"SAN ANTONIO, Texas — A veteran Hispanic higher education advocate was named chair of the Governing Board of the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU). Steven Arvizu, president of Oxnard College in California, will chair the governing board for 2001.
""With his national reputation and wide expertise on so many issues impacting Hispanic higher education and the larger Hispanic community, Dr. Arvizu's leadership will prove a tremendous asset to our efforts to champion the college and career success of all Hispanic students,"" HACU President Antonio R. Flores said. ""We are honored to have this opportunity to benefit from his vision and his leadership.""
As former HACU Governing Board Secretary and Vice Chair, Arvizu has been a leading spokesman for Hispanic higher education needs at state and national levels. ""Creative collaboration is the strategic phase for us in this new decade,"" said Arvizu, who has been president of Oxnard College since 1997. The college located north of Los Angeles has a student enrollment that is 55 percent Hispanic.
Arvizu is a veteran of higher education ranks and a one-time public school teacher whose commitment to the larger Hispanic community is reflected in his active role in public school and community economic development initiatives in the Oxnard area.
Arvizu is a former executive vice president and provost at California State University at Monterey Bay, graduate studies dean at California State University at Bakersfield and anthropology professor at California State University at Sacramento. The former Kellogg Fellow and Tomas Rivera Center Scholar has won numerous professional and community awards.
For Arvizu, historic barriers of poverty and low college completion rates remain challenges for Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs) that educate the largest concentrations of Hispanic higher education students. HSI is a federal designation for a higher education institution with a student enrollment that is at least 25 percent Hispanic.
""The key to changing that is higher education and increasing the graduation rates of Hispanic students,"" Arvizu said. ""Those Hispanic graduates are the future leaders of our community. They are our engineers, our doctors, our teachers, our work force, our artists and our creative people for the next millennium.""
Joining Arvizu on the HACU Governing Board for 2001 are: Tito Guerrero III, governing board vice chair and president of the University of Southern Colorado; Jose Vicente, governing board secretary and president of Miami-Dade Community College's Inter American Campus in Florida; John Guerra, governing board treasurer and vice president for corporate affairs for AT&T, and Piedad Robertson, the governing board's past chair and president of Santa Monica College in California. HACU President Antonio Flores is an ex-officio member of the governing board.
The HACU Governing Board membership for 2001 also includes University of Houston-Downtown President Max Castillo, California State University at San Marcos President Alexander Gonzalez, Northern New Mexico Community College President Sigfredo Maestas, Our Lady of the Lake University (Texas) President Sally Mahoney, Grossmont College (California) President Ted Martinez Jr. and New Mexico Highlands University President Selimo Rael.
Other HACU Governing Board members are: Dolores M. Fernandez, president of Eugenio Maria de Hostos Community College of the City University of New York; Ricardo Fernandez, president of Herbert H. Lehman College of the City University of New York; Zaida Vega Lugo, chancellor of the Arecibo Campus of Inter American University of Puerto Rico; Miguel Palacios, president of the Desert Vista Campus of Pima Community College District in Arizona; Luis Gonzalez Argueso, public affairs manager for Johnson & Johnson Shared Services; Dalia Diaz-Olivarez, professional development manager for State Farm Insurance Companies, and Pablo Longoria Trevino, rector of Universidad Regiomontana in Nuevo Leon, Mexico.
HACU represents more than 270 HSIs and other colleges and universities with high Hispanic student enrollment rates. Hispanic Business magazine recently named HACU one of the nation's top 25 nonprofits, and listed HACU President Antonio Flores among the country's ""100 Most Influential Hispanics."" "
""With his national reputation and wide expertise on so many issues impacting Hispanic higher education and the larger Hispanic community, Dr. Arvizu's leadership will prove a tremendous asset to our efforts to champion the college and career success of all Hispanic students,"" HACU President Antonio R. Flores said. ""We are honored to have this opportunity to benefit from his vision and his leadership.""
As former HACU Governing Board Secretary and Vice Chair, Arvizu has been a leading spokesman for Hispanic higher education needs at state and national levels. ""Creative collaboration is the strategic phase for us in this new decade,"" said Arvizu, who has been president of Oxnard College since 1997. The college located north of Los Angeles has a student enrollment that is 55 percent Hispanic.
Arvizu is a veteran of higher education ranks and a one-time public school teacher whose commitment to the larger Hispanic community is reflected in his active role in public school and community economic development initiatives in the Oxnard area.
Arvizu is a former executive vice president and provost at California State University at Monterey Bay, graduate studies dean at California State University at Bakersfield and anthropology professor at California State University at Sacramento. The former Kellogg Fellow and Tomas Rivera Center Scholar has won numerous professional and community awards.
For Arvizu, historic barriers of poverty and low college completion rates remain challenges for Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs) that educate the largest concentrations of Hispanic higher education students. HSI is a federal designation for a higher education institution with a student enrollment that is at least 25 percent Hispanic.
""The key to changing that is higher education and increasing the graduation rates of Hispanic students,"" Arvizu said. ""Those Hispanic graduates are the future leaders of our community. They are our engineers, our doctors, our teachers, our work force, our artists and our creative people for the next millennium.""
Joining Arvizu on the HACU Governing Board for 2001 are: Tito Guerrero III, governing board vice chair and president of the University of Southern Colorado; Jose Vicente, governing board secretary and president of Miami-Dade Community College's Inter American Campus in Florida; John Guerra, governing board treasurer and vice president for corporate affairs for AT&T, and Piedad Robertson, the governing board's past chair and president of Santa Monica College in California. HACU President Antonio Flores is an ex-officio member of the governing board.
The HACU Governing Board membership for 2001 also includes University of Houston-Downtown President Max Castillo, California State University at San Marcos President Alexander Gonzalez, Northern New Mexico Community College President Sigfredo Maestas, Our Lady of the Lake University (Texas) President Sally Mahoney, Grossmont College (California) President Ted Martinez Jr. and New Mexico Highlands University President Selimo Rael.
Other HACU Governing Board members are: Dolores M. Fernandez, president of Eugenio Maria de Hostos Community College of the City University of New York; Ricardo Fernandez, president of Herbert H. Lehman College of the City University of New York; Zaida Vega Lugo, chancellor of the Arecibo Campus of Inter American University of Puerto Rico; Miguel Palacios, president of the Desert Vista Campus of Pima Community College District in Arizona; Luis Gonzalez Argueso, public affairs manager for Johnson & Johnson Shared Services; Dalia Diaz-Olivarez, professional development manager for State Farm Insurance Companies, and Pablo Longoria Trevino, rector of Universidad Regiomontana in Nuevo Leon, Mexico.
HACU represents more than 270 HSIs and other colleges and universities with high Hispanic student enrollment rates. Hispanic Business magazine recently named HACU one of the nation's top 25 nonprofits, and listed HACU President Antonio Flores among the country's ""100 Most Influential Hispanics."" "