LASER—an Ohio State scholarship and mentoring center for Latino/a students—has just been named a 2015 Bright Spot in Hispanic Education by the White House. Founded and directed by Ohio State English Professor and Project Narrative core faculty Frederick Aldama, LASER (Latino and Latin American Space for Enrichment and Research) is the country's first hub for scholarship and mentoring that centers on Latinos and the knowledge and cultural production of the Latin/o Americas. LASER strives to make Ohio State a visible center for knowledge production in and around the study of Latino and Latin Americas and also a space for preparing, recruiting, and retaining Latino scholars from high school through graduate school.

Bright Spots is part of a White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanics that highlights programs, models, organizations, or initiatives that target, address, and invest in educational priorities for Hispanics and help to close the achievement gap.

For more information on the Bright Spot award and LASER, please read the full story, from which this news brief is taken, at http://go.osu.edu/97G.