Center for Mexican American Studies

Initiative:	Center for Mexican American Studies
University:	UH, College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences
Focus:	Urban/Minority Education

A state-of-the-art building to house the UH Mexican American Studies Research and Cultural Center.

The new building will house the center's proposed policy institute, which will focus its research on recruitment and retention in higher education, immigration, and interethnic relations.

The building will house the Retention and Graduation Corridor to facilitate the recruitment, retention, and graduation of students. The corridor will consist of tutoring and counseling rooms, a library, a student lounge, and a computer laboratory.

The building will have an auditorium/performance hall and art gallery, providing space for the center's college career days, for the area's Mexican American and Latino arts groups, and to attract major artists and artistic groups from Mexico and Latin America.

The building will house the administrative offices of the Institute for Immigration Research and Arte Público Press, which in turn will enhance the research and performance arts envisioned for the center.

The building will have classrooms and house the administrative offices of the Mexican American Studies Research and Cultural Center.

A building of this nature will attract Mexican American faculty and graduate students from throughout the country and will strengthen existing departments and graduate studies programs. In addition, the facility and its programs will attract the growing Mexican American and Latino high school student population in the local service area and support the university's effort to maintain a stable student population. This is important given the dramatic growth in the Mexican-origin population and the great need to improve their educational attainment.

The building will enhance UH's standing as a premier research institution and as a national leader in Mexican American studies.

$12 Million