What started as a group project has become a passion to promote diversity for Chin-Sook Pak's students.
Throughout the Spring Semester, students from the honors colloquium worked on the project "Mas Latinos." The project's aim was to search for ideas on how to draw more Hispanic students to Ball State University.
Sophomore psychology major Lauren Moss said the group came up with good ideas they plan on applying in the future.
"We went out to the Latino community and talked with them," she said. "We later planned on what we could do to increase the number of Latino students on campus."
The students organized focus groups, where they discussed with other students causes and solutions to why Latino students did not enroll for higher education. Some other students from the group translated some Ball State documents.
Pak said a financial aid document that has been recently translated into Spanish is being revised by faculty from the modern languages department. She said permission has been granted from the admissions office for its circulation.
"We are not sure exactly when these documents will be available," she said. "It's up to the admissions office."
Pak said the purpose of translated documents is to reach more parents whose primary language is Spanish.
"We want parents to be informed," she said. "A lot of students will be the first generation in college from a family of workers, so their parents don't know how to get through the process of filling college and financial aid applications."
Pak said the idea for the project had been in her plans for various years.
"It is rewarding now to see how students collaborated with staff and admissions members," she said. "The students were very supportive and willing to do more."
The group also is working with Project Stepping Stone, a non-profit organization that fosters leadership through education, Pak said.
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