"WASHINGTON, D.C. - The education and workforce development needs of the nation's fastest-growing minority population will be the focus of the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU) Election Year 2000 National Capitol Forum on Hispanic Higher Education April 30 - May 4 at the Hotel Washington in Washington, D.C.
""Public support for education always has been a high priority. Yet, Congress each year fails to adequately address the education needs of Hispanics, who suffer historically high dropout rates and limited access to a college education,"" said HACU President Antonio Flores. ""The implications are critical for an economy that will increasingly rely on the advanced skills, earnings and tax dollars of this fastest-growing and youngest minority population,"" said Antonio Flores, president of the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU).
HACU represents 237 colleges and universities with high Hispanic student enrollment rates. Altogether, these campuses are home to two-thirds of all Hispanic higher education students. The nonprofit, nonpartisan association will outline a legislative agenda that will ask Congress this year to appropriate record new funding to those campuses home to the largest concentrations of Hispanic higher education students.
During the conference, presidents and chancellors of HACU member campuses will meet with congressional representatives to promote HACU's legislative agenda for a population group that suffers historically high dropout rates and limited access to a college education.
Among speakers scheduled to address the Capitol Forum are U.S. Senators Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas) and Jeff Bingaman (D-New Mexico), as well as U.S. Reps. Ruben Hinojosa (D-Texas), Ed Pastor (D-Arizona), Robert Menendez (D-New Jersey), Matthew Martinez (D-California) and Joe Baca (D-California).
HACU Capitol Forum highlights:
Sunday, April 30:
*HACU President Antonio Flores will address Hispanic education issues in opening remarks at 6 p.m. Sunday, April 30.
Monday, May 1:
*HACU President Antonio Flores will join AFL-CIO Executive Vice President Linda Chavez-Thompson at a session at 8:15 a.m. Monday, May 1.
*National Institutes of Health Acting Director Ruth Kirschstein will join Overseas Private Investment Corporation President and CEO George Munoz at a luncheon session at 11:40 a.m. Monday, May 1.
*At 3:35 p.m. Monday, May 1, speakers at separate afternoon sessions will include: Sarita Brown, executive director of the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanic Americans; Anthony Carnevale, vice president of public leadership for the Educational Testing Service; Assistant Secretary of Labor Michael Cohen and Ana Cha Guzman, senior advisor to the U.S. Department of Education.
*Educational priorities of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus will be the focus of remarks at 6 p.m. Monday, May 1, by U.S. Rep. Ruben Hinojosa, D-Texas.
Tuesday, May 2:
*U.S. Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-New Mexico, co-founder of the new Senate Hispanic-Serving Institution Coalition, will address the forum at 8:15 a.m. Tuesday, May 2. Hispanic-Serving Institutions are those colleges and universities with a minimum 25 percent Hispanic student enrollment rate. HACU led the effort to convince Congress to formally designate such campuses as Hispanic-Serving Institutions, and has since led efforts to attract record new federal funding and increasing levels of corporate and philanthropic support for HSIs.
*A powerful new alliance promoting a united voice for the higher education concerns of Hispanic, African American and Native American higher education associations is the focus of remarks at 8:15 a.m. Tuesday, May 2, by Jamie Merisotis, president of the Institute for Higher Education Policy.
*The role of Hispanic-Serving Institutions in workforce development initiatives will be the focus of remarks at 9:40 a.m. Tuesday, May 2, by representatives of the Department of Labor, Department of Education and Department of Agriculture.
*Assistant Secretary of Education Claudio Prieto will speak at 11 a.m. Tuesday, May 2, on Hispanics and the Higher Education Act. HACU's legislative agenda is requesting that $75 million be appropriated to Hispanic- Serving Institutions (HSIs) for fiscal year 2001 under Title V of the Higher Education Act. Congress appropriated $42.25 million to HSIs for fiscal 2000.
*Nationally known civil rights advocate and affirmative action expert Janell Byrd-Chichester, assistant counsel for the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, will speak at 2:10 p.m. Tuesday, May 2.
