¿Qué pasa, HSIs?

In this episode Luis Maldonado teaches us about little “p” policy, or public policy, which includes finding solutions to difficult problems. As a policy advocate and lobbyist working with various organizations in Washington, DC for nearly 30 years, Luis has extensive knowledge on how public policy works. He served as director of government relations for HACU for 9 years, successfully establishing in law the federal authorization to create two important funding programs directed exclusively at HSIs: the Promoting Postbaccalaureate Opportunities for Hispanic Americans (PPOHA), or Title V, Part B, and the Improving Undergraduate STEM Education HSIs Grant program at the National Science Foundation. Luis provides us with an overview of how these programs, that HSIs may now take for granted, came into fruition and the long-term advocacy that was needed. Luis is a storyteller, sharing consejos from the trenches of public policy. He also shares his thoughts on the 2024 election and Project 2025 and offers advice for our listeners to become knowledgeable voters. Luis does servingness from the public policy space, advocating for the students and institutions he cares the most about—Latines and HSIs. Guest: Luis Maldonado (he/him), Vice President for Government Relations, American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU) Social Media: @AASCUPolicy Attachments / Show notes: https://aascu.org/ APA Citation: Garcia, G.A. (Host). (2024, September 22). HSIs as Public Policy (No.504) [Audio podcast episode]. In ¿Qué pasa, HSIs?. https://www.ginaanngarcia.com/podcast/

Do you know the origin story of HSIs and the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU)? In this episode we dive into the archives, by way of President Abel Chávez, to learn one perspective on how HSIs and HACU came to be. Dr. Chavez shares how Our Lady of the Lake University, or OLLU, played an integral role in the foundation, hosting an important convening of the first 11 colleges advocating for the designation. On January 22, 1986, the meeting titled, “Predominantly Hispanic Institutions of Higher Education Meeting” took place and a week later a proposal was submitted to the Ford Foundation to fund a “center” for HSIs. This episode reminds us that our HSI historical roots must be documented. Dr. Abel Chávez is the 10th president of OLLU, known as an integrative leader and learner. He is a first-generation, first-in-family college graduate, son of immigrants, and bilingual administrator and academic committed to enhancing quality, access, and affordability for all students while serving the needs of families, economies, and communities. Throughout the episode he conceptualizes what servingness is, advocating for an environment that honors Latine legends of the past and Latine cultures of today. Dr. Chávez is a proud HSI president who envisions HSIs to be a cornerstone of higher education. Guest: Abel A. Chávez (he/him/his) President, Our Lady of the Lake University (OLLU) APA Citation: Garcia, G.A. (Host). (2024, September 8). The Origin Story of HSIs & OLLU’s Role (No.503) [Audio podcast episode]. In ¿Qué pasa, HSIs?. https://www.ginaanngarcia.com/podcast/ Attachments / Show notes: https://www.facebook.com/OurLadyoftheLakeUniversityhttps://www.instagram.com/ollu_saints/https://twitter.com/OLLUnivSATXhttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCR-p8JyaDh51_v2ufrrpUfghttps://www.flickr.com/photos/127464201@N02/sets/www.ollusa.eduhttps://sanantonioreport.org/hispanic-university-of-america-abel-chavez-commentary/https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/education/articles/10.3389/feduc.2022.948399/fullhttps://www.gao.gov/products/gao-24-106162

