Latino Visitation Day Continues to Break Barriers
The Multicultural Center and other on-campus offices and organizations met and talked with over 600 students during this year's Latino Visitation Day.
Galloway, N.J. – For over three decades, Stockton University has invited local high school students to learn more about the impact of pursuing higher education.
This year’s Latino Visitation Day, hosted in the Sports Center on Nov. 18, included 600 students from 10 high schools across the state. The program featured a passionate keynote speech, a tour of the campus and opportunities to interact with current students.
As the program began, Admissions Recruiter Michelle Puerta shared that she credits the event’s founder, Heather Medina, and the Educational Opportunity Fund for helping her attend Stockton and earn her degree. “We want to show you all that there is strong Latino representation here at Stockton – no matter your background, Stockton has resources to help you succeed,” Puerta said.
During his remarks, Irvin Moreno Rodriguez, who serves as the director of the Sara & Sam Schoffer Holocaust Resource Center (HRC), revealed to the audience the various challenges he overcame as a first-generation American, including taking English-as-a-Second-Language courses as an elementary school student and navigating college applications without financial support.
It was while he was busing tables at a pizzeria when he met Gail Rosenthal, the then director of Stockton’s HRC, that his dreams of going to college became within reach. After graduating from Stockton in 2015, Moreno Rodriguez helped the center grow under Rosenthal’s leadership before her death in 2023 and became a board member of El Pueblo Unido, a nonprofit organization based in Atlantic City.
He hopes that, through sharing his story, the students in the crowd will not only be inspired to pursue their own success despite barriers but also learn to accept help and support along the way.
“Look around you: there are teachers, school administrators and people at Stockton who want you to have a high-quality education and who went out of their way to bring you here for a college experience,” Moreno Rodriguez said. “The odds are against you, but they’re not impossible. There are people out there who care about you and want to see you succeed.”
Immediately following Moreno Rodriguez’s keynote, Yamily Santana, a student of Camden Academy Charter High School, took her friends to one of the tables lining the room to get more information about the Chi Upsilon Sigma Latin Sorority on campus. She’s already looking forward to applying to Stockton and other colleges in the state.
“I really love this, seeing all of us Latinos together, and knowing that we can make anything possible. Some people might say, because of the language barrier, that we can’t, but we really can,” Santana said.
– Story by Loukaia Taylor
– Photos by Susan Allen
High Schoolers Invited to Join Campus Community
November 19, 2024
Galloway, N.J. – A typical Tuesday morning bustled with hundreds of prospective Ospreys descending upon the Sports Center for Nov. 19’s Latino Visitation Day.
All of them were ready to learn more about the various student organizations and departmental resources that create Stockton’s diverse campus community.
“We want you to know that, here at Stockton, you are not just a student – you are a member of a community that celebrates who you are and encourages you to reach your fullest potential,” Michelle Puerta, an Admissions counselor who specializes in recruiting Educational Opportunity Fund (EOF) students, said to the crowd.
Latino Visitation Day is a beloved annual tradition that invites Hispanic/Latino high schoolers from all across New Jersey to tour the Galloway campus, meet with current Stockton students, explore student organizations, such as Los Latinos Unidos, and receive guidance on what kinds of resources are available, including the offices of Career Education & Development and Financial Aid.
