The objectives of  the Illinois African American and 


Latino Higher Education Alliance (IALHEA) are to: 

• Enhance African American and Latino faculty, administrator, and staff professional development;
• Increase cultural awareness of the unique experiences and contributions of African Americans and Latinos in Illinois public and private post-secondary education;
• Increase African American and Latino faculty-student research collaboration and opportunities;
• Increase monitoring of Illinois public and private post-secondary institutions toward greater diversity and equity; and
• Advance leadership potential and peer relationships among African American and Latino students in Illinois post-secondary institutions.  

Objective 1: Enhance African American and Latino faculty, administrator, and staff professional development

• Combining the annual professional development conferences of the Illinois Committee on Black Concerns in Higher Education (ICBCHE) and the Illinois Latino Council on Higher Education (ILACHE).
• African American and Latino faculty, administrator, and staff newsletter (On-line and Print).
• African American and Latino faculty, administrator, and staff List Serv.

The Illinois Committee on Black Concerns in Higher Education (ICBCHE) and the Illinois Latino Council on Higher Education (ILACHE) have jointly established an action agenda for “Improving Commitment to Student and Faculty Diversity in Illinois,” under the auspices of the New Majority Coalition.  As a part of this effort, both organizations have agreed to combine their annual professional development conferences in order to 1) enhance the implementation of the action agenda; 2) collaborate on professional development strategies that enhance the retention of African American and Latino faculty; 3) increase their numbers in post-secondary institutions in Illinois; and 4) maintain a continuing dialogue between African Americans and Latinos on issues that impact them jointly.

 The current immigration debate has fueled tensions between African Americans and Latinos.  Particularly acute among African Americans is the sense that Latinos threaten scarce job and educational opportunities.  Citrin et. al., for example note, that African Americans and whites share similar views about immigration policies.  In a nationwide survey of attitudes on immigrants and immigration, 67% of both African Americans and whites indicated support for decreased immigration, and more African Americans (94%) than whites (89%) felt that immigrants would likely increase unemployment.  The struggle over scarce resources has most recently begun to fuel tensions between African American and Latinos in the academy, as educational opportunities among minorities have diminished. 
When one examines the similar historical experiences and socio-economic profile of African Americans and Latinos, it becomes imperative that neither group undermine their ability to continue to work together on common problems.  Nowhere is this more paramount than in the academy.  The Illinois African American and Latino Higher Education Alliance (IALHEA) seeks to enhance unity by institutionalizing a mechanism of dialogue that seeks to create a strategy for countering adverse trends in higher education in Illinois.  Two plenary sessions at the joint annual conference will be dedicated to this goal, and will include presentations by national, state, and local elected officials, community leaders and organizers, and faculty.  The general public will be invited to share in the dialogue in order to enhance understanding between African Americans and Latinos statewide, and eschew all attempts at race-baiting that threaten to undermine unified action.

The annual conferences of both organizations represent an opportunity for African American and Latino faculty to showcase their ongoing research and foster assistance in the tenure and promotion process of Illinois post-secondary institutions; and to strengthen the academic pipeline from graduate education to the academic professions. 
          
The joint conference, newsletter, and list-serv will facilitate increased peer and mentor relationships, develop increased opportunities for research collaboration, and establish a statewide communication and support network between African American and Latino faculty, administrators, and staff.  The combined efforts will in turn positively influence African American and Latino student persistence by ensuring the continuance of faculty, administrator, and staff support.

The major components of the New Majority Coalition action agenda for “Improving Commitment to Student and Faculty Diversity in Illinois,” are subsumed under the project activities of the Illinois African American and Latino Higher Education Alliance (IALHEA).  Monitoring the implementation of the action agenda will be a major focus at the joint annual conference, and will be facilitated through periodic reports related to project activities. 
  
Objective 2: Increase cultural awareness of the unique experiences and contributions of African Americans and Latinos in Illinois public and private post-secondary education.