What is a Historically Black [emerging] HSI? This episode of ¿Qué pasa, HSIs? breaks it down and delivers the message you didn’t know you needed to hear. We know that HBCUs are unapologetically Black-serving, historically and authentically, but HSIs aren’t. In this episode we talk about what HSIs can learn from HBCUs with a focus on liberatory curriculum and empowerment pedagogies. We also talk about how HBCUs are good servers to Latine students, and especially Afro-Latine students. Importantly, we talk about the complexities of being an HBCU AND an emerging HSI, and whether it is federally possible to be both. The mujeres in this plática are brilliant, empowered, and melanated! (Future) Dra. Stacey Speller is a Nuyorican doctoral student at Howard University (#HBCUOrgullo). Dra. Dwuana Bradley is an assistant professor at the USC Rossier School of Education examining the ways anti-Black sentiment perpetually undergirds the drivers and levers of federal, state, and institutional policies. Dra. Gina English Tillis is an interdisciplinary scholar-practitioner with over a decade of experience shaping educational experiences at various HSIs, HBCUs, and emerging Hispanic-serving HBCUs. Dra. Natalie Muñoz is an AfroLatina assistant professor at Rutgers University Newark's social work department researching AfroLatine identity development, mental health equity, and educational justice. These scholar activists not only teach us about HBCU-eHSIs, but model what true academic hermandad looks like. Guests: Stacey Speller (she/her/ella) Graduate Student, Howard University X: @mizzspeller | IG: @mizzspeller | LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stacey-speller-8376686a/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/stacey.speller.75 Dr. Dwuana Bradley (she/her/we) Assistant Professor, University of Southern California X: @dwuanabtweeting https://rossier.usc.edu/faculty-research/directory/dwuana-bradley Dr. Gina Tillis (she/her) Associate Researcher Center for Research on Educational Policy, University of Memphis Dr. Natalie Muñoz (She/her/ella) Assistant Professor, Social Work, Rutgers University X: @curlyprofesora www.nataliemunoz.info APA Citation: Garcia, G.A. (Host). (2024, August 25). Historically Black [emerging] HSIs (No.502) [Audio podcast episode]. In ¿Qué pasa, HSIs?. https://www.ginaanngarcia.com/podcast/ Attachments / Show Notes: Bradley, D., & Doran, E. E. (2018). Texas House Bill 51—An incognito performance-based funding policy: Implications for access and equity in Texas. Texas Education Review, 7(1), 85-101. http://dx.doi.org/10.26153/tsw/15 Bradley, D. (2018). Texas House Bill 51: A coercive isomorphic force on Texas’s regional comprehensive universities, a matter of access & equity. Texas Education Review, 7(1), 48-57. http://dx.doi.org/10.26153/tsw/11 https://doi.org/10.1177/23328584241242752https://doi.org/10.7709/jnegroeducation.87.3.0311https://doi.org/10.3102/00028312211027586https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/pain-and-promise-dr-gina-tillis-sheri-neely/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1B0lwig55ghttps://blackshearbridge.org/https://www.m13f.org/

We kick off season 5 of ¿Qué pasa, HSIs? with a dynamic duo of Chicana-Latina leaders who serve their campuses and advocate for their colleagues through the Classified Professionals Senate. Classified professionals is a term used in the California Community College system to refer to staff who are in non-faculty, non-counselor, and non-administration roles including administrative assistants, financial aid, facilities, and maintenance, to name a few. This episode elevates our awareness of the ways classified professionals, or staff, advance servingness for students while advocating for classified colleagues on campus. Amparo Medina currently serves as the Student Activities Specialist at Oxnard College and is heavily involved in the Classified Senate where she completed 6 years as the Classified Senate President. Desiree Ortiz works at Irvine Valley College Police Department as the Senior Administrative Assistant and is a past Classified Senate President. Amparo and Desiree describe how their volunteer roles in Classified Senate is essential to servingness, both for students and for their colleagues as they advocate for equitable representation on campus. Amparo Medina (she/her) Student Activities Specialist, Oxnard College https://www.linkedin.com/in/amparocmedina Desiree Ortiz (she/ella/her) Senior Administrative Assistant, Police Services, Irvine Valley College https://www.linkedin.com/in/desiree-ortiz-2ab78863/ Attachments / Show notes: https://www.ccccs.org/nonprofit-organization-about-us/4cs

We kick off season 5 of ¿Qué pasa, HSIs? with a dynamic duo of Chicana-Latina leaders who serve their campuses and advocate for their colleagues through the Classified Professionals Senate. Classified professionals is a term used in the California Community College system to refer to staff who are in non-faculty, non-counselor, and non-administration roles including administrative assistants, financial aid, facilities, and maintenance, to name a few. This episode elevates our awareness of the ways classified professionals, or staff, advance servingness for students while advocating for classified colleagues on campus. Amparo Medina serves as the Student Activities Specialist at Oxnard College and is heavily involved in the Classified Senate where she completed 6 years as the Classified Senate President. Desiree Ortiz works at Irvine Valley College Police Department as the Senior Administrative Assistant and is a past Classified Senate President. Amparo and Desiree describe how their volunteer roles in Classified Senate is essential to servingness, both for students and for their colleagues as they advocate for equitable representation on campus. Guests: Amparo Medina (she/her) Student Activities Specialist, Oxnard College https://www.linkedin.com/in/amparocmedina Desiree Ortiz (she/ella/her) Senior Administrative Assistant, Police Services, Irvine Valley College https://www.linkedin.com/in/desiree-ortiz-2ab78863/ Attachments / Show notes: https://www.ccccs.org/nonprofit-organization-about-us/4cs APA Citation: Garcia, G.A. (Host). (2024, August 11). Classified Professionals’ Self-Advocacy & Empowerment. (No.501) [Audio podcast episode]. In ¿Qué pasa, HSIs?. https://www.ginaanngarcia.com/podcast/

