ilp firnlg ®ar
Estrada campaigns
by dancing in the Pit
To hold sympo
sium for Latinos
BY MATT SAMPSON
STAFF WRITER
As campaign flyers, buttons
and stickers spread around cam
pus for the presidential race, some
students are looking at a different
race.
And one Homecoming queen
has taken anew approach to cam
paigning salsa dancing.
The Essentials
Senior Sophia Estrada, a sociol
ogy and linguistics double major
from Charlotte, danced the tra
ditional Latin American dance in
the Pit last week with members of
her campaign team for her 2008
Homecoming queen bid.
And Estrada said her Latino
heritage is a crucial part of her
campaign, providing it with focus
and purpose.
“I am very active in the Latino
community,” Estrada said. “I
wanted to do something with
what I’ve learned from differ
ent Latino organizations at the
school.”
Estrada said she decided to
come to UNC after looking at a
large variety of colleges across the
country.
After visiting campus in April
during her senior year of high
school, Estrada said she fell in love
with UNC because of the diversity
of its student body.
“I love the diversity found at
Carolina,” Estrada said.
“I’ve learned and grown so
much at UNC because of its diver
sity and everything the school
offers.
“That’s why I feel being
Homecoming queen would be a
great opportunity - this would be
a wonderful outlet to benefit the
Latino community.”
Having a student’s perspec
tive was also very important for
Estrada in making her choice, she
said.
“My decision was very last
minute,” Estrada said. “The last
trip I made, I came up to visit a
friend and he gave me a tour of
campus.
“That’s when I said this is really
the place for me.”
UNC senior
Sophia
Estrada
is a candi
date for 2008
Homecoming
queen.
The Project
Estrada said her campaign is
mostly centered on her service
project
She plans to extend the
University’s outreach to mem
bers of the Latino community in
a day-long symposium for high
school students in the surround
ing area.
“I want Latino students to come
to the college and learn about the
importance of education,” she
said. “It lets them consider their
college and professional lives after
high school.”
High school students invited to
the University will have the oppor
tunity to ask both academic profes
sionals and the UNC community
alike general questions about the
college experience.
The students will attend work
shops, learn how to apply to col
lege and have the opportunity to
ask questions about applying for
financial aid, taking the SAT and
other general questions about
admission and scholarships.
Estrada’s project has similari
ties to Project Uplift, a two-day
conference for minority students
held every spring by the Office of
Diversity and Multicultural Affairs
and the Office of Undergraduate
Admissions.
And Estrada said that although
she attended Project Uplift dur
ing her senior year of high school,
it was only part of the inspiration
for her project
Most of her inspiration came
from her work with first-genera
tion Latino families who hope to
send their children to college for
the first time.
“I’m not necessarily trying to
encourage students to go to UNC,
but to give people an incentive to
get more education in general,” she
said.
“At my high school there weren’t
many Hispanics who went to UNC
or to college at all.”
Estrada said first-generation
Latinos might not always know the
ins and outs of the complex financ
Homecoming 2008
Latino high school
student symposium
► Latino high-schoolers will be
invited to the University to ask
questions about education.
► Facilitators wHI discus college
applications, taking the SAT and
scholarsips.
► The goal of the preyed is
to promote diversity at the
University by opening doors. • A :
Vote between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m.
Wednesday on campus or online.
ing involved in going to college.
And because North Carolina has
one of the fastest growing Latino
populations, Estrada said the
University could do more to reach
out to the community.
She said a centralized location
on campus for Latino issues would
provide focused support to the
community.
“I think a Latino center would
be a great idea. I’m very supportive
of it,” she said. “Having that center
would really open the University
up.”
The Campaign
In addition to salsa dancing in
the Pit, Estrada has been cam
paigning by posting flyers around
campus and through online
resources.
Her Facebook group has reached
more than 250 members.
Estrada said the campaign pro
cess has been facilitated well so far
by the UNC Board of Elections,
who have quickly answered all
of her questions about election
rules.
At the same time, Estrada said
the campaign has been personally
challenging as she tries to balance
the obligations of a busy senior
with her campaign work.
“I had a lot of midterms last
week, so that was a really busy time
for me,” she said.
“But we have been reaching out
and my friends have been awe
some.”
Senior Writer Matthew Price
contributed reporting.
Contact the University Editor
at udesk@unc.edu.
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2008
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