The initial documentary will be expanded in future funding cycles, and will provide assets (relevant information and documentation) needed to develop a curriculum that examines the experiences and contributions of African Americans and Latinos in their quest for equal elementary and secondary, and post-secondary educational opportunities.
The Illinois African American and Latino Higher Education Alliance (IALHEA) challenges the traditional melting pot perspective, that holds that African American and Latino success is predicated upon abandoning their unique culture and historical experiences and adopting an Eurocentric identity.  The positive effects of cultural and self-awareness on the persistence levels of African American and Latino post-secondary students, is well documented and provides the basis for this challenge.  
As Tierney argues, models of student retention that premise that academic success is predicated upon students physically and socially dissociating themselves from the communities of [their] past in order to become fully incorporated in the life of the academy, are sorely out of step with the social and cultural needs of minority students.  Based on the findings of a three-year research study of the Neighborhood Academic Initiative (NAI), a program for low-income urban minority adolescents that affirms their cultural background, Tierney concludes that the route to equipping students with the necessary skills to succeed in educational systems is through the affirmation of students’ local contexts and identities.  Further, he supports models for students of color on predominantly white campuses that affirm, rather than reject, who they are.  Other studies echo this theme.  Miller, for example, asserts that a positive racial identity can protect African American adolescents against the discrimination and daily hassles they experience as they seek to perform well in school.
The types of cultural intervention that these studies address extend beyond the typical focus on multi-cultural education by asserting the efficacy of programs and models that enhance a sense of belonging.  Interestingly, minority students exhibit less positive attitudes toward diversity and multicultural studies, viewing it as a façade that does not solve the problem of intergroup conflict.  African American students in particular, “feel an extraordinary burden of having to teach their white peers about the importance of diversity”.  Ervin finds, for example, that although a majority of African American students were receptive to multicultural study courses, they felt that they were biased against African Americans, that faculty were not genuinely committed to diversity, and that such instruction did little to improve race relations.  Thus, although African American students welcomed multicultural classes they did not feel that they were accurately reflected in them.  Pewewardy and Frey support this finding.  They maintain that students of color view the racial climate on campus more negatively than white students, and seek enhanced cultural intervention. Similarly, Gloria reports that university comfort, social support, and self-beliefs were significantly interrelated and predictive of academic nonpersistence decisions among Latino undergraduates.  
Predominantly white colleges and universities can be especially culturally challenging for African American and Latino males.  Davis, for example, asserts a strong correlation between the academic performance of minority students and the racial congruency between the campus and home community.  As noted, the greater the divide in racial congruency, the lower the level of academic performance.  
The Illinois African American and Latino Higher Education Alliance (IALHEA) seeks to develop cultural capital among African American and Latino students by enhancing their understanding of the unique struggle that was borne by previous generations in the attainment of African American and Latino studies programs, and increased access to educational opportunities in the United States and Illinois. The record of this accomplishment is rich, and will advance a sense of ownership in educational institutions, and develop an increased appreciation for education among African American and Latino students.
The documentary will trace the history of the African American and Latino quest for education and will be available on-line and for use in the orientation process of academic support programs for African American and Latino students.  The purpose of the documentary is to assist African American and Latino students in understanding the importance of receiving an education, as well as their role in the continuing struggle for educational access and equity.  The foci of the first year documentary and subsequent segments to be added in future funding cycles will include:

