About Us

The Latinos Unidos Employee Resource Group (ERG) exists because a few Hispanic and Latine professors at SHSU saw a need for a community to support the growing number of Hispanic and Latine faculty and staff on campus, particularly as the SHSU student body becomes more Hispanic and Latine every year. Students succeed more when they have role models in their lives who understand and reflect their cultures and values, making it more important than ever to support and retain our Hispanic and Latine faculty and staff. Our founders, Mary Petrón, Helen Berg, Ricardo Montelongo and Gabriela Silvestre, knew that Hispanic and Latine faculty and staff have unique needs, and they wanted to create a group to advocate for those needs.  

In the fall of 2020, Dr.  Petrón, Dr. Berg, and Dr. Silvestre began communicating about creating an ERG, using other universities’ Hispanic and Latine ERGs as guides. Dr. Montelongo joined them in spring 2021. The ERG application was submitted and then approved on April 27, 2021. By summer 2021, the founders began to participate in recruiting members at university events. Our inaugural board was elected in September 2021 and included representation from departments all across campus.

Since then, Unidos has continued to grow and develop as a community, and as a network that the university as a whole can look to for input from Hispanic and Latine staff and faculty. We hope to continue building a community at Sam Houston State University where Hispanic and Latine employees can thrive.