Guests: Gina Ann Garcia (she/her/hers), Professor of Higher Education, UC Berkeley https://www.linkedin.com/in/ginaanngarcia/ Allen “AC” Williams (he/him/his), Assistant Director for Retention Initiatives, University at Buffalo https://www.linkedin.com/in/acwp95/ Episode Description: This is a short episode of ¿Qué pasa, HSIs? available in both audio on your favorite podcast apps and video on our YouTube channel. Join our host Dra. Gina Ann Garcia and our production manager Allen “AC” Williams as they talk about the summer 2024 listening lists and share the tea on some of their favorite episodes.

In this final episode of season 4 we dive into the concept of decolonizing HSIs. This plática features Lorena González, a Michoacana, Purepecha, Mexica Indigenous cis gender mujer who is faculty in counseling and La Raza Studies at Contra Costa College. Lorena lays out practical ways that HSIs can move beyond land acknowledgements and towards true decolonization for Latine students. She calls HSIs in, challenging us to reflect on the ways colonial logics are ingrained in the practices, policies, and culture of the institution, from the flags that are raised on campus to the language used to describe inequities. She pushes us to think about these inequities as injustices, because in a decolonial model we must move past the smoke and mirrors, and for HSIs that means having hard conversations about the ways that HSI grants are insufficient for advancing justice and liberation for communities of color. Lorena’s servingness philosophy is grounded in her lived experience as a transnational, multilingual woman crossing borders in education and life. She provides us a glimpse of what it looks like to embody a decolonial perspective and to live it through and through, from mothering to serving her community to disrupting her own HSI in practice. This episode is the perfect finale to this season, as we kicked it off with reflections on decolonization and liberation in equity spaces, and finish it with truth telling from our wise ancestor in the making, La Lorena, a true revolutionary. Guest: Lorena González (she/her/ella), Faculty (Counseling/La Raza Studies), Contra Costa College Instagram: @xingona516 Show Notes: https://voices.berkeley.edu/education/committed-equity-education APA Citation: Garcia, G.A. (Host). (2024, June 2). Decolonizing HSIs. (No.410) [Audio podcast episode]. In ¿Qué pasa, HSIs?. https://www.ginaanngarcia.com/podcast/410

In this episode of ¿Qué pasa, HSIs? we learn about San Diego College of Continuing Education, a noncredit college that enrolls more than 25% Hispanic students, yet is unqualified for HSI eligibility due to the federal definition. Dra. Tina King, president of SDCCE, talks about how the college enacts servingness despite HSI ineligibility. We talk about her equity-minded approach to leadership and her unwavering commitment to students. She also talks about her life growing up as a proud Afro-Latina born to a Black father and Mexican mother from Jalisco. Despite her pride, she also shares her experiences with anti-Blackness in the Latinx community. She reminds us of the teachings of Paulo Freire on how those who are oppressed can become oppressors too. President King is a transformative leader whose vision is guided by the core values of inclusive excellence, equity-mindedness, and institutional responsibility for student success. Before serving as president, she was Assistant Superintendent/Vice President for Student Affairs at Southwestern College, an HSI, following a high impact career in both public K-12 education and postsecondary education. Dra. King is the first Afro-Latina to lead one of California’s community colleges and her pride and joy in this work is evident throughout this episode. Dra. Tina M. King (She/Her/Ella), President, San Diego College of Continuing Education Instagram: @sdccepresident | X: @drkingtina | LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tina-maria-king-ed-d-14943235/ Website: https://sdcce.edu/organization/president Attachments / Show Notes: https://workforce.org/news/san-diego-workforce-partnership-development-board-welcomes-three-new-members/https://timesofsandiego.com/education/2023/11/27/san-diego-college-of-continuing-ed-awarded-1-175-million-grant-to-expand-welding-program/https://www.hispanicoutlook.com/articles/dr-tina-m-king-giving-back-students-her APA Citation: Garcia, G.A. (Host). (2024, May 19). Noncredit institutions are HSIs too: A conversation with President Tina King. (No.409) [Audio podcast episode]. In ¿Qué pasa, HSIs?. https://www.ginaanngarcia.com/podcast/409