Numerous studies have noted differential treatment of minority students on predominately white campuses.  Particularly acute are differential treatment in student faculty academic situations.  Uniformly, these studies have maintained that students who have difficulty establishing relationships with faculty, and who do not participate in campus activities and organizations are less likely to perform well academically. 
Students of color indicate a stronger belief than white students “that there should be more institutional support for ethnic minority students at the university”.  One significant level of support regards the presence of minority faculty, who “serve as advisors, mentors, and role models”.  As Pewewardy and Frey assert, “A one size fits all campus climate will never adequately support a diverse student body.”  Banerji echoes this sentiment, in her study of the Latinas Juntas (like us) program, a weekly networking and support event that provides Latina students and faculty an opportunity to “come together and discuss issues relevant to their educational success such as graduation and retention.  The program, started by two university clinical psychologists, was created after attending the annual “Latina Connection Conference at CSU-Long Beach, “where they witnessed the fostering of networking opportunities between faculty and Latina students”.  According to the psychologists, as Latinas themselves, they could relate to the “cultural and personal demands of many of their students.”  The five experiential workshops of the program include promoting self-awareness, and the role of culture and family on academic careers.  In addition to asserting the efficacy of faculty student relationships, these finding support the significance of non-cognitive variables on minority student academic performance. 
Research collaborations among African American and Latino faculty and students will serve a four purposes: 1) strengthening student support through mentoring and informal engagement; 2) encouraging the persistence of undergraduate students by developing and augmenting research and writing skills; 3) facilitating the completion of master’s theses and doctoral dissertations; and 4) providing students an outlet for research interests on matters of race and ethnicity. 
The 2007 Black and Latino Dialogue lends credence to the importance of such research collaborations.  Of the 33 faculty student research presentations at this year’s dialogue, 28 were focused on issues related to race, ethnicity and poverty.  Interestingly enough, two presentations examined issues related to minority student support on white campuses.  One presentation, entitled “University Outreach for the Social Integration of Latino Students into the College Environment,” concluded that Latino and minority resource centers lack “racial and cultural workshops and activities that call for family involvement”.  The other presentation, entitled “Nobody Gives a **** About Us: Exploring the Black Student Experience at UIC,” surveyed African American students and concluded that support services were inadequate.
African American and Latino faculty across Illinois will be encouraged to promote faculty student research collaboration with African American and Latino students.  A panel at the joint annual conference of IBCHE and ILACHE will be dedicated to developing strategies that facilitate collaborative research and mentoring relationships between faculty and students.  The faculty student research forum will showcase research efforts resulting from these collaborations and include panels on enhancing research and writing skills.  

Objective 4: Increase monitoring and accountability of Illinois public and private four-year institutions toward diversity and equity.

The significance of institutional monitoring is well documented by the IBHE annual “Report to the Governor and General Assembly on Underrepresented Groups in Illinois in Higher Education,” and the efforts of the Illinois Committee on Black Concerns in Higher Education (ICBCHE) and the Illinois Latino Council on Higher Education (ILACHE).  The joint African American and Latino report card has a threefold purpose: 1) assessing institutional progress toward diversity and equity in the enrollment, retention and graduation rates of African American and Latino students, faculty, administrators, and staff; 2) providing institutions professional expertise toward enhancing diversity and equity; and 3) holding institutions accountable through the organizational and student lobbying efforts of key administrators and legislative officials.  In doing so, the Illinois African American and Latino Higher Education Alliance (IALHEA), will extend traditional reporting efforts by assuming an advocacy role in the facilitation of access and equity throughout the state.  Data will be collected with the assistance of the Illinois Board of Higher Education, and will be analyzed in order to identify institutions that require assistance in enhancing access and equity.  The members of IBCHE, ILACHE, and IALHEA student leadership will develop a strategy to promote greater access and equity among identified institutions, and conduct meetings with relevant institutional leadership and legislative officials.

Objective 5: Advance leadership potential and peer relationships among African American and Latino students in Illinois post-secondary institutions. 

The annual African American and Latino student leadership conference is designed to enhance leadership skills among African American and Latino students; enhance peer relationships, provide a forum where students have an opportunity to dialogue about their unique experiences matriculating in Illinois post-secondary institutions; and promote student advocacy in addressing issues related to access and equity in Illinois postsecondary institutions.  The literature supports these efforts.
James (1991) asserts that formal student relationships “have provided the most significant increase in enrollment and retention of minority students, as well as increased their overall satisfaction with their educational experience.”  Dynarski and Gleason (2002) assert that peer relationships is an effective method of accomplishing overlapping goals associated with student’s personal characteristics and making school attractive and meaningful.
One common thread running through the minority student retention literature regards campus climate.  Findings suggest continuing racial tensions on predominantly white college campuses; and note that African American students, more so than Hispanic and Asian, experience on average more incidents of differential treatment in college-related situations.  Although racial tensions have become less overt, students nonetheless report the prevalence of “microaggressions—subtle insults (verbal, nonverbal, and/or visual) directed toward people of color, often automatically or unconsciously”.
In addition to providing students an outlet for their concerns, and an opportunity to develop strategies to counter current trends, the conference will enhance retention and African American and Latino student leadership throughout the state by providing students instructional workshops on:

Project Synopsis