Every year the Northeastern Illinois University (NEIU) community and alumni gather at the Golden Gala Alumni Awards Dinner to recognize five esteemed graduates who demonstrate exceptional work, service, and leadership.
Angel Luis Velez, a research associate in the Office of Community College Research and Leadership (OCCRL), was recognized by the institution this year with the Outstanding GOLD Alumni Award for his dedication in serving marginalized communities through principled research and leadership. The award honors those who have graduated from NEIU during the past 10 years and have been successful in their professions and in their commitment to serving others.
Velez is grateful for the recognition his work in citizenship, racial formation, and Latina/o higher education history has received so far and recognizes the fight against racial inequity in higher education is not one that can be won unaided.
“This award does not belong to me alone,” Velez said. “It belongs to everyone who has, in one way or another, shaped my understanding of social justice and its many dimensions. My work has always been a collective effort.”
As an OCCRL staff member, Velez participates on the Hispanic-serving Community Colleges (HSCC) STEM Pipelines research team. His work strives to bridge the gap between underrepresented students who are enrolled in community colleges and their success in STEM-related fields.
Dr. Eboni Zamani-Gallaher, director of OCCRL and the principal investigator of the HSCC STEM Pipelines project, said she became acquainted with Velez when he enrolled in her research methods course. Zamani-Gallaher said Velez has a keen eye and exceptional synthesis and written and verbal communications skills.
“He’s among the top students I have taught over the past 20 years,” she said. “Because of his strong performance in the course, I invited him to join me on this grant once I received word of the award, as we had overlapping research interests relative to community colleges and broadening participation of underserved, underrepresented racially minoritized students.”
Velez recognizes the importance of equity in higher education and the current pitfalls in the education system for minoritized students. Through OCCRL’s National Science Foundation funded HSCC-STEM Pipelines project, their research team are discerning which aspects of Hispanic-serving institutions (HSIs) serve as support systems, identify systemic barriers to furthering education, and strategies for strengthening pathways in STEM related fields.
“Given the crucial entry point for racially minoritized populations in HSCCs, this work has the potential to add theoretical and practical understandings of these institutions and how they might better serve these students,” Velez said.
Velez attended a two-year HSI before continuing his education at NEIU, so he is familiar with the barriers and difficulties people of color face in higher education. While pursuing his master’s degree through the ENLACE Leadership Institute, he discovered his interest in postsecondary institutions and was eventually introduced to the study of HSIs, which led to his work with Hispanic-serving community colleges at OCCRL.
Velez has remained passionate for the last decade about combating racial inequity in the work environment and in his daily life.
“The social justice frame is embedded in my research agenda, but also in the ways I approach teaching and service to my community,” he said.
Velez said he hopes to continue his work to ensure that racial equity is considered in various contexts, including educational policies and practices, in order to contest racial inequality in the education system.
