The Blue Promise: El Centro Celebrates Milestone First Anniversary

Photo by Sophia Haraus

On Monday, Sept. 16, students, faculty, and administration gathered to kick off Hispanic Heritage Month and celebrate the first anniversary of El Centro de la Promesa Azul.

Located on the lower level of Niebuhr Hall, El Centro has been a staple on campus for the short time it’s been around, with the center opening its doors to all students and not only providing a place for students to relax and get some work done, but expanding to include a variety of services. These offerings include, but are not limited to: mental, emotional, and physical wellness programming; tutoring services; financial literacy; career planning, and student-led events.

El Centro opened its doors for all members of the Elmhurst University community to come celebrate this hallmark milestone. From joyful music playing throughout the event, to a variety of different snacks and goodies available to enjoy, and even a taco truck, the celebration had a little something for everyone. The welcoming atmosphere of El Centro and its staff made the anniversary a resounding success.

On Sept. 10, El Centro was honored in a DuPage County Board proclamation, exemplifying the center’s value and efforts in serving EU’s Hispanic, underserved and first-generation students, cultivating students to become the best versions of themselves inside and outside the classroom.

As of the 2020 Census, DuPage County has a Hispanic/Latinx population of approximately 15% and the number continues to climb each year. In honor of Hispanic Heritage Month, the proclamation seeks to recognize and celebrate the continuous role Hispanic Americans have played in strengthening our country, while also paying respect to institutions such as El Centro that echo these sentiments each and every day.

“I’ve seen the impact that it’s had for students to see folks that look, act, and sound like them, and the programming that is more culturally relevant and based,” Candia-Thompson stated. “And I think it’s more important now more than ever that we continue to create those spaces for students to challenge popular narratives, but then also to challenge what it means to be an Elmhurst student.”

More crucial than ever, representation is not a want, but a need for students, and El Centro strives to create an inclusive environment students can call home. In its first year alone, El Centro has solidified itself as a necessary resource for students, and most importantly, has become a nest for Bluejays from all walks of life.

Venezia Munoz, Class of 2025, has a unique perspective on the mission of El Centro as both an everyday student and student worker for the center.

“Having access to a place like El Centro means being in an environment where I feel supported, accepted, and ultimately, myself,” Munoz explained. “The staff here are very welcoming and supportive in every way. El Centro has helped me grow academically, through the various programs they offer, and personally, by always making me feel welcomed and valued.”

Themes of acceptance and belonging radiate through El Centro, and it is a space that makes it easy for students to be who they truly are. No matter what, the center is a place students can turn to for something as major as a family emergency to something as small as a place to hang out with friends.

Back in January 2022, the university gained Hispanic-Serving Institution status, as more than one-quarter of the student population identified as Hispanic/Latinx.

Later, in October 2022, the university received a Title V Developing Hispanic-Serving Institutions grant, a highly competitive grant aimed at Hispanic Serving Institutions, totaling $3.4 million over a five-year period. With this funding, the institution has supported a variety of different causes, such as allowing 23 students to participate in “high impact” experiences like internships and undergraduate research programs, the opening of El Centro last fall, and the hiring and onboarding of El Centro’s very own staff.

In a press release from the Office of Marketing and Communications, it was noted that since El Centro’s opening, students have made over 1,000 visits, 70 appointments have been booked in collaboration with the Learning Center and Bilingual program, and 10 different families have been connected to resources through El Centro’s Family University initiative.

From the moment of its inception, El Centro has been a catalyst for positive change at EU, and it’s all thanks to the much-needed support via the grant and the hardworking staff that works day in and day out to mold El Centro into an Elmhurst success story.

“We are now a more permanent picture when we do orientation, when there’s campus tours, and that our students also then see themselves as belonging more to Elmhurst,” Candia-Thompson reinforced. “They belonged before, but now they just belong with people that look, act, and sound like them in culturally representative ways.”