Rod Gillum, GM Vice President for Corporate Responsibility and Diversity, accepted HACU’s Outstanding HACU-Private Sector Partner award on behalf of GM at an Oct. 18 awards luncheon.

“GM endorses and shares the vision of HACU, which involves encouraging and guiding the Hispanic community to high academic achievement, career advancement, and economic growth,” Gillum said. “HACU empowers Hispanic students through exceptional programs, at this annual conference and at its member institutions,” said Gillum.

HACU, founded in 1986, represents 395 colleges and universities committed to Hispanic higher education success in the U.S., Puerto Rico, Latin America and Spain. HACU member institutions in the U. S. account for fewer than 7 percent of all higher education institutions nationwide, but represent more than two-thirds of all Hispanic college students in the U.S. In 1992, HACU led the effort to convince Congress to formally recognize campuses with high Hispanic enrollment as federally designated Hispanic Serving Institutions, and to begin directing federal appropriations to those campuses. In 2004, $94 million will be awarded to Hispanic Serving Institutions under Title V of the Higher Education Act.

“We applaud General Motors for its steadfast support of HACU and the aspirations of Hispanic students throughout this nation,” said HACU President and CEO Antonio R. Flores. “GM’s financial investment in our students and our member institutions is a tremendous factor in their success.”
General Motors sponsors an annual program with HACU that provides scholarships to Hispanic students in engineering and business, and gives the students opportunities for internships and full-time employment at GM.

HACU member institutions are involved in General Motors’ Key Institutions program. For more than 25 years, GM has provided its Key Institutions with developmental and research support in engineering and business.

In his remarks at the Oct. 18 luncheon, Gillum said GM applauds the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in 2003 to uphold the legitimacy of a university’s consideration of race and ethnic origin as a factor in its admissions policies.

“General Motors has maintained its conviction that workforce diversity, and the affirmative action policies which produce it, are absolutely vital to the health of American businesses and the U.S. economy,” said Gillum. “GM believes that only a well-educated and highly diverse workforce can maintain America’s competitiveness in the increasingly interconnected world economy.”