The Association for the Study of Higher Education (ASHE) held its 39th Annual Conference in Washington D.C., from November 19th—22nd, 2014. Of those in attendance were a several of our fellow ELMP students.
Congratulations to the following students for their involvement at ASHE this year! 
ELMP doctoral students, Sofia B. Pertuz and Omayra Arocho, along with their colleague Mariana G. Martinez, facilitated a round table discussion titled Latina Doctoral Students Creating Networks of Support. They hosted a presentation regarding the experiences of Latina doctoral students.
Abstract: Latinas encounter unique challenges during the doctoral process which may create barriers to persistence and completion. Issues faced include cultural incongruity, microaggressions in academia and lack of mentoring or faculty representation. Several Latinas are developing cross-disciplinary nationwide networks highlighting the importance of mentoring, support and empowerment needed while completing doctorates. 
Jon Stoessel, ELMP doctoral student, participated in the 2014 ASHE Graduate Student Policy seminar. In his own words he summarizes this opportunity below.
“The seminar consisted of about 70 students from colleges and universities across the United States, and panel discussions centered around the issues of access, financial aid accountability, and improving resource allocation. I was fortunate enough to also participate in a policy debate centered around the recent New York Times article “Is Financial Aid Missing the Mark?” by Eduardo Porter. Overall, the panelists were very open to graduate student input and it was a tremendous networking opportunity that is a nice compliment to the general ASHE conference proceedings. I would encourage any current ELMP students to consider applying to attend in the future. Thank you to Dr. Chen for nominating me and supporting me through the application process and to Dr. May for supporting my travel.” 