In 1992, I sponsored a youth conference for Parlier Junior High School students and invited a young Harvard Latino graduate named Ruben Navarrette as our keynote speaker. Ruben challenged us to consider taking our first-generation farm working students from Parlier, CA to visit the Ivies. I told him he was crazy: “Parlier students don’t go to places like Harvard, Yale, or Princeton, those places are for the wealthy, elite, white Anglo students. We attend the local junior college or Fresno State University. “
I was wrong. Ruben was presenting a paradigm shift: taking my students from the fifth poorest community of California and encouraging them to apply to the Ivies. I presented the idea to my Parlier board president and they approved of taking six Parlier students on the first trip. The thought of taking students from Parlier to visit East Coast universities was foreign to me, and to many people in my community. Students were told by school officials that they couldn’t attend these universities because they were not smart enough, didn’t have the financial capital, and didn’t have the cultural capital. I told my six students not to listen to negative people. Stay focused.
We initiated fundraisers the first year selling candy, flowers, tamales, and seeking donations. The kids and I traveled to the East Coast that year and visited Harvard, Yale, and MIT. We brought our sleeping bags and slept in Latino dorm rooms the first several years. My students asked me, “How do we dress?” I would answer to just dress like you’re going to church. I had them create business cards to present to the admission officers and students.
We navigated our way around the different campuses, meeting Latino admission officers and students who looked like them. Many of them came from California, Texas, Arizona, and from the East Coast. They would tell me that the Latinos here on the East Coast are from all over Latin America. They speak differently, dance differently and look different. I used to tell them that Latinos come in all different flavors. I enjoyed seeing the students’ reactions to being in the big city of Boston and attending a city tour or a game at Fenway Park.
As a result of our visit to the Ivies, our students took the initiative to apply to these elite universities. My wife and I provided a safe haven to write their personal statements at our home the week before Christmas. During our third year of the program, our three Parlier High School students applied and were accepted to all of the UC’s and some Ivies. Carlos Paz and Eloy Molina were accepted to Yale University and Raquel Beltran Navarro attended Brown University. Today, Carlos graduated from Harvard Medical School and is a successful Dermatologist in the valley, Eloy is a pharmacist representative, and Raquel is a school official in our Parlier district. Their acceptance to the Ivies made history in our community of Parlier and throughout the Central Valley. We became celebrities and an inspiration to first generation Latino students and parents. What was thought to be impossible became a reality.
This year marks my 36th year directing the Ivy League Project and I am still excited to encourage and mentor students. Today we have over 386 students accepted to Ivies from our programs in California, Arizona, and Texas.
As I reflect on our success, I found it necessary to develop curriculum framework structures, like our monthly Saturday three hour workshops to focus on networking, reviewing the college application process, and inviting professionals to speak to our cohorts. It is imperative that we empower our students in the Ivy League Project to think outside the box and provide them with the tools to navigate selective universities.
For more information on how to get into an Ivy League University or speaking engagements, please contact me at maresvision3377@gmail.com or TheIvyLeagueProjct.org. or (559) 417-4151.
About the author
Martin Mares is the founder and CEO of Ivy League Project and has led the program for more than 35 years.
