HACU Member Advisory--August 11, 2004

U.S. Department of Education welcomes
Hispanic higher education leadership group

A historic new partnership between the U.S. Department of Education and HACU was launched today with the first meeting of the Department of Education/HACU Leadership Group. HACU will regularly advise its membership as the Leadership Group oversees new initiatives designed to expand support from the federal agency for HACU member colleges and universities.

HACU applauds the leadership of the U.S. Department of Education for creating this important new partnership. At today’s inaugural Leadership Group meeting in Washington, D.C., HACU President Antonio R. Flores was joined by chief executives of HACU member higher education institutions from California, Florida, Illinois, New Mexico, New York and Texas. The Leadership Group is composed of six leaders of HACU and six executives of the Department of Education.

The leadership group was formed as the result of a historic Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed by Flores and U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige on March 30, 2004. The MOU directs the joint Leadership Group to oversee the allocation of expanded federal resources and support to HACU member colleges and universities for Hispanic student achievement initiatives, internships, research and community outreach.

(L-R:) Charles Cotrell, Adriana Barrera, Sally Stroup, Gene Hickock, Maria Ferrier, Antonio Flores, Salme Steinberg, Hans Meeder, Manuel Aragon, Veronica Trietsch, Adam Chavarria 

Participants at today’s meeting were greeted by the new Leadership Group’s co-chairs Adriana Barrera, President of Los Angeles Mission College in California representing HACU, and Maria Hernandez Ferrier, Deputy Under Secretary and Director of the Office of English Language Acquisition representing the Department of Education.

Other HACU members of the Leadership Group are:

·         Manuel Aragon, President, New Mexico Highlands University

·         Charles Cotrell, President, St. Mary’s University (Texas)

·         Antonio Perez, President, Borough of Manhattan Community College, City University of New York

·         Salme Harju Steinberg, President, Northeastern Illinois University

·         Silvia Zapico, Provost, Valencia Community College-Osceola Campus (Florida)

Also at today’s meeting were: Deputy Secretary of Education Gene Hickock; Sally Stroup, Assistant Secretary of Education for the Office of Postsecondary Education; Karen Johnson, Assistant Secretary of Education for the Office of Legislation and Congressional Affairs, and Adam Chavarria, Executive Director of the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanic Americans.

The Leadership Group will coordinate efforts to expand representation of the Hispanic higher education community on Department of Education boards and commissions, and to increase the agency’s participation in the HACU National Internship Program. Special programs and forums focusing on the expansion of Department of Education investments in Hispanic higher education also are being planned by the new Leadership Group.

Please contact HACU’s Washington, D.C., staff at (202) 833-8361 with any questions about or for the new Department of Education/HACU Leadership Group.

HACU Member Advisories are a Service of the
Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities