The 2016 Feria de Educación held at Fresno State Saturday (Oct. 22) drew just over 10,000 people to the campus, doubling last year’s attendance. “We were expecting at least 7,500 but knew it could be as much as 10,000,” said co-chair Martina Granados, director of Outreach and Special Programs at Fresno State. The unique college fair, only one of three in the state, was conducted primarily in Spanish and featured several informational workshops as well as several interactive activity booths for all ages, entertainment and food vendors. The free, public fair — a partnership between the California State University (CSU) and the Spanish-language television network Univision Fresno with other local community groups — is designed to empower Latino parents and students and provide them with information and resources to help them succeed as part of the CSU’s Latino Initiative. School districts and cities throughout the Central Valley participated with 35 buses that transported students and families to the event, coordinated though the Fresno County Office of Education Migrant Program and the Fresno State outreach program. As part of a major marketing campaign by Univision, one PSA designed to encourage Spanish-speaking parents to attend college featured Anne Mendez and her son, Joseph I. Castro, president of Fresno State (written by Tom Uribes, Fresno State PIO, and produced by Lupita Lomeli, host of Univision’s Arriba Valle Central) . INFO: Granados at martinag@csufresno.edu.
