After 14 years of working with Utah's Hispanic community, Jesse Soriano will take his experience to the state government level Monday, (Nov. 6, 2006) when he officially becomes Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman's director of Hispanic/Latino affairs.

Soriano will report to Luz Robles, head of the Office of Ethnic Affairs. Robles said she believes education is one of the biggest issues Soriano will face in his new job, and said she is confident in his ability to tackle it.

"[Jesse] has a strong background in education," said Robles, who knew Soriano when she was a student at the University of Utah. "He happens to have been an educator at one point. It is a great strength to have someone with an education background."

Robles said she saw first-hand Soriano's ability to help Hispanics gain higher education as she worked on her undergraduate degree at the University of Utah: He was her advisor. Soriano was well known among the students because he exerted extra effort in encouraging them, often phoning them to talk about their plans for higher education and helping them find financial aid, Robles said.

"People like [Jesse] because he is so personable and he cares for them on an individual basis," she said. "That is very important for this position because you will always have constituents with different needs."

Robles said the role of the Office of Ethnic Affairs is to help educate state agencies on the needs of minorities, and that Soriano's experience working with the government at the state and federal level will be a key component in that mission.

"The Hispanic/Latino community is a large community," Robles said. "Not everyone is going to agree on the way things are done. There is confusion ... about the role of our office."

Some Hispanics are skeptical of the office and Soriano's appointment, said Tony Yapias, a former Director of Hispanic/Latino Affairs who held the position until 2005.

"It's so important for our community to be well represented," Yapias said. "That has been the criticism that the Office [of Ethnic Affairs] has gotten: that they are out of touch with the community."

Yapias said he feels immigration is at the foundation of all the issues Hispanics face and that undocumented immigrants are not well represented. Because immigration is a federal issue, the Office of Ethnic Affairs has no mandate to address an issue of this scope, Robles said.

Soriano said he feels his experiences growing up as a minority prepared him to represent the Hispanic community.

"I was pleased [about the appointment] because it gives me an opportunity to work with the Hispanic community, to focus entirely on the Hispanic community," Soriano said.

He never identified himself as someone from the United States until he was stationed in Europe and someone yelled: "Hey Yankee!," Soriano said. He didn't realize they were talking to him because he had always identified himself as a Mexican.

Soriano said he wants to focus on involving the Hispanic community by providing them with more information about issues they face, as well as continuing the educational events that the Office of Ethnic Affairs has provided over the years.

Copyright Brigham Young University 6 Nov 2006