by Luisa Ardila

As a first generation immigrant I am very conscious of the effects of diversity in a community. Diversity fosters dynamic dialogue, which is the foundation for democracy. At Newhouse I’ve been mindful of the ways in which awareness of diversity affect our work as media creators. That is why I am proud to be one of the leaders of a student organization that tries to promote that diversity.

CitrusTV has the only Spanish news show in Central New York and I’m lucky to be Executive Producer for our weekly newscasts. With my Co-EP, we realized that our operation was being limited by perception. People thought our staff was made up of only fluent Spanish speakers and that intimidated potential volunteers.

We then made it a point to diversify our staff to include students from all walks of life and all levels of Spanish proficiency. All we did was communicate more openly with potential students, showing them that our diversity made us stronger. The Noticias team went from being a group of 10 passionate volunteers to a wholesome team of 40+ students, all in less than one semester. I believe this has helped us be more conscious of producing content for a diverse audience and has advanced our ultimate goals for Noticias.

I hope that Noticias will continue to be an outstanding organization at Syracuse University, which leads the dialogue of diversity in the media. As the Hispanic minority expands in this country, I hope that Noticias will serve as an example of how universities can embrace that community and make a conscious effort to educate the public. With projects like Noticias, we can educate the public about the Hispanic minority. We also integrate Spanish speakers into the current event dialogue in this country.

Isn’t that what makes democracy great?