In this episode of ¿Qué pasa, HSIs? we engage in lessons in grassroots leadership with Dra. Leticia Villarreal Sosa, a scholar activist who serves as Associate Dean for Research and Faculty Development and Professor in the School of Social Work at University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. She shares stories of the risks and challenges that grassroots leaders face while trying to transform their campuses into Latine-serving spaces. As a social worker who centers feminist teachings and racial justice in her work, enacting servingness comes natural to her, yet she has faced numerous struggles and strong opposition along the way. One of her passions is curriculum redesign, which she describes for us, providing techniques for making changes to curriculum, measuring critical consciousness as a goal of the course, and strategies for getting changes through formal governance structures. We also talk about our co-authored article on “decolonizing faculty governance” and the fear, anger, and resistance we invoked from colleagues. With every story, Dra. Villarreal Sosa weaves in the risks she has taken while doing the work. Grassroots leadership is vital to HSI transformation, and many of us can learn from Leticia in this episode. Guest: Dra. Leticia Villarreal Sosa (she/her/hers/ella), Associate Dean for Research and Faculty Development | Professor in the School of Social Work, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley X: @leticiavillarr LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/leticia-villarreal-sosa-58a2b320/ Instagram: @nepantlahealing APA Citation: Garcia, G.A. (Host). (2024, May 5). Lessons in Grassroots Leadership. (No.408) [Audio podcast episode]. In ¿Qué pasa, HSIs?. https://www.ginaanngarcia.com/podcast/408 Attachments / Show notes: https://doi.org/10.1177/15381927221126781https://doi.org//10.1007/s10615-023-00892-0https://doi.org/10.1093/swr/svab011https://doi.org/10.1080/02615479.2020.1770719https://www.press.uillinois.edu/books/?id=p088162

We are committed to centering student voices on ¿Qué pasa, HSIs? This episode provides the opportunity to learn about the Using Our Voices to Transform HSIs project at California State University, Sacramento (Sac State). The project, funded by the College Futures Foundation, explores Latinx/e student perceptions of servingness at Sac State and aims to interrogate how university policies, programs, and practices support Latinx/e student success. Four members of the Using Our Voices team, Dr. Amber Gonzalez, professor at Sac State, Dr. Kevin Ferreira van Leer, assistant professor at University of Connecticut, Jacky Villalobos, alumni of Sac State, and Samantha Secundido, student at Sac State, talk about the history of the project, their process as co-researchers, and some of the core findings. They also share how their project caught the attention of the administration on campus, which has led to structural and policy changes for students. Participatory action research (PAR) has the power to transform HSIs, but it’s not easy work. This episode spotlights the processes necessary to engage in successful PAR work with students at HSIs. And if there is one thing all HSIs should do, it is listen to their students. Guests: Amber Gonzalez (she/her), Professor, California State University, Sacramento Kevin Ferreira van Leer (he/him/el), Assistant Professor, University of Connecticut Twitter & Instagram: @DrKevinFvL | LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevin1ferreira/ Website: https://www.drferreiravanleer.com/ https://arclab.hdfs.uconn.edu/projects/elevating-equity/ Jacky Villalobos (she/her), Alumni & Doctorate of Physical Therapy Student, California State University, Sacramento Samantha Secundido (she/her), Student, California State University, Sacramento Instagram: @xo.samy Attachments / Show notes: csus.usingourvoiceshttps://www.usingourvoiceshsi.com/https://www.csus.edu/news/newsroom/stories/2023/9/listening-to-students.html

In this episode we transform the ¿Qué pasa, HSIs? microphone into a brown table talk with one of our favorite HSI leaders Dra. Cynthia Olivo, who is the 10th president of Fullerton College. Dra. Olivo’s career spans nearly three decades, serving in many roles including Assistant Superintendent and Vice President of Student Services at Pasadena City College and Associate Director of Admissions and Student Recruitment at California State University, San Bernardino. In this plática we learn about how she has served as a champion for equity and academic excellence for students, how she has worked towards organizational change, poco a poco, with minor tweaks, and how culture, ceremony, and celebration are core tenets of her leadership. She also shares best practices for coalition building across racial-ethnic groups as informed by an organization she co-founded, The Coalition. Throughout our plática Dra. Olivo shares her personal history as the granddaughter of migrant farmworkers, the daughter of a single mother, a first-generation college student, and a third-generation Chicana who went from EOP student to college president. Guest: Cynthia Olivo (She, Her, Ella), Presidenta, Fullerton College Social Media: @drcynthiaolivo APA Citation: Garcia, G.A. (Host). (2024, April 7). Brown Table Talk with President Olivo. (No.406) [Audio podcast episode]. In ¿Qué pasa, HSIs?. https://www.ginaanngarcia.com/podcast/306 Attachments / Show notes: https://www.fullcoll.edu/president/https://www.politico.com/agenda/story/2019/09/25/higher-educations-racial-inequities-000978/https://edsource.org/2021/to-close-racial-equity-gaps-make-it-simpler-for-community-college-students-to-transfer/657575https://www.thecoalitioncc.org/

