliberate effort to address low educational attainment among Latino/as by establishing important connections between the academy, the people and our communities here in Detroit and within the region."

According to the 2010 U.S. Census, despite comprising the largest ethnic minority in the nation and the country's fastest growing population, only 13.9 percent of Latino/a adults have college degrees, which is less than half the national average of 29.9 percent. And only 3.8 percent of Latino/as have an advanced degree, compared to 10.7 percent of whites and 6.5 percent of African-Americans.

The C2C Program aims to address the Latino/a educational attainment gap by increasing graduation rates for students at WSU using a multifaceted approach, combining career mentorship, community-based research and service-learning, participation in the annual La Academia del Pueblo conference, as well as professional development and graduate school preparedness, which helps bridge the gap between the academic and professional worlds.

For the first time this year, the conference will also feature a diversity career fair, which has attracted the participation of more than 20 local companies and community agencies, including Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, Bank of America, Quicken Loans, Matrix Human Services and Girl Scouts of Southeastern Michigan.

"What we are trying to do broadly through our various programs," explains the center's associate director Ethriam Cash Brammer, "is to construct an educational pipeline from pre-K through college that provides students from our community with the necessary opportunity, support and preparation to graduate from college, go onto graduate or professional school and emerge as successful professionals in their chosen careers."

For further information about the Center for Latino/a and Latin American Studies' La Academia del Pueblo conference and the C2C Program, please visit https://specialevents.wayne.edu/academia-del-pueblo/, or contact Tamara Serrano Chandler at 313-577-4378 or eq0090@wayne.edu.

Wayne State University is a premier urban research university offering more than 400 academic programs through 13 schools and colleges to nearly 32,000 students.