Findings from Mariposas con Voces

Below you will see images from the themes identified from the Mariposas con Voces cohort. These findings are a result of over 45 hours of critical discussion and 161 photos taken.

As a result of this process we identified 8 themes regarding how we define Latinx student success and how Sac State, as our HSI, can serve us. Each theme consists of representative photos and a collectively constructed narrative. These themes, and their representative photos and narratives, are presented below.

Click on each theme to be taken to a page to view each picture more closely and read the accompanying narrative.

Click Here to Read More about our Process

Themes from Mariposas con Voces

Click on each theme to be taken to a page to view each picture more closely and read the accompanying narrative.

Theme 1: Imposter Syndrome

Together these six pictures represent the imposter syndrome we feel on campus. Starting from the top left and continuing along the row read the following captions below that describe what we hope for the university and our experience:
1. They see me here without having to knock. Please reach out, interconnectedness.
2. Feeling included outside of campus places. Stores having products that are Latinx in ways that are blended, fitting in without feeling labeled as separate. The way this grocery store makes us feel like home is what we search for when attending campus.
3. Don’t feel qualified to be in this academic space but I’m here learning their ways
4. Often think about how this is a stop where I need to get off, but I have to keep going
5. For them and everyone that came before them and for everyone that comes after.
6. At your own pace, in this big space

Theme 2: Great intentions, needs attention

We have found some representation on campus but not enough. We have found representation through artwork on campus, although sometimes the stories behind the artwork are unclear. We worry that some spaces are meant to check the box for diversity and inclusion, but we do not feel that we belong. In the first picture, we see that new spaces are created, but where do Latinx students belong in these spaces? Some of us have experienced being questioned for being in particular spaces or being turned away when asking questions. In the second picture we see a place that was made for all of us, yet it is a place where we do not always feel welcome. The Mulit-cultural center is for students of all cultures but does not seem welcoming from the outside. A place meant for many yet feels hidden and unwelcoming. These are just two examples of where we have questioned Latinx visibility, but there are many more.

Theme 3. We are not connected through campus space

These three pictures highlight how many of the spaces on campus have resources on campus for students but they are not welcoming or inviting to Latinx students. Leaving the door cracked open, and only partially welcoming our goals and our hardships. There are often obstacles, or shadows, preventing us from reaching the support we need, without the hands reaching back out to us with guidance we need. Many times those that are in charge of supporting us do not understand us and therefore we feel a sense of isolation or lack of connection to the campus.

Theme 4. Student engagement & leadership is bridging our communities

Most leadership for the Latinx community begins with students and they are not institutional. Students' efforts are often leading the initiatives that bridge us. We recognize that these are not institutionalized and get lost across years of students. What does it mean if these student-led organizations that are bridging us are sporadic and not continuous? Help us guide our institution to better serve our community, we want to be part of the conversations of change. Organizations like this show us it is possible to create something permanent.

Theme 5. Community & Lack of Community

¿En dónde está mi gente? Where are our role models? There are few faculty that look like us and they can only be found in certain majors. We have multiple identities, we are diverse, yet we often label everyone as Mexican American. Few spaces for Latinx LGBTQ folks to be their authentic selves. We are forced to identify as Latinx or else we are nothing, erasing our indigeneity. Our visibility is still lacking when the fact is we have multiple identities. The institution creates many recruitment materials for us but there are few retention resources making us feel that these recruitment materials are all for show. Is the school really trying to support our success? Many of us are getting left behind. You know we are here.

Theme 6. We found our starting point

We are headed in the right direction, taking one step forward but two steps backwards. There are some resources for us but we have to search for them. El que no busca, no encuentra. When we begin to use them they disappear with little to no transparency as to why. It’s not clear how funding is used to support us because the resources that we do need are not the ones that the university continues to provide. When they remove these resources or hide them, we must ask ourselves, do they want us to succeed? How do we give attention to resources that help us? Let’s build more.

Theme 7. Empowerment & Perseverance

“Empower Latinx/Chicanx Community”: this simple phrase of four words shows the desire and crave students and all members of this community seek. Although the chalk phrase is anonymous and was spontaneously found, it encompasses so many layers, such as empowerment, vulnerability, and potential for change. We become empowered as we connect with each other and become vulnerable. There are voices in our community who also want to be/feel empowered. We acknowledge our community can lift us up but at times we fail to come together.

Perseverance: They tried to bury us but they didn’t know that we were seeds. Even in the places that create challenges for us and despite our hardships and the difficulties we face, through the ugly, we persevere on our own.

Theme 8. How they perceive us & what are their assumptions?

We question how others perceive us on campus. You think you know me, but you don’t ask me who I am truly. Our foods perceived by others are not ours, authenticity is missing because others speak for us. The Sac State HSI webpage does not represent the diverse Latinx community and appears it is something thrown together with little effort. It is talking about how it serves “Hispanic” students, but they don’t show tangible results. The Latinx community needs better representation through the website.

We have been stereotyped, profiled or discriminated against on campus. A dim light has shined upon our true identities, but when you see us on campus, who do you really see?