The University of Arizona is home to many clubs and organizations geared toward providing students with a community. In the 1950s and 1960s, one of those clubs creating a space for Hispanic students was Los Universitarios.

Los Universitarios was a social club on campus from 1957 to 1963 that later became the UA Hispanic Alumni that is still on campus today. 

Marty Cortez was a member of Los Universitarios and a founding member of the UAHA. According to Cortez, who was the first in her family to attend college, finding a community of people like her on campus helped her to feel supported in school. That’s a need Los Universitarios was able to fill for many students at the time. 

“It started when I was a freshman and John Huerta, who was at the time working here at the University of Arizona, he saw a need for those of us, the few of us that were primarily Mexican-American students, to have a way of meeting each other and being able to form our own student group,” Cortez said. “Because back in the day, it was a little different, we weren’t going to be invited to join a sorority, and then on top of it, none of us could afford it.”

Los Universitarios started out as just a social club, holding picnics and dances and trips up to Mount Lemmon. They were focused on simply being together as Hispanic students, creating community and becoming more visible on campus. 

“They started trying to get together to find a sense of community, to find a sense of place and so that’s how they began,” said Letty Molina-Gutierrez, current president of the UAHA. “As they were together it was just social, but then the group decided that it would be good to provide whatever situation or scholarship for Hispanic students.”

As the group evolved, they saw a need to start giving back to the university community with the money they raised from their annual Candilejas Formal and Fiesta Primavera. Their first scholarship winner was Julie Ortega, who received an award of $250. This first scholarship has now grown into what the UAHA is today.

The start of UAHA

“John Huerta and some other folks that he knew decided to try and establish the UA Hispanic Alumni, and the purpose of our group was to be a continuation of Los Universitarios, because Los Universitarios, the little money that we raised, we’d give up scholarships to somebody. So that was our purpose and that continued on into the UA Hispanic Alumni and that’s the sole purpose of the group is to award scholarships to other Latinos,” Cortez said.

The UAHA is geared towards providing students with financial and academic support and makes a point to keep a connection with scholarship recipients. That allows the members to provide not only financial support, but also mentoring and other opportunities to facilitate academic success, according to Cortez.

“When we first started giving out scholarships, we weren’t really keeping the connection with the students and so we were giving them these scholarships and then looking at the retention rate, some of them were dropping out,” Cortez said. “We were working hard to raise the money and so we thought we needed to do something about that, so we started a mentoring program and the students, as part of their scholarship award, it was an agreement that they had to participate in the mentorship program.” 

That decision has led to higher retention rates for scholarship winners, she said. 

Czarina Monge is a UAHA scholarship recipient and UA graduate this year with a degree in criminal justice. According to Monge, the scholarship she received her senior year helped her pay for tuition but it also “meant a lot more knowing that it was from my culture,” Monge said.

As part of the award, Monge attended a banquet at Casino Del Sol where she met board members and learned more about their history and Los Universitarios. 

“It was inspiring to see all these people that also went to the UA and giving back to their community, and that’s something I would like to do someday,” Monge said.

Plans for the future

The UAHA hopes to continue supporting students for as long as possible. 

“We have a very strong, active group, and right now our goal is to make our $1 million endowment into $2 [million]. We’re currently at $1.8 million. They have a huge fundraiser on March 1, 2025, and the goal is to raise $200,000 to bring our endowment to $2 million,” Molina-Gutierrez said.

Increasing the endowment would allow the group to support more UA students. 

The association is also planning a mural students and visitors will see as they enter campus from the roundabout on Mountain Avenue. They wanted it to represent Los Universitarios, their continued impact on campus and the representation they provide for students. 

“We thought the least we could do is put up a mural and try not to just recognize Los Universitarios but to bring that sense of, this is a mixed group of students that come to the university,” Cortez said. 

They started planning the mural in 2004, but Cortez said it is now closer to being painted as the group plans a meeting with a prospective painter. 

Those interested in UAHA can contact them via email at UAZHispanicalumni@gmail.com or visit their website to learn more.

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