Left to right: Joshua Keizer of Beacon, N.Y.; and Grace Vazquez, coordinator of CSTEP; Kelsey Cueto of Hopewell Junction, N.Y.; Yonara Espinal of Brooklyn, N.Y.; Dianna Gonzalez of Newburgh, N.Y.; Victoria Lopez of Mahopac, N.Y.; Ingrid Taveras, director of HEOP/CSTEP; Jazmine Pagoada of the Bronx, N.Y.; and Jazmin Santana, assistant director of HEOP/CSTEP.
Six Mount Saint Mary College students from the Higher Education Opportunity Program (HEOP) and the Collegiate Science and Technology Entry Program (CSTEP) represented the Mount at the National Conference on Race and Ethnicity in Higher Education (NCORE) in Portland, Ore.
The NCORE conference is a comprehensive national forum on issues of race and ethnicity in higher education. The recent conference focused on creating and sustaining institutional change designed to improve racial and ethnic relations on college campuses, and to expand opportunities for educational access and success by culturally diverse, traditionally underrepresented populations.
The Mount group attended STEM and diversity and inclusion workshop sessions, enjoyed lectures, and participated in exhibition and networking events. They also had the opportunity to connect with students and faculty from institutions from all over the United States.
“I had a great experience on the NCORE trip,” noted Mount student Joshua Keizer of Beacon, N.Y. “It was a fruitful week filled with reflection [and] leadership training. One of my favorite sessions was the ‘Student Social Justice Institute.’ In this session, we discussed the power that we, as students, have to invoke change on our campuses and in our communities. I’m excited to incorporate all the great things I learned at NCORE into my time at the Mount.”
In addition to Keizer, the Mount attendees were Kelsey Cueto of Hopewell Junction, N.Y.; Yonara Espinal of Brooklyn, N.Y.; Dianna Gonzalez of Newburgh, N.Y.; Victoria Lopez of Mahopac, N.Y.; and Jazmine Pagoada of the Bronx, N.Y. They were joined by Ingrid Taveras, director of HEOP/CSTEP; Jazmin Santana, assistant director of HEOP/CSTEP; and Grace Vazquez, coordinator of CSTEP.
The Mount’s HEOP provides educational opportunities and support to traditionally underserved students who have strong academic potential, but would otherwise be excluded from higher education due to circumstances of academic and economic disadvantage.
The Mount’s CSTEP works to increase the number of underrepresented students who possess strong academic and personal potential to pursue careers in mathematics, science, technology, health-related fields or a licensed profession.