LEAGUE OF UNITED LATIN AMERICAN CITIZENS

Iowa Councils of the LULAC

LEAGUE OF UNITED LATIN AMERICAN CITIZENS. LULAC is the largest and oldest Hispanic Organization in the United States. LULAC advances the economic condition, educational attainment, political influence, health and civil rights of Hispanic Americans through community-based programs operating at more than 700 LULAC councils nationwide. The organization involves and serves all Hispanic nationality groups. (1)

Historically, LULAC has focused heavily on education, civil rights, and employment for Hispanics. LULAC councils provide more than a million dollars in scholarships to Hispanic students each year, conduct citizenship and voter registration drives, develop low income housing units, conduct youth leadership training programs, and seek to empower the Hispanic community at the local, state and national level. (2)

In addition, the LULAC National Educational Service Centers, LULAC’s educational arm, provides counseling services to more than 18,000 Hispanic students per year at sixteen regional centers. SER Jobs for Progress, LULAC’s employment arm, provides job skills and literacy training to the Hispanic community through more than forty-eight employment training centers located throughout the United States. The LULAC Corporate Alliance, an advisory board of Fortune 500 companies, fosters stronger partnerships between Corporate America and the Hispanic community. (3)

In Dubuque, organization activities began as early as 1989 when LULAC sponsored a get acquainted party and cultural exchange at the UNIVERSITY OF DUBUQUE student union. In 1990 LULAC in Iowa was one of many organization participating in a statewide voter registration task force. The state organization and the American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit in 2012 that would have purged voter lists of those whose citizenship in state records did not acgree with a federal immigration database. The state dropped its appeal of a court ruling against the action in 2015. (4)

In 2000 Emily Ready, a student at STEPHEN HEMPSTEAD HIGH SCHOOL and a resident of Asbury, was crowned queen of the League of United Latin American Citizens of Davenport. She won the title after she sold the most raffle tickets ($4,100-$1 tickets) to raise money for the group's scholarship fund and education programs. (5)

In 2018 the organization had as a member, Jake Rios, a member of the Dubuque City Council.

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Source:

1. "About LULAC." League of United Latin American Citizens website. Online: http://www.lulac.net/About.html

2. Ibid.

3. Ibid.

4. "Controversial Voter Ruler Will Not Take Effect," Telegraph Herald, March 14, 2015, p. 10

5. "Asbury Girl Named Queen," Telegraph Herald, September 18, 2000, p. 3