Photo by Rick Steele

Saturday, April 9

AU alumna and California congresswoman Loretta Sanchez ’84 (D-Calif.) provided an inspirational keynote address to more than 100 local Latino high school students at last Saturday’s seventh annual Latino Youth Conference in the Mary Graydon Center. Sponsored by the Latino and American Student Organization, the daylong conference offered workshops to help attendees overcome challenges that, according to the conference’s organizers, currently prevent 84 percent of Latino high school graduates from earning a four-year degree before their 29th birthday. According to Anthony Valdez ’06 who codirected the event, however, Sanchez’s address may prove even more important to the students’ futures than the practical workshops on navigating financial aid and developing leadership skills. “It means so much for them just to hear from someone who came from the same situation and achieved a position of such prestige,” explained Valdez. —MG