Come January 2025, UCLA will have a Latinx Success Center.

In December 2020, then-Chancellor Gene Block and then-Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost Emily Carter announced the university’s plans to achieve federal Hispanic-Serving Institution status by 2025. The status requires 25% of the university’s enrolled students to be Hispanic and would make UCLA eligible to receive special federal funding.

Hispanic students currently make up 22% of UCLA’s student population.

[Related: UCLA announces new efforts to be designated as a Hispanic-Serving Institution]

Following the announcement of UCLA’s intention to become an HSI, a task force was commissioned to determine how the university can achieve the goal. A report published by the task force in spring 2022 recommended the creation of a resource center for Latinx students.

Claudia Salcedo, the assistant vice provost for academic partnerships, said she will oversee the launch of the center – which will be located on the first floor of De Neve Birch – in January.

The LSC will act as a location for accessing campus resources and providing guidance to Latinx students, said Kimberly Barrueta, a student liaison for the HSI Task Force.

Elizabeth Gonzalez – the director of HSI initiatives at UCLA – said the center may offer mentorship for graduate and professional schools and scholarship programs, with Salcedo adding that there may also be programs to bring awareness to research opportunities.

The center will be a “one-stop shop” for Latinx students to access resources and get important information, Barrueta said.

The physical layout of the center will include offices for administrative and programming staff, desks with outlets for students to study in, a lounge, a space with movable tables, and a screen for events, workshops and presentations, Salcedo said. The LSC will also have appliances for students to use, such as a refrigerator and a microwave, she added.

Barrueta added that there will also be a free, culturally comprehensive pantry stocked with food unique to the Latinx community in the center.

The center will collaborate with different campus partners, such as the First to Go program, to promote events and resources for Latinx students, Salcedo said.

“This would be a space that we’re able to use for multiple functions,” Salcedo said.

Diego Emilio Bollo, a general representative on the Undergraduate Students Association Council, said he assisted in organizing a town hall to gather student feedback for the center. He added that the center will host cultural events organized by staff and Latino student organizations.

Barrueta said she and her co-liaison Daniela Cortez Bravo held groups with students to ask about their needs and what they wanted to see in the center.

The students will also directly contribute to the physical space of the LSC by creating a mural with alumnus and artist Barbara Carrasco that depicts the history of the Latinx community at UCLA, Salcedo said.

Salcedo added that it is important to have the Latinx Success Center considering the underrepresentation of Latinx and Hispanic students in higher education. According to a 2024 report by Excelencia in Education, Latinos are more likely to be first-generation college students compared to other racial and ethnic groups.

The retention rates for Hispanic students are also lower than that of their counterparts. According to Excelencia in Education, at four-year institutions in California, Hispanic students had a graduation rate of around 12 percentage points lower than that of white non-Hispanic peers.

“It’s not only difficult to get here (UCLA), but it’s also difficult to stay here as a Latino student,” said Bollo, a third-year labor studies and political science student.

The LSC still faces some challenges, and its current location is not permanent, Salcedo said. Gonzalez added that they are still looking for a more permanent campus location.

The center also currently has no permanent funding, Salcedo said.

The startup funds for the center’s construction and furniture came from the Office of the Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost after Hunt committed to starting the center in February, Gonzalez said. The funding for the center’s first three years of operation will come from an endowed gift, she added.

Gonzalez said the university is looking for new and diverse streams of funding, such as permanent funding from the university, endowments and federal grants once UCLA reaches HSI status.

Katelyn Alvarado, one of the co-chairs for Hermanas Unidas at UCLA – a community organization supporting Chicana and Latina students in higher education – said Latinx students face outside pressures that put them in disadvantaged positions to succeed. Alvarado added that many Latino students feel like they need to work rather than go to school.

Fernando Lezama, co-chair of Hermanos Unidos at UCLA – which also seeks to support Latino students in higher education, said Latinos often do not have many male figures in higher education to look up to.

“The educational route isn’t something that is pushed onto us growing up as much,” said Lezama, a fourth-year public health student.

The HSI Task Force members had community struggles in mind when planning the Latinx Success Center, Salcedo said. She added that using the term “success” in the center’s title was intentional, as it implies that the Latinx community will achieve its highest potential.

“We want a center that highlights the success and promise that our students bring and that we as UCLA have a responsibility to help them fulfill,” Gonzalez said.

There is also hope that the Latinx Success Center will help build community between all Latinx students due to the community’s diversity, she said.

“Latino is such a broad aspect,” Lezama said. “It’s a big umbrella that covers so many different cultures and backgrounds. But just having a base here on campus that acknowledges all of them would make campus feel more at home and make people feel like they belong a bit more.”

Gonzalez said students are looking for a place where they can feel at home, adding that the center will provide that. She added that she hopes UCLA can become a “model of inclusive excellence” that other highly selective institutions can look to as a guide for academic innovation.

“It is not a remediation center,” she said. “It is a center of thriving.”