For immediate release

Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities conference
Proves powerful platform for promoting Hispanic education needs

MIAMI, Florida – The 18th Annual Conference of the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU) proved a powerful platform for presenting a unified voice for major new investments in the higher education needs of the country’s largest ethnic population.

Against the backdrop of the closing days of this year’s presidential election campaigns, the national conference that ended this week in Miami, Florida, attracted more than 1,500 college, community, public policy, philanthropic and student leaders to urge that Hispanic higher education become a top, post-election priority of Congress and the country.

An unprecedented number of international education leaders from throughout the Americas and Spain also joined their U.S. counterparts at the four-day conference to call for a new era of cross-border education partnerships in a global economy demanding multicultural, multilingual skills.

“The collective resolve of our Hispanic higher education community here and abroad was inspiring in the consensus that greater investments in college opportunities for our Hispanic students will be essential to the economic success, social well-being and security of our country and of our hemisphere. We are the future,” said HACU President and CEO Antonio R. Flores.

“HACU applauds the support of our corporate, philanthropic and public sector sponsors and exhibitors, the extraordinary roster of national and international keynote speakers and every participant for making this year’s conference an unparalleled success,” Flores said.

HACU represents more than 390 colleges and universities that collectively serve more than two-thirds of all U.S. Hispanic higher education students, as well as leading Hispanic-serving higher education institutions throughout Latin America and in Spain.

HACU presented its highest annual awards to:

HACU’s 18th Annual Conference welcomed an international roster of Hispanic higher education advocates, including: former U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Henry Cisneros; Charles B. Reed, chancellor of the 23-campus California State University System, and award-winning Univision anchor and author Jorge Ramos.

“You are making a huge difference,” Cisneros told Hispanic higher education leaders. “What your institutions represent is right at the core of our hopes and right at the core of our American Dream.”

Reed said Congress must recognize the importance of funding HSIs in order to address the education needs of a population that also suffers the lowest college graduation rates. “We need to keep Hispanic higher education issues in the spotlight at the state, local and national levels,” Reed said.

United States Secretary of Agriculture Ann M. Veneman attracted rounds of applause in citing the importance of Hispanic Americans, who already make up one of every three new workers joining the U.S. work force today, in contributing to the nation’s continued economic growth.

Also addressing the conference were: Victor Arredondo Alvarez, rector of Universidad Veracruzana in Mexico and president of the Inter-American Organization for Higher Education (IOHE); Louis Caldera, former United States Secretary of the Army and now President of the University of New Mexico; Javier Sagi-Vela, Director General of the 750-campus international UNIVERSIA portal headquartered in Spain; and Jorge Lomonaco Tonda, Consul General of Mexico in Miami.

“We are looking forward to strong alliances among our organizations,” Arredondo of Universidad Veracruzana and the IOHE told the audience. The conference also attracted large crowds to its inaugural “Building Connections: International Networking Reception,” which opened dialogue on issues ranging from faculty and student exchanges to the role of the international Hispanic higher education community in global economic and public policy developments.

The many sponsors of HACU’s 18th Annual Conference won repeated rounds of applause from packed workshops and general conference sessions for their ongoing support of Hispanic pre-K through college needs, workforce diversity and community outreach.

Sponsors included Nelnet (the National Education Loan Network), the U.S. Coast Guard, CIA, DaimlerChrysler, U.S. Army, U.S. Department of Agriculture, AT&T, Bank of America, The College Board, Farm Credit Administration, Freddie Mac, Sodexho, University of Miami, Wal-Mart, Citigroup, Ford Motor Company, General Motors, Intel, Kodak, Lockheed Martin, McDonald’s, Miller Brewing Company, Broward Community College District, Carlos Albizu University, Denny’s, U.S. Department of Education, U.S. Department of State and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Sponsors also included UNIVERSIA, Verizon, Office of Surface Mining of the U.S. Department of the Interior, Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute, Gateway, Hispanic Journal, Hispanic Magazine, Hyatt Hotels, League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), Hispanic Network, Miami Dade College, Miami Herald, Nextel, Southwest Airlines, Trade Group, Vista Magazine, Walt Disney Company and Zubi Advertising.

Diamond sponsor Nelnet presented HACU with a check for $200,000 to support HACU programs and outreach following the announcement of a new partnership with HACU in the form of a loan referral and marketing agreement that will benefit HACU, HACU member colleges and universities and their students.

Dozens of leading employers, scholarship and fellowship providers and service providers opened the conference Exhibit Hall doors to all Florida college students and recent graduates as part of the conference’s annual Career Fair days.

HACU also celebrated its role as a founder of the first unified voice for all minority-serving higher education needs at a special conference session hosted by the Alliance for Equity in Higher Education representing Hispanic-Serving Institutions, Tribal Colleges and Universities and Historically Black Colleges and Universities.

Two days before the conference’s start, HACU and Miami Dade College co-hosted a Student Leadership Conference, Investing in the Leaders of Tomorrow, which attracted nearly 2,000 middle and high school students from private and public schools throughout Miami Dade County at an event that included an opening plenary broadcast to all six campuses of the college.

“Every year, HACU actively engages the pre-collegiate community to let younger students know that there is help available to make their college and career hopes a reality,” Flores said in joining Miami Dade College North Campus President Jose Vicente to address the pre-conference event.

HACU’s 19th Annual Conference is scheduled October 15-18, 2005, in Phoenix, Arizona.

For more information, contact HACU at (210) 692-3805, Ext. 3214. Or visit www.hacu.net.