For the past four years, California State University, Dominguez Hills has hosted one of the largest one-day Spanish-language education fairs in the country through a partnership with Univision and its flagship Los Angeles station, KMEX, on Edúcalos: Es el Momento (Educate Them, the Moment is Now), the Spanish-language television network’s national education initiative.
On Saturday, Aug. 3, during the 65th Los Angeles Area Emmys® ceremony, the Es el Momento campaign was honored with the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences 2013 Los Angeles Area Emmys Governors Award, the highest honor given in the local broadcast industry in recognition of an outstanding singular achievement or contribution.
“A quality education is a proven path to upward mobility, and CSU Dominguez Hills is committed to making higher education accessible for students throughout our region, the state, and beyond who want it,” said Willie J. Hagan, president of CSU Dominguez Hills. “Univision actively works to increase accessibility, and we are proud to both partner with them and congratulate them on the success of Edúcalos: Es el Momento, a groundbreaking initiative that ensures Latinos, the country’s fastest-growing population, fully understand the importance of education and how to thrive in every facet of the educational system.”
In receiving the award, Alberto Mier y Terán, general manager of KMEX (Univision 34), thanked Univision anchors, newscasters, and producers for the hard work they put into the year-long effort and then thanked the CSU and CSU Dominguez Hills.
“It also takes amazing partners to produce this campaign, and I’d like to thank the Cal State University Office of the Chancellor and especially Cal State Dominguez Hills – their president is here, Dr. Hagan, and I want to thank him as well- Thank you for your partnership. We value it very much.”
The Es el Momento Feria de Educación (The Moment is Now Education Fair) is the culmination of Univision 34’s comprehensive, multiplatform initiative to stress the importance of education and help improve academic achievement among the Hispanic community in the Southern California region. Primarily on Univision 34, but in cooperation with other Univision stations in the region, numerous news stories and public service announcements support the Es el Momento campaign throughout the year, and the fair, organized and overseen by the Office of Ceremonies and Events on campus, is where it all comes together.
Through close partnerships with the California State University system, Los Angeles Unified School District and numerous educational nonprofits, the fair provides families with a wealth of information on how to navigate the educational system so that their children are successful from pre-kindergarten through high school, college and beyond. Families can interact with more than 100 educational organizations at the fair’s expo and participate in various activities throughout the day, including over 45 workshops on topics ranging from college access and the Dream Act to student aid and financial literacy. The fair also includes one of the largest free book distributions in the nation, with approximately 65,000 books given to fair attendees.
Since the inaugural event in 2009, which attracted an unexpected 15,000 parents and children to CSU Dominguez Hills, the Es el Momento fair has served more than 200,000 people and given away more than 300,000 books. It is the only Spanish-language education fair in the Los Angeles region, and it is only education fair of its kind produced through a partnership between a public university system and a television broadcast station. Due to its success, the fair is being replicated this year in northern California at CSU Sacramento (on August 24).
The fifth annual Es el Momento Feria de Educación returns to the CSU Dominguez Hills campus on Saturday, Oct. 5, and is expected to be the largest fair yet.
The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences posted a video on its website when the award was announced highlighting the fair and showcases the CSU Dominguez Hills campus.
The webcast of the 65th Los Angeles Area Emmys® ceremony is also online at http://www.emmys.com/content/65th-los-angeles-area-emmy-awards-webcast. The award was given around 1 hour 15 minutes into the program.
