By Anabel Costa
The journey to starting a new chapter of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists at UC Santa Barbara began when fourth year Sociology major, Fabiola Esqueda, felt alone. Esqueda is the video editor for the student publication The Bottom Line and had enrolled in Writing Program journalism classes. “When I looked in the room, there was probably one other person who was non-white,” she said of one of her journalism classes here on campus.
From left to right: vice President Noey Padilla, and president Fabiola Esqueda
This prompted her to work with writing lecturer Nomi Morris to begin the process of opening a chapter of the NAHJ right here on campus, which was officially recognized by the national organization in early January. At an inaugural meeting last spring Esqueda was elected as the first president for the group.
The NAHJ is an organization that supports minority Hispanic, Chicano and Latinx journalists -- to have a voice, share their stories, and have a group with which to organize and network. It has an active youth division with campus chapters around the country. The only requirement to join the UCSB chapter is a $25 annual fee to the national organization, which opens the door to many internship and employment opportunities.
Opening this chapter at UCSB is just the first step, but the start-up group has big plans for the future, says vice president Noey Padilla, who is a fourth year Philosophy major. Padilla says he wants to see NAHJ become “a very serious organization here on campus. So we can have a place where people of the Hispanic culture can come and say ‘Hey, we don’t like how we were represented in this article,’ and then we can be that powerful force to have a voice.”
Padilla says the chapter will give Latinx journalists a place to take that story, write it, and repost it. “We can be the middleman to pass it on,” he said. Looking past the immediate goals, Esqueda and Padilla want to lay down the groundwork for future Latinx journalists who come after them.
Core members of the new UCSB chapter of the National Association for Hispanic Journalists gather for their January meeting. Faculty adviser Nomi Morris, a Writing Program lecturer, is in the back row, middle.
Though the UCSB chapter of NAHJ has officially launched with 12 members, the number of interested students is growing quickly. “I think there is a demand and a want for this organization, it’s just getting it out there,” Padilla said. “You can be in a newsroom and be like, ‘Wow, I’m the only person of color here.’” This alienation is widely felt, he says, and the group hopes to provide a “safe” space for student journalists from all campus publications, and open a door into the larger community for future aspiring Latinx journalists.
Both Padilla and Esqueda want the campus community to know that they are open to adapting it to what the group wants and needs. Some people who join the chapter may not identify with the word “Hispanic,” for example, and prefer terms other than that in the title of the national umbrella organization. “While we may not agree with the term,” Padilla said, “it at least brought us together.”
The focus, they say, is on empowerment and serving the community. “I want students to come and tell us what they expect from this association,” Esqueda said. “And we’re going to work really hard to make sure that every person feels welcome, and that every voice is heard.”
Anabel Costa is a third year Theater major. She is a Web and Social Media intern for the Division of Humanities and Fine Arts.