DePaul University has named former Illinois State Senator Jesus Garcia as a community fellow in the university’s Egan Urban Center and Center for Latino Research.

The one-year fellowship will involve Garcia in research initiatives at the two centers, including an oral history project being organized by the Center for Latino Research. He also will contribute to course work in the political science department dealing with Chicago, urban and Latino politics. Garcia is team-teaching a class this fall with DePaul Political Science Professor Maria de los Angeles Torres on Latino politics in the Little Village community of Chicago.

"We are very pleased that we will have Senator Garcia here this year," said Felix Masud-Piloto, director of the Center for Latino Research. "His level of activism means a lot to the community, and we have a long-term relationship with him at the Center for Latino Research."

Garcia, 42, was the first Mexican-American elected to the Illinois senate. He served in the first legislative district from 1992 to 1998. As a senator, he was an advocate for workers’ and immigrants’ rights, affordable housing, funding for education, and neighborhood development and economic revitalization. Prior to seeking statewide office, Garcia served as alderman of the 22^nd ward, where he still serves as ward committeeman. He and his wife, Evelyn, and their two sons reside in Chicago’s Little Village community.