Mission & History

The objectives of the OU Latinx Coalition shall be to:

• Advocate on behalf of Latinx/a/o students through mentoring; supporting personal, academic, and professional experiences; provide scholarship opportunities; participate in cultural celebrations; encourage and support civic engagement for Latino communities
• Serve as a resource for Latinx/a/o students, faculty, and staff members at the University of Oklahoma
• Provide educational engagement for the university setting to inform about the state of the Latino community in the hopes of improving the status overall in higher education
• Support, collaborate and encourage initiatives of students and campus allies interested in promoting cultural and awareness of Latinos
• Promote among our members awareness of issues within our community such as legal, political, and social dynamics both local and statewide

This program draws from an important history at The University of Oklahoma, a tradition of Latinx achievement and pride and a strong link to the life and culture of the Americas.

The University of Oklahoma has long been the home of remarkable Latinx students and faculty. Its most illustrious student was Tomás Rivera from Crystal City, Texas.  Graduating with an OU Ph.D. in 1969, he became a world-renown novelist and educational leader, a figure whose work marked the 1970s on-set of the Chicano Renaissance in culture and the arts. A gifted administrator and one of the greatest of Chicano/a writers, Rivera maintains a presence at OU in the annual Tomás Rivera Educational Empowerment conference, a program that annually brings to OU hundreds of under-served high-school students from around the state for a day of orientation to college life. 

At OU from the 1930s, 1940s, and beyond were many Latinx faculty contributed to OU in important ways.  Two examples are the visionary painters and artists Patricio Gimeno and Emilio Amero, artists and educators internationally known for their contributions to the art world. Their brilliant work has brought renown to OU, and their paintings and murals are still hanging in many OU buildings.

OU’s Latinx Studies program proudly continues this tradition with a home in the College of Arts and Sciences and with the support of eleven humanities and social sciences departments across OU. Today there are many extraordinary Latinx faculty and students on this campus who are destined to be the leaders of tomorrow.