1970: A Breakthrough year
http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-mil-uwmac0214
The year 1970 proved to be one of the most important years in the history of Hispanic-Americans, especially those living in Wisconsin. In that fateful year, Latinos made up four percent of the U.S. population (Monforti), and were easy targets to discriminate against. At the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee, the Latino student population began to make clear a problem that lingered across the entire United States: Hispanics were falling behind in every major educational category in the country, and had been for decades. Much of this was due to the fact that this group generally had less access to resources than their white or Asian counterparts, and often never made it to college in the first place (Ellison). However, for the ones that did make it that far, the road in college proved to be just as bumpy as the one that got them there. Hispanics struggled at UWM due to largely the same factors they faced before: discrimination, lack of opportunity, and a system that discouraged their success. Apparently fed up with this lack of progress, Latino activism spawned at UWM, leading to a renewed culture of learning and respect amongst Hispanic students. Not only did it help bridge the gap between Latinos and non-Latinos, but it also raised the expectations that Latinos held for themselves and for each other. The documents below are just some examples of how the Hispanic community forced the hand of Chancellor J. Martin Klotsche and his entire administration to finally aid the Latino student population in any way possible. These brave and passionate students ignited change that eventually spread across the nation.