"Washington, DC—The Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU) is breaking records this summer by sponsoring 450 interns in federal government jobs and corporations. The Summer 2000 Farewell Ceremony for the HACU National Internship Program (HNIP) will be held Thursday, August 10, 2000, at 6 p.m. at the U.S. Department of Agriculture in the Jamie L. Whitten Bldg., Patio on 1400 Independence Ave., SW, in Washington, DC.
The HNIP interns, along with HACU's federal agency liaisons, and the interns' supervisors will be among the 400 guests expected at the ceremony. The keynote speaker is the Secretary of Agriculture, the Honorable Daniel Glickman.
Thousands of young Latinos have benefited from the opportunities made possible by HNIP since its inception in 1992. ""You have not only increased my marketability to potential employers, but have also inspired me to keep dreaming and achieving,"" said Dolores Calderón López, an HNIP participant from St. Thomas University in Miami, Florida.
Last year HNIP topped the 500-mark for the first time in annual student participation. By June, this year's program already had exceeded that record with 523 students participating in spring and summer sessions. HNIP, a model for student development and Hispanic community outreach, is the largest Hispanic college student internship program in the country.
There also has been record new support for the program from government and corporate sectors. The nation's top hiring authority, the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, signed a five-year $1.7 million-plus contract with HNIP.
Hispanics represent 11 percent of the U.S. civilian labor force, but only 6.5 percent of the federal work force. President Clinton in 1994 signed an Executive Order on Educational Excellence for Hispanic Americans that included a call for federal departments to develop programs to promote recruitment of Hispanics for part-time, summer and permanent government agency positions. In late 1998, a memorandum from Office of Personnel Management Director, Janet Lachance, specifically listed HNIP as a program that can help achieve that goal.
""HACU is proud of the direct impact HNIP is having on the lives of so many Hispanic students, particularly in opening up opportunities for them in the federal government. As the fastest-growing minority population in the country, we must be educated and prepared to successfully assume our roles in all jobs in society,"" said Antonio R. Flores, HACU president and CEO.
In the corporate sector, businesses around the country are also diversifying their workforce ranks to better reflect the country's rapidly changing demographics. In response, HACU has launched a new Corporate HNIP component. Three corporations, The St. Paul's Companies, Inc., State Farm Insurance Companies and the Target Corporation placed HACU's first ten corporate interns. "
The HNIP interns, along with HACU's federal agency liaisons, and the interns' supervisors will be among the 400 guests expected at the ceremony. The keynote speaker is the Secretary of Agriculture, the Honorable Daniel Glickman.
Thousands of young Latinos have benefited from the opportunities made possible by HNIP since its inception in 1992. ""You have not only increased my marketability to potential employers, but have also inspired me to keep dreaming and achieving,"" said Dolores Calderón López, an HNIP participant from St. Thomas University in Miami, Florida.
Last year HNIP topped the 500-mark for the first time in annual student participation. By June, this year's program already had exceeded that record with 523 students participating in spring and summer sessions. HNIP, a model for student development and Hispanic community outreach, is the largest Hispanic college student internship program in the country.
There also has been record new support for the program from government and corporate sectors. The nation's top hiring authority, the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, signed a five-year $1.7 million-plus contract with HNIP.
Hispanics represent 11 percent of the U.S. civilian labor force, but only 6.5 percent of the federal work force. President Clinton in 1994 signed an Executive Order on Educational Excellence for Hispanic Americans that included a call for federal departments to develop programs to promote recruitment of Hispanics for part-time, summer and permanent government agency positions. In late 1998, a memorandum from Office of Personnel Management Director, Janet Lachance, specifically listed HNIP as a program that can help achieve that goal.
""HACU is proud of the direct impact HNIP is having on the lives of so many Hispanic students, particularly in opening up opportunities for them in the federal government. As the fastest-growing minority population in the country, we must be educated and prepared to successfully assume our roles in all jobs in society,"" said Antonio R. Flores, HACU president and CEO.
In the corporate sector, businesses around the country are also diversifying their workforce ranks to better reflect the country's rapidly changing demographics. In response, HACU has launched a new Corporate HNIP component. Three corporations, The St. Paul's Companies, Inc., State Farm Insurance Companies and the Target Corporation placed HACU's first ten corporate interns. "