*Assistant Secretary of Labor Raymond Bramucci will address workforce development topics at 6 p.m. Tuesday, May 2. The Employment Training Administration of the Department of Labor recently joined HACU in a unique partnership designed to expand the role of HSIs in implementation of a dramatic overhaul of the nation's jobs programs now under way with the new Workforce Investment Act.
Thursday, May 4
*At 8:15 a.m. Thursday, May 4, morning session speakers will include: Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, co-founder of the Senate Hispanic-Serving Institution Coalition; Harry Pachon, president of the Tomas Rivera Policy Institute, and California State University System Chancellor Charles Reed.
*The widening impact of the Hispanic vote will be the topic at a special ""Election Year 2000 and the Hispanic Vote"" session at 10:40 a.m. Thursday, May 4, that will focus on this year's presidential election.
*The ""digital divide"" will be the focus of an address on closing the Hispanic technology gap by Anthony Wilhelm, program director of the Benton Foundation, at noon Thursday, May 4.
*Representatives of the National Endowment for the Humanities, Department of Commerce, Department of Agriculture, Office of Equal Opportunity of the National Institutes of Health and Department of the Army will speak at a session on Hispanics and the role of federal government agencies at 3:25 p.m. Thursday, May 4.
HACU is calling for new and expanded federal agency funding for Hispanic higher education to benefit students from kindergarten through graduate school. Congress also will be asked to provide historically under-funded HSIs new or increased funding for faculty research and campus infrastructure support to better serve Hispanics - projected to become the nation's largest minority population within the next five years.
Seventy percent of U.S. Hispanics never have attended college. Forty-five percent of Hispanics have less than a high school education. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, one of every four persons living in poverty in the United States is of Hispanic origin.
HACU, founded in 1986 in San Antonio, Texas, has headquarters in San Antonio and offices in Washington, D.C.
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Media and credentials contact for HACU Election Year 2000 National Capitol Forum on Hispanic Higher Education: Renee Haines (800) 805-7438. For a complete Capitol Forum schedule, visit www.hacu.net. "
""Public support for education always has been a high priority. Yet, Congress each year fails to adequately address the education needs of Hispanics, who suffer historically high dropout rates and limited access to a college education,"" said HACU President Antonio Flores. ""The implications are critical for an economy that will increasingly rely on the advanced skills, earnings and tax dollars of this fastest-growing and youngest minority population,"" said Antonio Flores, president of the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU).
HACU represents 237 colleges and universities with high Hispanic student enrollment rates. Altogether, these campuses are home to two-thirds of all Hispanic higher education students. The nonprofit, nonpartisan association will outline a legislative agenda that will ask Congress this year to appropriate record new funding to those campuses home to the largest concentrations of Hispanic higher education students.
During the conference, presidents and chancellors of HACU member campuses will meet with congressional representatives to promote HACU's legislative agenda for a population group that suffers historically high dropout rates and limited access to a college education.
Among speakers scheduled to address the Capitol Forum are U.S. Senators Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas) and Jeff Bingaman (D-New Mexico), as well as U.S. Reps. Ruben Hinojosa (D-Texas), Ed Pastor (D-Arizona), Robert Menendez (D-New Jersey), Matthew Martinez (D-California) and Joe Baca (D-California).
HACU Capitol Forum highlights:
Sunday, April 30:
*HACU President Antonio Flores will address Hispanic education issues in opening remarks at 6 p.m. Sunday, April 30.
Monday, May 1:
*HACU President Antonio Flores will join AFL-CIO Executive Vice President Linda Chavez-Thompson at a session at 8:15 a.m. Monday, May 1.
*National Institutes of Health Acting Director Ruth Kirschstein will join Overseas Private Investment Corporation President and CEO George Munoz at a luncheon session at 11:40 a.m. Monday, May 1.
