Reflecting after the forum on his years at the College, Navarrette--author of A Darker Shade of Crimson: Odyssey of a Harvard Chicano--said he was proud of the symbolic significance of the evening's panel.

"I can't imagine a panel like this taking place [while I was at the College]," Navarrette said. "It's crucial that it's taking place now."

Some members of the audience strongly disagreed with the arrangement of the panel. Sara Hamlen, a student at KSG, was disgruntled with the weighting of the panel for Republican supporters.

"I think Republicans know they have to play catch-up. The damage [former California governor] Pete Wilson did is abundantly clear," she said.

Across the board, the panelists plugged more active Latino involvement in political processes.

Chapa, who described herself "as one of those outgoing types who talks with her hands a lot," said that "we need to look at the fact that we should have more Latinos running for office."

Jose Lopez, a student at Harvard's Extension School, said he agreed with Chapa.

"Latinos as a whole should go out and run for political positions in greater numbers than they are right now, instead of just concentrating on the vote," he said.