With Latinos comprising a growing segment of University of California graduates, a UC-wide alumni association has sprung up that is giving back to the university, while offering networking and support for its growing base.
The statewide UC Chicanx Latinx Alumni Association is a labor of love in creating a voice to advocate for and lift up the Chicano/Latino community within the UC system, said co-founder Lupé Gallegos-Díaz.
UC CLAA began in 2017 following discussions between Gallegos-Díaz, a UC Berkeley alum and director of the campus’s Chicanx Latinx Student Development Center, and Neptaly “Taty” Aguilera, a UC Davis alum and board member of the Davis-Cal Aggie Alumni Association.
“We dreamed that it would be amazing if we brought all these educated Latinos under one umbrella collectively to advocate and give back to the campus and UC system that gave us these life-transforming opportunities,” said Gallegos-Díaz. “So, we decided to work with all the UC Chicano Latino Alumni Associations of each campus.”
Today, the group has grown into the first alumni constituency association of color in the University of California’s history and is collaborating with UC Alianza MX, an organization that fosters UC’s role as the primary scientific and research partner to México. The two organizations are co-hosting a summit in México City from October 4-6, 2023, with a focus on some of UC’s key priorities, including health equity, climate change and binational innovation and entrepreneurship.
Dr. Mark Diaz, UC Davis/UCSF alum and chair of the Board of Directors of the National Hispanic Health Foundation, will moderate several conversations on binational health initiatives, which are supported across UC. One such initiative is based at UC Davis and provides students an opportunity to study transnational health issues through internships in hospitals and clinics in Oaxaca, Mexico.
“Diseases know no borders,” Dr. Diaz said. “Events like this will provide the necessary dialogue to create programs that will improve the health care of the Spanish-speaking communities of California.”
The summit’s other keynote speakers include state Senator Monique Limón (UC Berkeley alum), who represents the 19th Senate District, covering Santa Barbara and Ventura counties; Alfonso R. Salazar (UC Berkeley alum), current University of California Alumni Regent-designate and former Acting Undersecretary for the California Trade and Commerce Agency under Gov. Gray Davis; and Jorge Silva, the associate vice president for communications for the UC system.
The event is something of a return to UC CLAA’s roots. The group held its first summit in 2017 at Casa de California/Casa de la Universidad de California, UC’s home away from home in México City.
This year’s summit returns to Casa de California in an anniversary celebration, with UC CLAA marking its seventh year and Casa de California embarking on its third decade. For the last 20 years, programs at Casa de California (today unified under UC Alianza MX) have helped students, faculty and staff from across UC engage in collaborations with their Mexican counterparts and has fostered binational collaboration and research projects addressing our shared needs. There are approximately 5,000 UC alumni living and working in the greater México City area; the summit returns every two to three years.
To learn more about the summit, please visit the summit webpage here. Learn about UC CLAA and stay updated on future events here.
Note: This year’s México City summit is sold out, but UC CLAA invites all alumni to future events; the next summit is planned for UCLA on Saturday, December 9, 2023. Details to come.
Learn more:
