In 1995, after teaching at ACC for eight years, Diaz-Miranda established El Centro, ACC’s Latin American Studies Center, with fellow professor Dr. Terry Thomas.
“When Mariano and I co-founded El Centro, we pursued some very specific goals: to support and be a resource for Latinx students, to engage the local Latinx community, to foster intergenerational connections within the local Latinx community, to honor local Latinx history, and to build the enrollment necessary to make ACC a Hispanic-serving Institution (HSI),” says Dr. Thomas. “After we launched El Centro, under Mariano’s leadership, and with significant support from ACC faculty, staff, and administration, El Centro helped to achieve these goals.”
To better reach the community Diaz-Miranda wanted to serve, the center was relocated several times — from the Rio Grande Campus to Eastview and finally Riverside, where it sits today.
Diaz-Miranda introduced community cultural events such as Dia de la Familia, an interactive, family-friendly event that strives to build a college-going culture among the Hispanic community by educating them about ACC’s programs and services in a celebratory atmosphere. El Centro also co-hosts an annual Diez y Seis celebration with the Center for Public Policy & Political Studies.
“I just want to tell the Eastside, little kids especially, to not be scared to walk onto college grounds because I remember how I was — you see the people, they’re not like you. You wonder, ‘Where am I? What is it I’m going to do here?’,” says Diaz-Miranda.