.... .. The Brad "Cubanito" Wright Scholarship Fund Matthew Stieglitz, La Raza Class of 2009..... ... Matthew Brian Stieglitz is from Wayne, New Jersey and is a Communications major in the class of 2009.  After receiving his BA, Matt plans on attending either law school or graduate school, where he will join other La Raza Alumni in the continued effort to break down the barriers and stereotypes that plague racial and ethnic minority communities every day.  Matt never envisioned himself becoming so actively involved in the struggle.  Coming from a moderately affluent background with little to no adversity, he understood racism but didn’t comprehend or face it on a personal level, until a debate conference in Philadelphia.  During three years of high school, Matt participated in the Junior States of America (JSA), a debate group that focuses on political issues.  While attending an affirmative action debate, Matt found many mainstream students complaining because minorities sometimes receive preferential status.  A white student stood up at the conference and said, “We can’t have minorities going to school because who will be our janitors and landscapers if they aren’t?”  Matt confronted the student after the debate and a heated verbal confrontation ensued.  That confrontation made him realize then and there that he wanted to give back and help destroy ridiculous opinions and stereotypes that plague minority communities. Despite coming from a predominantly Caucasian area, Matt has always gravitated towards minorities.  Being raised in a Cuban household and partaking in the many diverse aspects of that culture, Matt was really looking forward to meeting  many Latinos in college because he didn’t have a great deal of diversity in his hometown. . . On Activities Night, Matt knew that he wanted to look for a Latin group; however, HOLA was the only booth that he saw that night.  Like many Latinos, Matt joined HOLA, attended weekly meetings and enjoyed the events that the organization sponsored, including the Latino Heritage Month guest speaker, Piri Thomas.  Matt didn’t know it at the time, but hearing Piri Thomas speak was the start of his La Raza career.  After Thomas spoke, the now infamous Review article was published, blatantly disrespecting Thomas and missing the entire point of his speech.  Matt attended the HOLA/La Raza co-sponsored meeting where all the minority organizations (HOLA, La Raza, The Black Student Union and the NAACP) came together to discuss the cultural insensitivity of the Review and many other issues that were plaguing the community.  The following are words from Matt regarding the series of events that took place during the time:  "I’m not going to lie, hearing Craig (one of La Raza's graduate student advisors) speak for two minutes sold me on La Raza.  I had heard of La Raza, but didn’t know about the group.  Craig’s impassioned and verbose ways changed that, so I went to the Millions More March and the meeting with the Venezuelan ambassador where I got to know Guillermo and Craig very well and decided La Raza was for me.  Not only has it been more than I envisioned, but aside from choosing Delaware I consider joining La Raza the best decision I’ve ever made in my life.  Right now my current task is to be a great V.P. of Administration and help continue La Raza’s great start.  I want to take mentees under my wing the next few years and keep the group going strong.  Eventually, I believe becoming president would be a good idea but as I often say about getting into the Comm major, 'I’ll worry about it when I get there.'  And right now I’m just enjoying La Raza.  I’m really looking forward to L.A. (The 2006 NCLR National Conference) and two things in particular.  One is the knowledge and experiences I’ll gain from the conference, and the other is the time that I will spend with the members of La Raza.  They really are like my family here, and time with them is as eventful and meaningful as time with my own family.  So I can’t wait until L.A., or next semester for that matter when everyone gets back together again and continues our fight." En La Union Esta La Fuerza !! 2005/2006 Winners: Christina Graciano Lorraine Makone Matt Stieglitz   .. Download Nomination Form Donate To The Cubanito Scholarship Fund The Campus Alliance de La Raza ...