Empowering Bilingual Voices from Cal Poly Humboldt: El Leñador gives a journalism workshop at the University of Guanajuato 

Translated by Isaac Weadon

It’s not everyday that a university newspaper serving the Hispanic community is invited to give a workshop at an international level. But this was the case for El Leñador newspaper which was invited to the University of Guanajuato as part of Noveno Foro and Expo Internacional focusing on the objectives of sustainable development, which took place from Sep. 24-26. 

Maryanne Casas-Perez, Editor and Chief of El Leñador and Andrea Juarez, Advisor, and I, María Virginia Hernández, Spanish Editor, were all invited to participate in this event thanks in part to Dr. Rosamel S. Benavides-Garb, Vice President of the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at Cal Poly Humboldt and with the approval of Jenn Capps, Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs. 

Benavides-Garb said, “The university of Guanajuato, an important public university in Mexico, and Cal Poly Humboldt have engaged in conversations about institutional collaboration for more than a year,” and because of this they invited El Leñador to participate in this trip. 

Benavides-Garb commented, “with the immediate approval of our vice president, Capps, we extended an invitation to El Leñador because this student project illustrates a progressive commitment from our institution to the learning processes in the territory of our students. El Leñador’s story is one of struggle, resistance and strength from our students in order to overcome constant challenges.” 

Alongside Casas-Perez we presented our workshop “Empowering Voices with El Leñador, Bilingual Journalism for Professional Development, Community impact and Social Justice,” where we had the opportunity to share with the students of the university about the impact that the newspaper has had on our campus, on our community and on all of the students that make up the newspaper. 

Jorge Flores Icaza, Editor in Chief of Gazeta de Artes, and performing arts student at the University of Guanajuato said, “The presentation was very enriching due to the transformative work of El Leñador.” He added, “Seeing the reach of El Leñador materialized in the printed newspapers, it inspired me and a lot of ideas came to me about articles that we could write in our community.” 

Flores Icaza, along with his peers Andrea Contla Mendoza, Mateo Ramirez Soto and others are about to release their first independent publication, which “intends to shed light on issue of the educational community, of the university community and our immediate environment, the city of Guanajuato,” said Flores Izca. 

The experience of being accompanied by our advisor, Professor Juarez, was an enriching experience, and having the support of our professors and faculty in these events is essential for us as students. This was the first time that El Leñador had the opportunity to present on an international level. Juarez mentioned, “For El Leñador to be asked to present at this international conference is something really significant. It highlights how impactful the work they do here is and that they could be an example for other campuses, including outside of the United States.”

As well as the presentation at the university, we had the opportunity to meet with Mexican journalist, collaborator with POPLab and correspondent of Proceso magazine, Veronica Espinoza, who shared her experiences of being a journalist in Mexico and she challenges she has faced in order to continue her journalism in this country. Juarez said, “This trip has reinforced how important credible and reliable journalism is for a more democratic society.” 

When asked about her experience representing El Leñador internationally, Casas-Perez, Editor in Chief of El Leñador said, “I feel a lot of pride to have had the opportunity to present El Leñador, I hope the people who went to our workshop understand what were trying to do, our mission and our message.” 

Benavides-Garb spoke on what this experience means to El Leñador, saying, “it means El Leñador is giving more opportunities to students,” and he hopes more opportunities will arise for students to travel. 

Both Casas-Perez and I left this trip inspired and with more motivation than ever to continue representing El Leñador and continue the team work that is required of working on a newspaper, as none of this would be possible without the help of every staff member. For university students, it is essential to feel the support of the faculty and staff in the projects we undertake, as it empowers students and encourages them to pursue their dreams. I hope there will be more opportunities for students to continue “Empowering Voices.”