Contributed by Charles R. Venator Santiago
The University of Connecticut’s Puerto Rican Studies Initiative for Civic Engagement and Public Policy (UConnPRSI) was founded during the Summer of 2021. The UConnPRSI is a research initiative seeking to document and support Puerto Ricans’ vital economic, intellectual, and cultural contributions to Connecticut and provide research-based support for developing public policies addressing the needs of Puerto Ricans in the State of Connecticut. This initiative is currently housed in El Instituto. Anyone interested in more information can visit the UConnPRSI’s webpage at https://puertoricanstudies.clas.uconn.edu/
Since 2021, the UConn PRSI has focused on at least five areas of collaboration and research. The UConn PRSI has partnered with various community organizations to foster different civic and community engagement forms. Collaborations include working with the Hispanic Health Council, the City of Hartford, El Show de AnaLeh, Connecticut’s Puerto Rican and Latino Legislative Caucus, Women at the Table, the Center for Preparedness and Response, the National Puerto Rican Diaspora Museum (NPRDM), the State Education Resource Council (SERC) and host of other non-profits and community-based organizations.
The UConnPRSI has also worked closely with Puerto Rican and Latino elected officials in Connecticut to conduct research and policy briefs to address persistent inequalities affecting Puerto Ricans in Connecticut. We have produced research briefs and reports addressing a wide range of topics, including evaluating the impact of the Governor’s EV legislation, the Social Equity Council’s effect on Puerto Ricans and other Latinos, and the persistent inequalities of Latinas in Connecticut.
This initiative also began an oral histories project to document the impact of Puerto Rican leaders in various areas, including civic and community engagement, the history of the Puerto Rican Day Parades in Connecticut, Small Business owners, and many other areas. The goal is to collect the oral histories of key Puerto Rican leaders in Connecticut and create a public repository of stories that can help guide future generations of students, community leaders, public officials, and others.
Public archives are also central to UConn’s Puerto Rican Studies Initiative. We are currently building a series of web pages containing primary documents for studying Puerto Rico’s territorial status, citizenship, and political history. These web pages also contain valuable dashboards that allow users to navigate and calculate complex information. Unlike the traditional cultural center approach, we want to promote a historical understanding of the Puerto Rican political landscape.
Our data hub provides simple and accessible data on Puerto Ricans in Connecticut. We aim to create a public archive/repository of data to help users better understand the inequalities that Puerto Rican residents of Connecticut experience. In addition to creating various data tools, we are creating helpful data sheets summarizing our findings.
The UConnPRSI is also committed to organizing summits, workshops, and other public events designed to help Puerto Ricans in Connecticut organize and demand that the state redress some of the inequalities they experience. Our next summit, Puerto Rico, Puerto Ricans|Connecticut: Creating a Collective Agenda, will be held in the Connecticut Legislative Office Building on Saturday, 11 January 2025. This event is free and open to the public. Anyone interested can register here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/947260380297?aff=oddtdtcreator
For more information on UConn’s Puerto Rican Studies Initiative, please visit us at https://puertoricanstudies.clas.uconn.edu/.
