Maria Gonzalez Mabbutt addresses Hispanic heritage in Idaho
The U.S. Census Bureau counted 60 people as the first official Hispanic residents of Idaho in 1870. Now, over 140 years later, nearly twice the number of Hispanic students and faculty from the University of Idaho community gathered in the Student Union Building Ballroom Monday for this year’s Hispanic Heritage Month keynote address.
Maria Mabbutt
The keynote, titled “Latinos: A Legacy of History, a Present of Action and a Future of Success,” was presented by Maria Gonzalez Mabbutt, a follow-up career counselor and class instructor for the College Assistance Migratory Program (CAMP) at Boise State University.
Mabbutt was selected by the UI Office of Multicultural Affairs to speak to the students about her work in Idaho, which includes addressing Latino education, political empowerment and migrant farmworker issues such as workers compensation, minimum wage, contractor licensing and bonding and pesticide education.
“My brother and I were able to finance part of our education thanks to Maria’s passion and entrepreneurship in assisting migrant seasonal farm working families in pursuing education by creating the Campesinos Unidos scholarship,” said Jesse Martinez, interim director of the Office of Multicultural Affairs.
Following the theme of the keynote, Mabbutt spoke about a “legacy of history,” beginning in 1860 when Latinos began to work in Idaho as miners, mule packers, ranchers and laborers. But, there were also struggles. In the 1920s, there was an abundance of Hispanic laborers working on Idaho railroads and sugar fields, and by 1935 many workers went on strike due to mistreatment in the fields.
“Idaho is the only state where Mexican workers were pulled out of Idaho by the Mexican government because of the mistreatment or the abuse of workers,” Mabbutt said.
She said it was not until the 1950s that Hispanic workers began to settle in the state, more so after the civil rights movement in the 1960s when an anti-discrimination bill was passed in Idaho.
Mabbutt said in the 1970s, federally funded programs began to emerge to help educate the Hispanic community in Idaho including HEP — High School Equivalency Program — and CAMP.
CAMP was established at BSU in 1984 and at UI in 1999. Mabbutt said the program is designed to help students from a migrant and seasonal farm work background to succeed in college through educational support and scholarships.
She said the dropout rate for Hispanic students in Idaho has decreased over the years — while it was 60 percent at one point, it’s at a stead 30 percent now.
“But is it really a gain?” Mabbutt said. “At the one level it is, but to lose one Latino student who drops out of high school, who doesn’t go to college, I believe is tragic.”
To make a point of how important education is to Hispanic students, Mabbutt said Latinos represent 11.8 percent of the Idaho population and 17 percent nationally. Only 7 percent of Idaho Latinos, aged 25 to 29 years old, have a bachelor’s degree. She said while Latinos are faring better at the national level compared to Idaho, the numbers are still low.
“It is so critical that you be here,” she said to Hispanic students in the audience. “It is so critical that you achieve your greatness.”
She told them to graduate, succeed academically and move on to graduate school to receive their doctorates and become the professionals of today and tomorrow.
“I cannot stress to you how important that is,” she said. “Our future can be the greatest future for you and for our communities and for all of Idaho.”
Mary Malone can be reached at [email protected]