WACO, TX — A trailblazer at Baylor University went from being one of the only Latina students on campus to being the Dean of Student Development.
Walking around Baylor University's campus, you see a diverse student body, but that wasn't always the case.
"For me it was like being a fish out of water. I just thought nobody gets me, nobody understands me and there were a lot of stereotypes back then," said Dr. Elizabeth "Liz" Palacios. Dr. Palacios is a first-generation college graduate. When she was an undergrad at Baylor, she says the campus only had a 1% or 2% minority student body.
"I was so ready to go back home for the first couple of weeks, go back to San Antonio, I just needed my gente, my family, my friends," Dr. Palacios remembered.
But she didn't give up. Now Dr. Palacios is a role model and leader at Baylor University.
"For students to see people like them it's like, "Oh I can do this. I can get my PhD or my law degree or my medical degree"" she said.
Now, at 38%, Hispanics are the largest minority group at Baylor with over 2,000 Latinos. With first hand experience, Dr. Palacios has been pivotal in developing change on campus.
"We're gonna be talking to faculty and staff, "Hey how do we best serve our Latinos? What does it look like in the classroom? How do we make sure that our style or our methodology or even our format of our classroom is not an obstacle?"" she said.
Dr. Palacios says the next step is inclusion and belonging so Baylor University is a university for all.
"Don't sacrifice who you are to become where you want to go. You bring all of you with you," she said.
Baylor University has programs to help first generation students find resources to help navigate their college career.
Dr. Palacios says next year, the university will be offering a four-year Trailblazer Scholarship for students of color.
