Joe Saucedo, PCC Equity Program Manager and Jonathan Lopez, PCC Communications and Operations Manager | December 9, 2020
The term Hispanic has a complicated history. In fact, there is quite a lot of variance in terms of who identifies with the term depending on your geographic location in the country. In 1973, the federal government created the ethnic category “Hispanic” to refer to individuals with heritage and ancestors originating in Spain or Latin American countries. After years of legislative advocacy in support of increasing college access for underserved students, the Hispanic-serving institution designation was introduced in 1992. Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs) are nonprofit, degree-granting postsecondary institutions in the United States that are federally designated as such by enrolling at least 25% Latinx undergraduate students (Garcia et al., 2019). Emerging HSIs, according to Excelencia in Education, are those colleges and universities that have a full-time equivalent Hispanic enrollment between 15-24%. Dr. Gina Ann Garcia from the University of Pittsburgh has dedicated much of her research on HSIs to assessing whether these institutions deliver on the promise to serve Hispanic and Latinx students in ways that their white dominant counterparts do not. Specifically, Dr. Garcia interrogates whether HSIs go beyond just enrolling more Latinx students and also focus on taking action that yields better persistence and graduation rates.
As Illinois’ Latinx community continues to grow, more colleges and universities should be prepared to be Hispanic serving and in more than designation – effectively serving and supporting Latinx student persistence and degree completion.
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In Dr. Garcia’s groundbreaking book, Becoming Hispanic-Serving Institutions: Opportunities for Colleges & Universities, it becomes clear that despite the HSI designation, many well-intentioned institutions of higher education promote invisibility for Latinx students when course offerings prioritize a Eurocentric perspective, administrative leaders and faculty are mostly white, or student programming does not account for the rich diversity of Latinx students. Dr. Garcia further argues that colleges and universities with the HSI classification must commit to providing their students with equitable experiences and outcomes.
In regions across the United States, including the Midwest, the Hispanic/Latinx population has seen double-digit growth since 2010, and there is a correlation between that population growth and the emergence of Hispanic-serving institutions. In our state, out of the 28 partner colleges and universities that comprise the Illinois Equity in Attainment Initiative, 15 are designated as HSIs or emerging HSIs. For some of these partners, their enrollment figures tell one story while retention and persistence rates among Hispanic/Latinx students lag behind non-Hispanic students. Fortunately, ILEA partners are confronting these and other disparities through a number of equity reforms, including the implementation of proven institutional strategies to address specific inequities. But as Dr. Garcia’s research points out, more work is needed by HSIs and emerging HSIs in general to effectively serve Latinx students and support their success.
PCC’s Communications and Operations Manager Jonathan Lopez graduated from two Chicago-based HSIs, read more about his experience here.
By participating in the ILEA initiative, PCC’s partner institutions including those with an established or emerging HSI status, have access to practitioners and scholar researchers such as Dr. Garcia and December webinar presenter, Dr. Marcela Cuellar, of the UC Davis School of Education, who problematize the concept of servingness and offer evidence-based considerations for examining campus racial climate and nonacademic student outcomes. In her essay for the American Council on Education, Dr. Garcia credits HSIs for doing their part to pursue federal grants that would enhance their ability to serve racially diverse students in meaningful ways. However, she acknowledges that there is much more that must be done in order for students enrolled at HSIs to navigate higher education successfully.
Dr. Garcia explicitly lays out several recommendations that are relevant for HSI leaders:
- Articulate and embrace the HSI identity as an organization
- Develop and nurture a campus environment that affirms and celebrates Latinx culture and the racial/ethnic background of minoritized students
- Identify, recognize, and enhance the cultural wealth and vast knowledge that students bring to your institution
- Provide ongoing anti-racist training and development opportunities for faculty and staff
- Inventory and transform the structures that affect how Latinx students experience the institution including but not limited to governance, leadership, curricular and co-curricular offerings, decision-making processes, and assessment