A junior in the College of Arts and Sciences, Arlene Fernandez is pursuing a double major in sociology and urban studies. She is also minoring in Latin American and Latino studies. She plans to continue her studies at the graduate level, working toward a Ph.D. in sociology with a concentration in Latino Studies. Eventually, she hopes to teach at the university level or work with young Latinos in the New York City public school system.
Arlene's heritage is very important to her and while at Penn she has been an active member of the University's growing Latino community. Last year, she served as political chair of the Latino Coalition, an organization that represents 18 of Penn's Latino groups. According to Arlene, these groups "have historically lacked a voice on campus" so serving as their mouthpiece was an especially rewarding experience for her. She was also a participant in Student Movement for Change, a University groups dedicated to boosting campus diversity. Her involvement in the groups allowed her to advocate on behalf of an issue she feels especially strongly about: increasing minority recruitment and retention at Penn.
In addition to working through existing organizations to advance Latino issues, Arlene also helped build new resources for Penn's Latino community. She is proud to have co-founded Grupo Quisqueyano, "the first and only Dominican student interest groups at Penn" and to serve as its vice president this year. She has also been a key figure in the formation of the Latino Dialogue Institute and was named a board member for the 2004-2005 academic year. The Institute, which Arlene describes as "a milestone for Latinos at Penn," is a forum for discussion of issues of interest to Latinos at Penn. "I hope the Institute will grow," says Arlene, "and become an important component of student life for Penn's Latino population." On top of all that, she also found time to intern at La Casa Latina, Penn's Center for Hispanic Excellence. She describes her work there as "very exciting. It was wonderful to be actively involved in the center's programs and make them happen."
Despite Arlene's active and fulfilling life outside of class, she tells us that her favorite aspect of Penn is its academics. She values the "excellent classes" she has taken but also appreciates the freedom that she has had to "explore different fields while deciding what I would like to focus on." In fact, she point to Representations of the Holocaust, a class that had little to do with her core academic areas, as her favorite.
