June 27, 2019
The Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities and Southwest Airlines are celebrating a milestone year for the Annual ¡Lánzate! / Take Off! Travel Program, a student program designed to encourage Hispanic higher education persistence and graduation.
During a 15th Anniversary Quinceañera ¡Lánzate! celebratory event held on June 26, 2019, HACU President and CEO Antonio R. Flores thanked Southwest Airlines and Christine Ortega, senior advisor for international community affairs and grassroots at Southwest Airlines, for spearheading the program with HACU. The program has made it possible for college students and their families to stay connected and/ or attend graduations with these travel awards.
To date, the ¡Lánzate! program has awarded a total of 2,611 round trip Southwest Airlines e-pass(es) since its inception. A total of 1,189 undergraduate and graduate students across the country have received travel awards between 2005-2018. Awardees for 2019 will be announced in the fall.
The 15th Anniversary event celebrated in San Antonio, Texas, the home of HACU’s National Headquarters, brought together HACU and Southwest Airlines staff with representatives from legislative offices, local San Antonio colleges and universities, the 2019 ¡Lánzate! National selection committee and 15 past recipients of the program. Many of the recipients shared their gratitude and personal stories of how the program helped them with a visit back home as they completed their college journey.
To read testimonials from 15 past recipients of the ¡Lánzate! program, click here.
(Front row, second from left) Christine Ortega, senior advisor for international community affairs and grassroots at Southwest Airlines (front, fourth from left) HACU President and CEO Antonio R. Flores with past recipients of the ¡Lánzate! / Take Off! Travel Program.