Student group leaders said the prize is a positive move, but more should be done to promote Latino studies.
“In a way, it is legitimizing Latino Studies and the study of ethnic groups as a whole,” said RAZA President Priscilla J. Orta ’05. “I don’t think of this as a dramatic breakthrough, but it is a step in the right direction.”
President of Fuerza Latina Wendy Caceres ’04 called the introduction of the prize “a good step...The University finally realized that it is an important area of study, at some level at least.”
But Orta said that she thought there was more to be done in the improvement of Latino studies at Harvard.
“I’m hoping that all the little steps that are happening on campus...will lead to bigger things, especially in the hiring of Latino studies faculty, classes and certificates in Latino studies,” she said.