The Latino community is making its presence known at Iowa State.

Two organizations, ISU Latino Council and the Latino Faculty/Staff Association, have recently been created to serve Latino students and faculty.

The ISU Latino Council, which formed in January, is a student organization designed to “provide an environment in which Latinos succeed academically and socially,” said Susana Rundquist, program assistant for the Office of Minority Affairs.

The Council expresses the interests of the ISU Latino students, who are among the most under-represented on campus, she said. The Council consists of different committees to aid students, including peer counseling and mentoring, and to inform the student body about the Latino culture with events like Hispanic Heritage Month, Rundquist said.

The Latino Faculty/Staff Association was formed a year ago to serve as a forum of discussion for issues pertinent to the Latino community. The association consists of faculty and staff of Hispanic background who are working to improve conditions for the Latino community at ISU, she said.

Susan Vega-Garcia, a professor in the library department, said the association “promotes the presence and status of Latinos on campus” and gives faculty and staff the opportunity to network.

Hector Avalos, chairman of the U.S. Latino Studies Program, said the ISU Latino Council and the Latino Faculty/Staff Association are means to make the Latino voices on campus heard and to bring in more Latino students.

Latinos are the fastest growing ethnic group in the United States but only constitute one to two percent of Iowa State undergraduates. Avalos and other Latino faculty hope these numbers will increase by improved recruitment and the hiring of additional Latino studies professors.

“ISU is at a loss if it doesn’t realize the impact that Latinos are having,” Avalos said.

Avalos said the academic environment for Latinos is improving. Since the creation of the Latino Studies program in 1994, a new professor has been added and classes have been steadily growing, he said.

Avalos said he believes racial problems involving Latinos are due mostly to a lack of education about Hispanic culture.

As the student body continues to be informed about Latinos on campus, the different ethnic groups can finally put their differences aside, he said. “Ethnicity is not just black and white.”