This mentoring program pairs new undergraduate students with returning second, third, and fourth-year mentors in order to create an experience that is both personal and enriching for each mentee. By creating small familias based on common interests, each mentee can benefit from a personalized relationship with their mentors and fellow peers, enriching their overall experience. The program also supports the development of mentors through the use of training, peer support and a network of faculty resources
PMP’s mission is to help incoming Hispanic / Latinx students make the transition to University life in academics, co-curricular and socially, by enlisting the help of the people best equipped to help, namely, students of Hispanic/Latinx origin or affinity already succeeding at the University and enjoying life here.
1999
Pablo Davis, First Assistant Dean of Latino Students
The PMP was founded in 1999 as a structure of support for students of Hispanic/Latinx origin during their first year at the University. Research and experience show that students perform better when they feel truly part of a college community – which tends to be a challenge for most first-year students. For Latinx/Hispanic students, the importance of connection to family and, often, to language, can be harnessed to create a “familia” away from home, a network of support fostering a higher quality of life and academic success. Having a Peer Mentor, along with other forms of support, a student doesn’t have to feel like just 1 person lost among thousands of undergraduates.
PMP is run by four student exec called “Familia Heads” and a program director under Multicultural Student Services. Mentors are selected from an application and interview process. They are then divided evenly between the four familia heads to create 4 different families that have roughly even distribution of years and majors. Incoming Hispanic/ Latinx first year and transfer students are then matched with a mentor based on mutual interest and are then placed in their mentors’ familia.
Information collected through an interview with Frank Valdez (C/O 2021)