As Gabriel Gutierrez travels across state lines speaking with Hispanic high school students about the possibility of attending college, he hopes his story is able to resonate with them and help continue to increase diversity at Piedmont University.
“The incoming class, I hear people say they can actually see the diversity on campus,” Gutierrez said. “Hispanics went from 11 to 13 percent so I think that is a pretty good jump with the amount of students that we have had.”
Gutierrez, a 2018 Piedmont graduate, now works for the very same university that helped him become a first-generation college graduate as an enrollment coordinator and Hispanic recruiter, traveling to Florida, North and South Carolina, and across Georgia.
After graduating high school in 2011, Gutierrez said he took a few years off to enter the workforce but pursued college after enrolling in the DACA program, which gave him the opportunity to enroll at Piedmont in 2014. After graduation, Gutierrez was offered a position with the university as a diversity recruiter. Guitierrez said his main focus at the moment is Hispanic students.
“The number of Hispanic students is going to increase, so I thought it was best to just focus on them,” Gutierrez said. “I try to go to HoPE [Hispanic Organization Promoting Education] chapters and tell my personal story and my journey of coming to the U.S., going to school, working, going to college, the whole process and that is how I have been able to connect with them.”
Gutierrez came to the United States in 2001 and became the first of his 10 brothers and sisters to graduate from high school and pursue a college education.
“I didn’t think I was going to go to college until Obama passed the bill [DACA],” Gutierrez said. “Piedmont was one of the ones that I applied to…I got accepted, I came for orientation and felt a connection because my recruiter was Hispanic so I thought ‘well maybe it isn’t too bad.’ Once I started it was really enjoyable.”
Gutierrez, originally from a small town an hour away from Mexico City, said his story allows him to form a connection with potential Hispanic students.
“I feel like the personal touch helps, they see themselves in my shoes,” Gutierrez said. “I do tell them it’s okay to go to work because I went to work after high school, I tell them it's okay to go straight to school…as long as you do something, that is the message I’m trying to give.”
With strong ties to his culture, Gutierrez understands the struggles facing the Hispanic community when it comes to considering pursuing a college degree. This has helped him grow in his position at Piedmont, which hosts “Dia De La Familia,” every year to help provide information to Hispanic students and their families.
“It’s hard, leaving the household you are in because of the Hispanic community and how our traditions are,” Gutierrez said. “Parents needing help with the house, siblings, work, whatever it may be. I think connecting with them personally is a good outreach.”
Piedmont was the perfect fit for Gutierrez and he believes it would be a great fit for other Hispanic students who are looking for a smaller environment where they would be able to get personalized attention.
“People get to know you personally and you are not a number like you are at bigger schools,” Gutierrez said, adding that the smaller class sizes and campus allowed him to grow as someone who was very introverted.
Additionally, Piedmont would be a great choice for students who are on the DACA program, said Gutierrez.
“One of the big things I push to Hispanic families is private schools, especially for undocumented students,” Gutierrez said. “They don’t really view legal status, they are viewed as normal students in terms of scholarships, they obviously may not qualify for federal or state aid, but we try to provide an out-of-state grant because that is how we try to help them out.”
One of the biggest challenges in getting Hispanic students into a university is cost, said Gutierrez, adding that it is doable but it is about educating the community about opportunities for scholarships and other resources.
By hosting their annual “Dia De La Familia,” Piedmont hopes to address some of the struggles that the community face, including navigating college research, applications, FAFSA, scholarship opportunities, and the whole college process from start to finish. A student session is also held at the end of the day.
Originally held on a weekday during the first semester, the event will be held this year on Sat. Nov. 12 to hopefully allow for more families to attend.
“It used to be on the weekdays but I personally saw that it was hard for Hispanic families to leave work so I wanted to try on a Saturday,” Gutierrez. “We were able to get a good amount of students on a Saturday with parents but COVID definitely has played an impact on the number of students who attend an event.”
While trying to grow the event at Piedmont, Gutierrez also hopes to strengthen the partnership between Habersham Central High School and Piedmont to hopefully hold a “Dia De La Familia” at the high school campus, as he currently visits the Habersham HoPE Chapter.
“They are always welcoming and they want me to go back, it is really nice having a connection already with some students,” Gutierrez said. “It is hopefully my goal for this spring, to take the event to the high schools because I know that transportation can be a big thing.”
High school students interested in attending the event at Piedmont can register and get more information at piemont.edu/familia. The university will be hosting a virtual and an in-person event.
“We are very welcoming, it is one thing that I really enjoyed about Piedmont,” Gutierrez said. “And regarding the event specifically is that the amount of information that I provide in Spanish, if I had an event like this when I was applying for school, it probably would have helped me a lot.”
Of course, the whole family is invited to attend as one goal of the event is to increase parents’ involvement in their children’s post-high school careers.
It is called Dia de La Familiar for a reason, we focus also on telling parents why it is important for them to get involved on this journey with their kids,” Gutierrez said. “It is nice to have a parent knowing the process.”