January 08, 2024
Alexander Rodriguez is new Hispanic-Latino Resource Center coordinator
CARBONDALE, Ill. — Alexander Rodriguez is SIU Carbondale’s new coordinator of the Hispanic/Latino Resource Center within the Student Multicultural Resource Center.
Originally from the south/lower west side of Chicago, Rodriguez split his youth between the Bridgeport and Pilsen neighborhoods. From a family of five, he first came to SIU in fall 2015 through the Exploratory Student Advisement program. He continued his education at a community college in Chicago before transferring back to SIU in 2017. He completed his bachelor’s degree in health care management at SIU Carbondale, with a minor in health information and informatics management in May 2020 and a Master of Health Administration in December 2022. Because the program offers a dual degree option, he’s currently pursuing a second advanced degree, a Master of Health Informatics with a certification in infection prevention and control, which he will finish in May 2024.
Rodriguez said that although his educational background is largely focused on health care, he has personal experience and has served as a graduate assistant in the Exploratory Advisement Office early in his master’s program, and he has seen how important it is for students to have mentors.
“As a graduate student in the office, I emerged from my comfort zone to help young individuals who were going through a program that I have gone through in the past,” Rodriguez said. “For many first-generation students, finding a place of belonging within a university can be challenging. I have been grateful to work with young individuals and be able to mentor them to the best of my ability, and I want to provide that sense of belonging to every single individual I can, especially students coming from far away to pursue an education. As coordinator of the Hispanic/Latino Resource Center, I will listen and provide the best resources that I can to help our students. I want to help meet their needs.”
Rodriguez said he has several goals as he begins his new position, and the first is to ensure diversity and inclusivity within the student population.
“In addition, I want to help create a home away from home and hear students’ voices to ensure they do not stand alone,” Rodriguez said. “I want to help unify our community. We share a culture and should come together and get to know one another freely. We stand above when we work together collectively and share our opinions.”