“From California to Capitol Hill, Dr. Arciniega has proven a compelling advocate for the higher education needs of the nation’s youngest and largest ethnic population. His remarkable achievements have opened countless new doors to college and career success for Hispanic students everywhere,” said HACU President and CEO Antonio R. Flores.

As an active member of the HACU Governing Board, and past Governing Board Chair, Arciniega has helped build HACU’s membership to more than 300 colleges and universities serving the largest concentrations of Hispanic higher education students in 26 states and Puerto Rico.

His public championship of the country’s fastest-growing school-age population has helped HACU win tens of millions of dollars in new support each year from the federal government and private sector for Hispanic college students and the higher education institutions that serve them.

“Dr. Arciniega is an extraordinary leader for diversity, equity and excellence who continues to inspire all of us in the Hispanic higher education community,” Flores said.

Hundreds of higher education leaders and advocates attend HACU’s annual conferences, which have become national platforms for promoting new public policies, partnerships and programs in support of Hispanic higher education.

HACU is inaugurating its first HACU Roast and Fundraiser at its 17th Annual Conference October 18-21 at the Hyatt Regency-Orange County in Anaheim, California. Arciniega will be named the first honoree at the pre-conference roast and fundraiser October 17 at the conference hotel. A part of the proceeds from the event, for which tickets will be available to the public, will be used to establish a scholarship in Arciniega’s name.

As one of the longest serving presidents in the California State University System, Arciniega, 65, has served as president of California State University at Bakersfield since 1983. The university’s multi-cultural student enrollment has more than doubled during his 20-year tenure, and the university’s budget has more than tripled.

Arciniega, who in June announced plans to retire on July 1, 2004, is the winner of numerous state and national awards. He is a widely published expert on higher education administration, bilingual education and multicultural education. He has served as a technical consultant to the Ministries of Education in Honduras, Bolivia, Panama, and Guatemala. Arciniega was named by Change magazine as one of the top 100 Academic Leaders in American Higher Education.

Arciniega, who also is a professor of educational administration at the Bakersfield campus, was a tenured faculty member at each of the higher education institutions where he served before arriving at the Bakersfield campus in 1983. Arciniega is a former vice president for academic affairs at California State University at Fresno, former dean of the College of Education at San Diego State University, and former graduate dean and educational administration chair at the University of Texas at El Paso.

Arciniega is Trustee Emeritus of the Carnegie Foundation and a past presidential appointee of the National Council on Education Research. He serves on the boards of the Aspen Institute, Educational Testing Service, Tomás Rivera Policy Institute, National Hispanic Scholarship Fund and MESA (Mathematics, Engineering and Science Achievements). He is a past president of the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) and a member of the Telecommunications Advisory Panel for Pacific Bell.