Francisco Leal and Dr. Sonia Molina recently hosted a Sunday-afternoon barbecue for alumni of the East Coast Chicano Student Forum.
The ECCSF is an alliance of Chicano and Latino student-based organizations from East Coast colleges and universities.
The ECCSF was established in 1972 through the efforts of a few dedicated Chicanos and Chicanas from Ivy League schools. It now encompasses over 22 colleges and universities.
Many Chicano alumni in Southern California attended college on the East Coast. The Jan. 18 event at Leal and Molina's Hancock Park home brought together about 50 dynamic individuals who could meet or reconnect -- and help continue building the ECCSF tradition of community.
(Photo, from left: Alma Flores of Cornell; Francisco Leal of Harvard & Yale; Jose Huizar of Princeton; and Paul Aguilar of Brown.)
Guests included alumni and current students from the Ivy League and other East Coast colleges.
The crowd heard from Bronx native and Cornell alumna Luivete Resto, who shared some passages from her first book of poems titled "Unfinished Portrait." Her poem "What are you?" recounts her experience as a Latina Ivy League student in New York who was constantly asked about her ethnic background, and how she coped with finding her own identity in college. Afterward, she signed copies of her book.
Toward the end of the evening,
L.A. Councilmember José Huizar spoke to the crowd about his role as an advocate for Latino students pursuing a college education on the East Coast.
Huizar received his master's degree in urban planning from the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton University and now serves on the Board of Trustees at Princeton.
He also spoke about his experience as one of the first Latino Trustees at Princeton and offered words of encouragement to current college students to continue their studies and reach their goals.
Francisco Leal is an active participant of the ECCSF and a strong advocate for Latinos in higher education. As an alumnus of Roosevelt High School in East Los Angeles, he recognizes the need for more Latino representation in the nation's best colleges and universities.
After graduating from Roosevelt High School, Leal received his undergraduate degree from Yale University in '83 and his law degree from Harvard University in '86. Francisco's wife Dr. Sonia Molina is also a very active member of the ECCSF. She received her doctorate in medical dentistry and master's in public health from Harvard University in '98.
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