Humboldt State University (HSU) is the most geographically isolated campus in the California State University (CSU) system, but it is neither culturally nor politically isolated from the major population hubs.
The HSU campus is the cultural center of the Humboldt Bay area, bringing music, speakers and other events to the region. But the primary source of racial and ethnic diversity in the Humboldt Bay area is the flow of students from around California. These maps convey the origins of student applicants. The flow lines are weighted proportionally to the percent of applicants in each CSU Service Area.
Applicants from the Los Angeles Area and Bay Area have significantly increased over the last decade. This change coincides with a change in HSU’s recruiting tactics to target these areas with full time counselors and recruiters. The new recruitment tactic caused an immediate shift in the percent of enrolled Latinx students, which increased by more than two and half times from 2010 to 2015 (11.8% to 31.5%).1Notably, during the increase of applicants from targeted urban areas, there was a decrease in regional North Coast recruiting and a decline in Native American and local pool enrollment. However, the campus resources available to Latinx students failed to keep pace with changing demographics.
Responding to student outcry for more culturally relevant resources and activities, I used my position as the chief executive officer of the Associated Students of HSU (AS), an independent nonprofit corporation, to aid students in advocating for such resources, and where possible, directly funded cultural programming.
Maps by Jerry Dinzes
© 2019 – The Official Website for Jerry Dinzes.
