Cal State Long Beach has seen an increase in diverse groups on campus over the last decade.
The enrollment percentage of most minority groups has either stayed the same or increased during the past years, according to Rand California.
The amount of Latinos that are not Mexican Americans at CSULB has gone up from 5.2 percent in 1997 to 7.6 percent in 2007, according to Rand. Daniela Aparicio falls into this category.
Aparicio, a junior English major at Cal State Long Beach, is an immigrant from Bolivia who first set foot in the United States when she was 12 years old.
“My parents came here to have a better future,” she said. “I want to do better than my parents so I can help them when they get older.”
Aparicio’s family had a good life in Bolivia, but her parents decided to move to the United States to give their children more opportunities.
“When [my parents] moved to a bigger city, that’s when they got their GED but that’s as far as they got,” Aparicio said. “That’s why they always told us at home that education is the key to success.”
White people are still more likely to enroll in college after high school than black and Hispanic people, and even though the enrollment of minorities is increasing, it is a slow growth, according to USA Today statistics.
Perrin Reid, the director of the Office of Equity and Diversity on campus, said cross-cultural communication is key.
“That richness of difference is very healthy for any society, especially at the university level,” Reid said.
Reid said that such diversity helps students prepare themselves for the global environment they will be working in.
“Even if you are not traveling abroad, you are communicating via e-mail across countries,” Reid said. “This will benefit students personally and professionally.”
Aparicio is part of what Reid calls the type of diversity of national origin –students who have parents who were born outside of the U.S. or students who are first generation immigrants.
The high enrollment of women is also evident at CSULB. Aparicio also falls into this category.
At CSULB, enrollment of women reached 60.4 percent of students last year. It was 57.1 percent in 1997, according to Rand California.
At major U.S. universities and colleges, the percentage of women who get a bachelor’s degree is expected to rise to 60 percent by the year 2012, according to the USA Today statistics.
Reid also said there are more types of diversity besides ethnicity and race, including sexual orientation, which may not be discussed as often.
“Obviously there are gays and lesbians who work with us who are not out because they may fear certain repercussions,” she said.
Aparicio wants to be an ESL teacher because she has been in the shoes of foreign students and knows what it is like to be new in this country and to have to learn a new language.
“I want to make a difference in students’ lives,” she said. “I also want to tell them and let them know that education is very important.”
Aparicio hopes her future students can see her as an example for them.
“I just want a better future in this country,” she said.