For immediate release
Hispanic higher education leaders appointed
to Department of Education leadership group
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Antonio Flores, President and CEO, of the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU), named six higher education leaders to a new U.S. Department of Education/HACU Leadership Group created to promote greater college and career opportunities for Hispanics and to expand resources for Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs).
The six leaders of HACU-member colleges and universities in California, Florida, Illinois, New Mexico, New York and Texas will work with six senior executives from the Department of Education on the joint leadership group to direct activities outlined in a formal Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed by HACU and the federal agency.
The six members representing HACU are: |
• Manuel Aragon, President, New Mexico Highlands University
• Adriana Barrera, President, Los Angeles Mission College (California)
• 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)
The MOU, signed in March by Education Secretary Rod Paige and HACU President and CEO Antonio R. Flores, encourages development of initiatives designed in part to target more Department of Education resources and support to the Hispanic higher education community for student achievement initiatives, internships, research and outreach. Paige and Flores will attend the first meeting of the joint leadership group in August in Washington, D.C.
“The extraordinary expertise represented by the members of the new U.S. Department of Education/HACU Leadership Group will ensure that every initiative outlined by the MOU will benefit our students, as well as those colleges and universities serving the largest concentrations of Hispanic students,” said HACU President and CEO Antonio R. Flores. “I applaud their commitment to promote new college and career opportunities for a population that will have such a dynamic impact on our country’s future economic success and security.”
The Leadership Group will coordinate efforts to promote special programs and forums designed to increase Hispanic college student achievement levels, increase the agency’s participation in the HACU National Internship Program and expand representation by Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs) on the federal agency’s boards and commissions. Federally designated HSIs have a student enrollment that is at least 25 percent Hispanic.
The MOU also will encourage creation of new temporary employment opportunities for agency personnel at HSIs, and for HSI faculty at Department of Education offices to strengthen links between the Department of Education and HACU, the nation’s leading voice for the Hispanic higher education community.
HACU, with headquarters in San Antonio, Texas, and offices in Washington, D.C., represents more than 370 colleges and universities that collectively serve more than two-thirds of all Hispanic higher education students. The HACU National Internship Program, which has served more than 5,000 students since 1992, is the country’s largest Hispanic college internship program.
For more information, contact HACU national
headquarters in San Antonio, Texas, at (210) 692-3805, Ext. 3214. Or visit www.hacu.net.