Our history
Directors
- Darrell Lockhart, Ph.D., 2004 - 2008
- Emma Sepúlveda, Ph.D., 2009 - 2017
- Steering committee, 2017-2019
- Mario Alpuche, Ph.D.
- Lorraine Benuto, Ph.D.
- Robert Gutierrez-Perez, Ph.D.
- Jafeth Sanchez, Ph.D.
- Julie E. Lucero, MPH, Ph.D., 2019-present
The Latino Research Center (LRC) opened its doors fall semester of 2004 with initial startup funds from the United States (U.S.) Department of Education, supported by former U.S. Senator Harry Reid and Nevada Assemblywomen Sheila Leslie. The LRC served as an entity of the Foreign Languages Department, now the Department of World Languages & Literatures (WLL), before its 2017 reposition directly under the Dean of the College of Liberal Arts. The LRC was first introduced to the University of Nevada, Reno as the Latino Institute for Advocacy in Education, Research and Policy; while the name changed, the mission has remained the same.
In 2002, Latinos in Nevada represented 18.6 percent of the state’s population with a projected one percent annual increase, becoming the fastest growing minority, a motivation for the LRC development. Despite the anticipated growth, the Latinx community within the state had limited access to decision-making processes. The lack of research and ability to disseminate pertinent information too often hindered the Latinx community’s ability to create a unified vision and collaboratively work on implementations.