April 11, 2017
HSIs to meet at HACU’s Capitol Forum to advocate for higher education support
The Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU) will host its 22nd Annual National Capitol Forum on Hispanic higher education in Washington, D.C., April 24-25, 2017. For agenda, click here.
Free pre-conference sessions include a U.S. Department of Agriculture & Department of Education funding session; and a session on funding opportunities presented by the U.S. Department of Justice and Department of Education.
The Capitol Forum will kick off at noon on Monday, April 24, after the pre-conference sessions. The opening plenary, "Department of Education Priorities and Accreditation Issues in Higher Education," will be convened by William Flores, HACU Governing Board Chair and provost and associate vice chancellor of Antioch University at Santa Barbara. Plenary panelists will be Judith S. Eaton, Ph.D., president of the Council for Higher Education Accreditation and Mamie Voight, vice president of Policy Research, Institute for Higher 
Education Policy.
The early afternoon session, "Higher Education Policy: Trump Administration and 115th Congress," will be convened by Rev. Msgr. Franklyn M. Casale, president of St. Thomas University, and feature panelists Jon Fansmith, director of Government Affairs for the American Council on Education, and Sarah Abernathy, deputy executive director of the Committee for Education Funding. The late afternoon session, "It’s About the Students: DACA, Student Outcomes and Student Aid," will be convened by Olga Hugelmeyer, superintendent of Schools, Elizabeth Public Schools, and feature panelists Joe Zogby, chief counsel for Senator Richard Durbin; José Luis Santos, Ph.D., former vice president of Higher Education Policy and Practice, The Education Trust; and Guillermo Cantor, PhD, deputy director of research, American Immigration Council.
On the second day of the Capitol Forum, participants will participate in two preparatory sessions, “Congressional Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSI) Caucus, Overview of Caucus and Policy Priorities,” and the “Capitol Hill Visit Check-List Session” prior to Capitol Hill visits, coordinated by the HACU government relations office in Washington, D.C. A debriefing session and a reception "Honoring the Champions of Hispanic Higher Education in Congress" will conclude the day’s events.
Click here to see a list of colleges and universities pre-registered to HACU’s Capitol Forum. 
Online registration will be open until April 14; onsite registration will be available on April 24, 8 a.m.–5 p.m., and on April 25, 7:30–10 a.m., at the Washington Marriott at Metro Center, 775 12th Street NW, Washington, DC 20005.
HACU represents more 450 colleges and universities committed to Hispanic higher education success in the U.S., Puerto Rico, Latin America and Spain. HACU is the only national educational association that represents Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs).
