UMD's Latinx paper, “La Voz Latina” reestablishes itself with a new name
The front page of the first-ever edition of La Voz Latina in September 1987. It features the work of the late Puerto Rican artist, Rafael Tufiño Figueroa. (University Archives)
For the past 32 years, La Voz Latina was the University of Maryland's only Latinx newspaper.
With a very irregular publishing schedule, its mission aimed "to covering both the Latinx community on the University of Maryland campus and broader issues that affect Latinos nationwide."
La Voz Latina was known for its pieces on the celebration of Latino Heritage Month, the University of Maryland's Multicultural Greek Council, and the highly-debated topic of immigration and how it affects Maryland students.
It had a special print edition in November of 2012 titled "Getting the Latino Vote" that emphasized the importance of the Latinx vote in the 2012 U.S. presidential election.
The University of Maryland's University Archives, which collects and stores material related to the history of the University of Maryland, describes La Voz Latina as an "irregularly published student newspaper targeted at the University of Maryland Latino community." The archives contain issues of the paper dating back to September 1987.
In a 1991 edition, the editors wrote that the real purpose of La Voz Latina was "to diffuse knowledge about our Latin American cultures which transcend political and geographical boundaries despite their diversity" and "to promote an awareness of Latino values and needs."
However, the lack of retention from writers, support from the Office of Multi-Ethnic Student Education (OMSE), and time to find a replacement editor-in-chief, the newspaper saw its last post in 2015. Journalism major José Mauricio Umaña joined the paper in 2012 as a staff writer and then became the editor-in-chief in 2014 and 2015.
"Everyone who was on La Voz Latina as editors were either graduate students about to graduate or upperclassmen about to graduate. There were undergraduate student writers, but they were mainly JOUR320 students with clip requirements. They usually did not stick around after the semester," Umaña stated.
He also mentioned another factor that led to the abandonment of La Voz Latina was its identity crisis.
"When we brought La Voz Latina back, we wanted it to be an integral part of three places: the Philip Merrill School of Journalism, OMSE, and with the Latin organizations around campus. This led to an identity crisis when it came to looking for writers and contributors. People thought you had to be Hispanic to join, which is not true. They did not know if we were a Latin organization or a student-run publication on campus -- that was partially my fault," Umaña said.
Umaña is currently a sportswriter with the Prince George's Sentinel covering high school sports, but he remembers his tenure as editor.
"Looking back, I wish I had dedicated more time on the search to find a replacement."
The La Voz Latina Newspaper logo used in 2008. (Arelis Hernández/ La Voz Latina)
Abandonment was found to be a common theme among La Voz Latina. Arelis Hernandez brought the paper back in 2008 as editor-in-chief because she wanted to be "part of a tradition." Through an increase of activism furthered by La Voz Latina with the demand of a Latino Studies program, which was also established in 2008, Hernandez felt the paper was a "service to the community."
"What motivated me to put La Voz Latina into play was because I felt like I wasn't seen. I wasn't connecting with other students or the campus. La Voz was a way to bring people together," Hernandez said.
Hernandez, who is now a politics and government reporter at the Washington Post, even used leftover scholarship money to fund printing costs.
She also stated La Voz had a better relationship with OMSE during her tenure, citing how the assistant director of OMSE, Carolina Rojas-Barr was an influential figure for La Voz Latina's successes. Hernandez mentions how [Rojas-Barr's] office was where Hernandez gained the confidence to revamp the newspaper.
"The OMSE office was the incubator for La Voz Latina. [Carolina Rojas-Barr] was a huge part of me being where I am today, and I was devastated by her death in 2007," Hernandez reflected.
Even after her death, Hernandez says OMSE was the main headquarters for La Voz Latina until they received their own space within the Office of Multicultural Involvement & Community Advocacy (MICA).
On the other hand, Umaña stated a difference in OMSE's role within La Voz Latina seven years later. According to Umaña, OMSE oversaw the occurrences of La Voz Latina. Still, during his time as editor-in-chief, he says he rarely received any help from them at all. There was no advisor in OMSE like Rojas-Barr was for La Voz. And because of this, the paper struggled to keep going after Umaña graduated.