*At 3:35 p.m. Monday, May 1, speakers at separate afternoon sessions will include: Sarita Brown, executive director of the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanic Americans; Anthony Carnevale, vice president of public leadership for the Educational Testing Service; Assistant Secretary of Labor Michael Cohen and Ana Cha Guzman, senior advisor to the U.S. Department of Education.
*Educational priorities of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus will be the focus of remarks at 6 p.m. Monday, May 1, by U.S. Rep. Ruben Hinojosa, D-Texas.
Tuesday, May 2:
*U.S. Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-New Mexico, co-founder of the new Senate Hispanic-Serving Institution Coalition, will address the forum at 8:15 a.m. Tuesday, May 2. Hispanic-Serving Institutions are those colleges and universities with a minimum 25 percent Hispanic student enrollment rate. HACU led the effort to convince Congress to formally designate such campuses as Hispanic-Serving Institutions, and has since led efforts to attract record new federal funding and increasing levels of corporate and philanthropic support for HSIs.
*A powerful new alliance promoting a united voice for the higher education concerns of Hispanic, African American and Native American higher education associations is the focus of remarks at 8:15 a.m. Tuesday, May 2, by Jamie Merisotis, president of the Institute for Higher Education Policy.
*The role of Hispanic-Serving Institutions in workforce development initiatives will be the focus of remarks at 9:40 a.m. Tuesday, May 2, by representatives of the Department of Labor, Department of Education and Department of Agriculture.
*Assistant Secretary of Education Claudio Prieto will speak at 11 a.m. Tuesday, May 2, on Hispanics and the Higher Education Act. HACU's legislative agenda is requesting that $75 million be appropriated to Hispanic- Serving Institutions (HSIs) for fiscal year 2001 under Title V of the Higher Education Act. Congress appropriated $42.25 million to HSIs for fiscal 2000.
*Nationally known civil rights advocate and affirmative action expert Janell Byrd-Chichester, assistant counsel for the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, will speak at 2:10 p.m. Tuesday, May 2.
*Assistant Secretary of Labor Raymond Bramucci will address workforce development topics at 6 p.m. Tuesday, May 2. The Employment Training Administration of the Department of Labor recently joined HACU in a unique partnership designed to expand the role of HSIs in implementation of a dramatic overhaul of the nation's jobs programs now under way with the new Workforce Investment Act.
Thursday, May 4
*At 8:15 a.m. Thursday, May 4, morning session speakers will include: Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, co-founder of the Senate Hispanic-Serving Institution Coalition; Harry Pachon, president of the Tomas Rivera Policy Institute, and California State University System Chancellor Charles Reed.
*The widening impact of the Hispanic vote will be the topic at a special ""Election Year 2000 and the Hispanic Vote"" session at 10:40 a.m. Thursday, May 4, that will focus on this year's presidential election.
*The ""digital divide"" will be the focus of an address on closing the Hispanic technology gap by Anthony Wilhelm, program director of the Benton Foundation, at noon Thursday, May 4.
*Representatives of the National Endowment for the Humanities, Department of Commerce, Department of Agriculture, Office of Equal Opportunity of the National Institutes of Health and Department of the Army will speak at a session on Hispanics and the role of federal government agencies at 3:25 p.m. Thursday, May 4.
HACU is calling for new and expanded federal agency funding for Hispanic higher education to benefit students from kindergarten through graduate school. Congress also will be asked to provide historically under-funded HSIs new or increased funding for faculty research and campus infrastructure support to better serve Hispanics - projected to become the nation's largest minority population within the next five years.
Seventy percent of U.S. Hispanics never have attended college. Forty-five percent of Hispanics have less than a high school education. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, one of every four persons living in poverty in the United States is of Hispanic origin.
HACU, founded in 1986 in San Antonio, Texas, has headquarters in San Antonio and offices in Washington, D.C.
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Media and credentials contact for HACU Election Year 2000 National Capitol Forum on Hispanic Higher Education: Renee Haines (800) 805-7438. For a complete Capitol Forum schedule, visit www.hacu.net. "