Royal Purple

Issue date: 10/10/07 Section: News

Media Credit: Rico Torres UW-Milwaukee Chancellor Carlos Santiago spoke at Light Recital Hall Monday.

In the final lecture series event of Latino Heritage Month, Carlos Santiago, chancellor at UW-Milwaukee, spoke on "A Socio-Economic Perspective of Puerto-Ricans in the United States" at the Light Recital Hall Monday.

Santiago, who made his first trip to the UW-Whitewater campus, is also the author and co-author of numerous books which describe the lives of contemporary Puerto Ricans in the United States.

"One of my inspirations to write about the economic conditions of Puerto Ricans both here and on the island of Puerto Rico was the fact that I had seen many works that were written about Puerto Rico that were written by non-Puerto Ricans," Santiago said.

As Santiago began to indulge into the history of Puerto Ricans in the United States, he explained how the welfare of the Puerto Rican community has changed over the past 60 years.

"Many second and third generation immigrants in the Puerto Rican community are doing a lot better economically than the original immigrants," Santiago said.

Santiago acknowledges that a number of factors contribute to this success. He points to the migration of many of the Puerto Rican community from New York City to "mid-size" cities such as Hartford, Conn, Allentown, Penn, and many cities in Florida.

"In 1970, only four percent of the United States' Puerto Rican population resided in the South. In 2000, that number rose sharply to 20 percent," Santiago said.

Santiago said more affordable housing and easier accessible education played large roles in Puerto Ricans shifting from New York to other places as well.

Santiago ended the afternoon by telling the story of his grandfather, who after working a number of years at a major beer company in Puerto Rico, was forced to retire when the Milwaukee based Schlitz Beer Company began to flourish greatly during the 1970's.

"It was the success of a Milwaukee beer company that forced my grandfather into retirement," Santiago said. "Now, thirty years later, I am the chancellor of the largest university in Milwaukee."

Not only was Santiago named one of the top 100 most influential Hispanic leaders by Hispanic magazine in 1996, but he is also currently a member of the U.S. Congressional Hispanic Caucus International Relations Advisory Board Group.

Page 1 of 1

Article Tools