The contrast between OMSE's role with La Voz Latina between Umaña and Hernandez is starking. But it highlights the importance of having an advisor who passionately guides and advises a club to fulfill their real purpose on campus.
Fulvio Cativo, editor-in-chief of the paper in 2003, mentioned a similar story to Umaña's as a "one-man-band" as he was the editor-in-chief, managing editor, copy editor and reporter.
"I didn't really have a lot of people to handle the paper with me -- it was a very rudimentary operation," Cativo said. He also cited how the funding was a "mystery," and he could not get help from UMD's Student Government Association (SGA) because, according to their funding guide, your student group must be SGA-recognized by having "at least 25 undergraduate members."
Seven years later, in 2010, La Voz Latina received a grant from an organization called Generation Progress (formerly known as Campus Progress). According to their website, Generation Progress is an organization that "works with and for young people to promote progressive solutions to key political and social challenges." The grant increased the newspaper's budget and allowed for the expansion of coverage. This helped La Voz Latina to launch a multimedia section on their website that same year.
Andres Gonzalez was the editor-in-chief of the paper during that time and mentioned the significance of funds for their organization.
"All of the funding went towards publishing and our online website domain costs. We also had a special edition print about the DREAM Act, which was funded with the grant," he said.
Gonzalez, who is currently a segment producer at MSNBC, believed that La Voz Latina was an integral part of the Latin community on campus.
"When you are a student at a large university like Maryland, you try to find your place academically and socially. And it really helps to have a place where you can see yourself reflected and have people that can share similar experiences to your own."
Nine years later, sophomore journalism major Michael Hernandez and freshman journalism major Amanda Hernandez (no relation) look to rebirth the newspaper with a fresh and modern spin, including changing its name to La Voz Unida.
"We changed the name because we want to be more inclusive. There has been a rise of the term "Latinx" on campus, and that is what everyone goes by, so we wanted to be conscious of that. Keeping "La Voz" is paying homage and respect to the old "La Voz Latina" and what they did," Amanda said.
At their second interest meeting of the year, there were nine Maryland students from a variety of majors. Senior business major Jesus Herrera was excited to learn about new La Voz Unida because he believes it is a great way to create a "sense of community."
The first-ever edition of La Voz Latina which was published in September 1987. It features a culture section about a festival in Adams Morgan, Washington D.C. (University Archives)
"The Latinx community has a voice on campus, so having things like the Latino Student Union and La Voz Unida again will be amazing for our community," Herrera stated.
The University of Maryland has held a stagnant Latinx enrollment rate in the past few years. According to the Office of Institutional Research, Planning & Assessment at the university, there has been a slight decrease in enrollment from 9.6 percent in 2017 to 9.3 percent in 2019. These statistics are surprising, especially considering the "Hispanic or Latino" rate in the surrounding county is nearly 20 percent, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Michael and Amanda are hoping to change this through La Voz Unida.
"A Latinx publication will benefit so many students on campus. It would also cater to residents in the surrounding cities, which in their majority are Hispanic," Michael said.
When asked about the predecessor's issues with lack of retention, Amanda believes through the division of General Assignment (GA) meetings from regular member meetings, La Voz Unida will be able to counteract previous problems.
"We will not be able to eliminate that issue completely -- I think by offering GA meetings as an option for people coming from JOUR320, or similar classes is a way to combat that. We would definitely ask to see where they are coming from and then see what we can do about it," Amanda stated.
The group hopes to get the newspaper off and running with content focusing on culture, news, features, opinions, entertainment, sports, and even multimedia projects. They plan to begin publishing new content as soon as this spring.
La Voz Unida is currently hiring editors, writers, photographers, and graphic designers. They meet every Monday at the McKeldin Library at 5:30 pm. You do not need to be Latinx and/or speak Spanish to contribute to the paper. If you are interested in joining the paper, please contact La Voz Unida via email at LaVozUnidaUMD@gmail.com.