Untitled Document Monday, August 2, 2004

For immediate release

HACU names 10 Leadership Fellows

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU) named 10 HACU Leadership Fellows as the next generation of Hispanic higher education leaders for the country’s diverse college campuses and communities.

The 10 Fellows from California, Florida, New Mexico, New York and Texas are one of three teams of minority educators following last year’s inaugural teams of Fellows in this second year of the national Kellogg Minority-Serving Institution (MSI) Leadership Program.

Funded through the Alliance for Equity in Higher Education with a four-year, $6 million grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, the program is designed to identify and mentor the next generation of Hispanic, Native American and African American higher education leaders.

The Alliance was founded as the first unified voice for minority higher education by HACU representing Hispanic-Serving Institutions, the American Indian Higher Education Consortium (AIHEC) representing Tribal Colleges and Universities and the National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education (NAFEO) representing the country’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities.

The Fellows will receive mentoring, training and networking support as part of the program’s goal to address more effectively the shortage of minority higher education presidents and other senior executives at those colleges and universities serving the largest concentrations of minority students.

Organizers predict that at least half the participants in the Kellogg MSI Leadership Fellows Program will be serving as presidents or other high-ranking executives within the next decade.

“HACU is excited about the second year of this dynamic program that will contribute to a new, dramatically more diverse era of leadership in the higher education community,” said HACU President and CEO Antonio R. Flores.

“Our 10 HACU Leadership Fellows represent an extraordinary array of expertise that will translate into a new generation of higher education leaders that truly reflect the rapidly changing demographics of our campuses and our country,” Flores said.

The HACU Leadership Fellows met today in Washington, D.C., with their AIHEC and NAFEO counterparts to begin a year-long series of intensive workshops, briefings, forums and mentoring opportunities to support their advancement through higher education leadership ranks.

HACU, the nation’s leading voice for Hispanic higher education, represents more than 350 colleges and universities that collectively serve more than two-thirds of all Hispanic higher education students.

The HACU Leadership Fellows for 2004-2005 are:
Felicia Casados, Dean of Planning and Special Projects, Northern New Mexico Community College
Ben Corpus, Vice President, Student Development and Enrollment Management, Hostos Community College, City University of New York
Jozi De Leon, Associate Provost, Academic Affairs, New Mexico State University
Jeronimo Dominguez, Vice Provost, Extended University, University of New Mexico
Alfredo Gonzalez, Dean, Undergraduate Studies, California State University, Los Angeles
Jaime Ortiz, Director, Office of International Programs, Florida Atlantic University
Rodolfo Rocha, Dean, College of Arts and Humanities, University of Texas-Pan American
Hector Sepulveda, Faculty Advisor, Development of Outreach Programs and Cultural and Linguistic Curricula, Stony Brook University, New York
Santiago Silva, Vice President, Student Services and Development, South Texas Community College
Santos Torres Jr., Professor, Division of Social Work, California State University, Sacramento

For more information, contract Patrick Valdez, Director of the HACU-Kellogg Leadership Fellows Program at (210) 476-3217 or visit www.hacu.net.