Historical Perspective:

Historically, campus cultural centers have focused on giving college students a safe space and comfortable environment, through which they can feel a sense of security and belonging within the larger college community.  At their inception, many of these offices/centers devoted a great deal of time to community-building within their target populations, and social and cultural events that could bring students together.  As more students of color began attending colleges and universities in larger numbers, the critical factor of academic support, retention and graduation became a focus of the colleges and universities.  Oftentimes, the cultural centers were not prepared to deal with student academic challenges and difficulties, because they were not designed to do so.  Much of the burden of dealing with academic challenges for students of color fell on faculty members, advisers and deans of students.  Over time, many of these cultural centers ended up closing their doors, as the critical academic issues took the forefront in student needs, as opposed to the ethnic/cultural/social sense of belonging that these centers provided.

By contrast, the Chicano/Latino Student Affairs Center of the Claremont Colleges is an office that has shifted its focus over time, to accommodate the academic needs of students, and to help insure the retention and graduation of Chicano/Latino students at
the five Colleges.  Such has been the focus of this office that the numbers for retention and graduation of our students speak highly to the success that this office has had as
part of the academic partnership that has been at work, in retaining and graduating students.  Although CLSA has always chosen to maintain a social/cultural/ethnic component to its programming and being, the fact that Latino students are coming to
the Claremont Colleges and successfully graduating in high numbers indicates that the academic focus of this office is on point.

In 1996, under the leadership of Mitch Dorger, what was then Claremont University
Center went through an extensive strategic planning process involving all programs and departments under its auspices.  This process lasted until 1998.  The paradigm shift resulting from this self-evaluation process was an effort to make sure that CUC services were integrated with and supported the academic mission of the Colleges.  During this time, the Student Deans Committee, in conjunction with the Council of Presidents,
supported the planning process and the specific shift to academic support and retention as the focus and mission for CLSA.