East Los Angeles College announces landmark partnership with Salvadoran university

East Los Angeles College announces landmark partnership with Salvadoran university 

Educators gathered at East Los Angeles College on Friday to witness the signing of a memorandum that creates a partnership between ELAC and Universidad de Oriente (UNIVO), a Salvadoran university based in the city of San Miguel.

Pedro Arieta Vega, the rector of UNIVO, was at the event that marked the first time ELAC has collaborated with a school based in another country.

Arieta Vega said he felt welcomed in East L.A. and hoped to extend the same hospitality to visiting faculty and students.

“We’ve felt like family here and we invite you to come to UNIVO, to San Miguel, so we can show you the love you have shown us,” Arieta Vega said.

ELAC President Alberto J. Román expressed his gratitude to  those in attendance who had a hand in making this partnership a reality. 

“We’ve been working on this for two years for our students. We want them to be enriched culturally by the beautiful country of El Salvador,” Román said. 

The program is still in development, but will allow UNIVO students to take ELAC courses online. One goal is to have professors from the college teach classes in El Salvador and bring students with them, said Miguel Dueńas, vice president of student services. 

Nichelle Henderson, a board of trustee for the L.A. Community College District, said the collaboration serves as “a catalyst for exploring similar partnerships for our other eight colleges.” 

“At a time when the world is becoming increasingly interconnected, it is important we build cultural borders,” Henderson said.

The partnership is the brainchild of ELAC’s Central American Studies degree program. 

Eddie Flores, a Chicana(o) Studies professor and soccer coach, said a school analysis revealed that 18% of the student population at ELAC was Central American, primarily Salvadoran. “It’s always been our goal to serve this [population],” Flores said.