Building a Diverse, Inclusive Community at Valparaiso University

The Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE) is a nationwide organization for underrepresented students across the country. Its goal is to change lives by empowering the Hispanic/Latinx community to realize its fullest potential and to impact the world through STEM awareness, access, support, and development. At Valparaiso University, SHPE focuses on the theme of “familia,” Spanish for family, and works to fulfill the mission of the organization by creating a support network throughout the engineering disciplines and all STEM majors.

“It’s really an all-encompassing guide on how to succeed in STEM for people who don’t have those role models in their family,” says Monica Magallanes ’22, a civil engineering major and co-president of SHPE.
SHPE brings a number of professional events and opportunities to Valparaiso University, including career fair preparation, speed networking, mock interviews and interview strategy discussion, lessons in HTML coding with the Tech Tuesdays series, and tours at companies such as Caterpillar.

“In SHPE, you’ll learn a lot of different things,” says Abbi Damacia ’22, a mechanical engineering major with minors in electrical engineering and Spanish and co-president of SHPE. “You can participate in networking and gain the skills you need to succeed all in one place.”

The Valpo chapter of the society was founded in 2019 by Krystal Peña ’21, who invited a small group of Valpo students to attend the SHPE National Convention, the largest Latinx?/Hispanic gathering for STEM students in the nation. Monica and Abbi were among those Krystal personally invited and quickly decided to dedicate themselves to the organization.

“We went to one meeting and that was it, we were in,” Abbi says.
Monica and Abbi became the treasurer and secretary respectively and now serve as co-presidents of the organization. They say that while the academic and professional support that students find in SHPE is important, the cultural and social impact of the organization is what make it a truly essential resource for students.

“Underrepresented students especially need support from people who look like them,” Monica says. “There’s a ton of support academically for classwork, but the social support is something you really miss.”

The social support and community have kept them dedicated to the organization for their entire academic career at Valpo.

“I feel passionate about building that familia atmosphere on campus,” Abbi says. “It’s important to have that representation of us.”

“The community we built has been the number one thing that has kept me here,” Monica says. “This is where I get all my best friends from.”

Some of the social events that SHPE hosts on campus include a Dia de los Muertos celebration and a taco party at the start of the semester with food donated by local businesses.

As co-presidents, Monica and Abbi’s main goal has been to keep SHPE going strong after they have graduated.
“A lot of organizations will be great for four years, but then the e-board (executive board) will move on, and it’s like starting from scratch,” Monica says. “Making sure we’re cycling out the e-board members and lining up members to keep the organization going has been our number one goal.”

The jobs and responsibilities Abbi and Monica have taken on during their time with SHPE have provided them with a variety of skills that will help them as they prepare to graduate and enter the workforce and post-graduate education.
“Compartmentalizing, delegating, effectively communicating, making sure everyone understands the overall vision and know what to do, are all skills I learned on e-board,” Monica says.

“Being as organized as we have to be, making connections, and maintaining them will play a big role in my professional development,” Abbi says. “Talking to the dean and local businesses about funding has helped with communication. They’re like mini-projects we do all the time.”

Abbi plans on taking her skills to the General Motors truck program, while Monica intends to earn her professional engineer (P.E.) license, and, inspired by her father’s career in construction, wants to put her education toward sustainable engineering in the construction industry.

For students who are new to the University or who are considering joining SHPE, Monica emphasizes just how much the society can help them improve.

“This is probably the best leadership opportunity you’ll get in the College of Engineering,” Monica says. “We are a well-rounded group of high achieving individuals who are here for a common goal. We’re here to make ourselves better engineers, better students, and better people.”

SHPE is just one of the variety of student organizations ensuring a diverse, welcoming environment at Valparaiso University. The National Society of Black Engineers and the Society of Women Engineers assist students in developing the leadership skills valued by their future employers in addition to social and service opportunities. Learn about all the opportunities students have available to them here.