Latinos now will have a stronger voice on the NIU campus.

The first Shaping Education Policy for Latinos in Illinois conference will be held from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Nov. 9 at the NIU Naperville campus.

The conference is the first of its kind in the state and was initiated by chairman of the Board of Trustees Manny Sanchez.

“It was in my agenda to start the conference,” Sanchez said. “When I was elected chair, I was in position to start it.”

The conference will contain a number of workshops. Some of the issues that will be demonstrated are presenting Latino students to higher education and affirmative action case studies. The conference also will discuss standardized testing and Latino students overcoming obstacles in higher education.

Luis Gutierrez, the only Latino Illinois congressman, will speak at the conference. Sanchez and President John Peters will also be speaking at the conference.

“The purpose of the conference is to identify topics that need to be addressed and think of solutions,” said Michael Gonzales, director for the Center for Latino and Latin American Studies.

The primary target will be college students, but they also will touch upon high schools, Gonzales said.

“High school is where things begin,” Gonzales said. “We want to teach Latino students the importance of higher education.”

Research also is being done on Latino students to see what can be done.

“The research will show what needs to be done,” Sanchez said. “We’ll meet again next year to discuss the results.”

This is the first step in improving education for Latinos and hopefully will be building on it, Gonzales said.

“We have to pay attention to where we are now and where we want to be in the future,” Gonzales said. “Hopefully a new policy emerges and public officials will pay attention.”

Sanchez hopes the conference will be beneficial to NIU.

“I hope we’ll come up with some blueprint that can be used in Illinois and it can be used in other states,” Gonzales said.