This episode is packed with MSI-HSI-AANAPISI knowledge! Whether you are at a dual or multiple designation campus or not, this episode is for you! Our guest Dr. Mike Hoa Nguyen is an assistant professor of education at New York University’s Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development, and the principal investigator of the MSI Data Project. He has extensive professional experience that informs his research, having served as a senior staff member in the United States Congress and a program associate at De Anza College, an AANAPISI in California. In this episode we dive deep into the weeds of the MSI federal designation, with Dr. Nguyen educating us on the complexities and possibilities of being dual designated as an HSI & AANAPISI. He also talks about the usefulness of the servingness framework for AANAPISIs (Asian American & Native American Pacific Islander-Serving Institutions) and offers suggestions for engaging with state and federal legislators and private foundations as a way to advance our HSI-AANAPISI grant work. He also shares the roots of the MSI Data Project and talks about ways to use the data in research and practice. Guest: Mike Hoa Nguyen (he/him), Assistant Professor, New York University APA Citation: Garcia, G.A. (Host). (2024, March 24). Navigating AANAPISI & HSI Dual Designation (No.405) [Audio podcast episode]. In ¿Qué pasa, HSIs?. https://www.ginaanngarcia.com/podcast/ Attachments / Show Notes: https://steinhardt.nyu.edu/people/mike-hoa-nguyen https://www.msidata.org/

In this episode Dra. Karla Silva talks about her research with managerial professionals and support staff at HSIs. Her findings indicate that these practitioners are often the people on the ground implementing servingness at HSIs, yet they are overlooked in the servingness research, not invited to the HSI conversations on campus, and don’t feel like they are part of servingness efforts. They also feel overworked and underpaid, yet the majority are women and Black, Indigenous, People of Color with a great level of commitment to serving minoritized populations. Karla shines an important light on this essential group of staff members at all HSIs, and asks us to consider how we are serving them. Dra. Silva, who is a first-generation college graduate, Chicana, daughter of immigrants, mama, scholar-practitioner, serves as the Director of HSI Initiatives at the University of Arizona. In addition to her research, she shares some of the secrets to doing intentional servingness work and the importance of having a permanent HSI Director on campus. We explore important topics like engaging alumni and working with private foundations and corporations to support servingness efforts. Guest: Dra. Karla Silva (She/ Her/ Ella), Director, Hispanic Serving Institution Initiatives, University of Arizona Social Media: X: @DraCruzeSilva LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/karla-cruze-silva-phd-b110b958/ APA Citation: Garcia, G.A. (Host). (2024, March 10). Elevating Managerial Professionals & Support Staff in Servingness (No.404) [Audio podcast episode]. In ¿Qué pasa, HSIs?. https://www.ginaanngarcia.com/podcast/ Attachments / Show notes: https://hsi.arizona.edu/

We make our way to the Midwest for this episode, learning with the HSI Network of Wisconsin. HSI-NOW is a coalition of leaders from colleges and universities across the state of Wisconsin with a mission to collectively develop the ideal conditions to serve, educate, and advance Hispanic/Latino* students to create equitable opportunities in higher education. In this plática, I talk to 2 members of the network who share the origin story, purpose, and major milestones that the network has made. A key take-away of this episode is that collaboration and cooperation will take us much further in our own individual campus servingness journeys than competition will. Our guests include Jacki Black, the Director of Hispanic Initiatives and Diversity & Inclusion Educational Programming at Marquette University, and Alberto Maldonado, the Director of the Roberto Hernández Center at the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee. Both Jacki and Alberto have an unwavering commitment to serving Latine/x students in higher education and both value community, family, language, and culture and work hard to ensure that students on their individual campuses are seen, heard, and served. Guests: Jacki Black (She/Her), Director of Hispanic Initiatives and Diversity & Inclusion Educational Programming, Marquette University LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jacki-black-036170123/ Alberto Maldonado (He/Him/Él) Director Roberto Hernández Center/Special Assistant to the Vice-Chancellor for DEI & Co-lead for the Chancellors Committee for Hispanic Serving Initiatives, University of Wisconsin Milwaukee Instagram:@donpepe1970 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alberto-maldonado-b4b00512/ APA Citation: Garcia, G.A. (Host). (2024, February 25). HSI NOW: Advancing Servingness in Wisconsin (No.403) [Audio podcast episode]. In ¿Qué pasa, HSIs?. https://www.ginaanngarcia.com/podcast/ Attachments / Show notes: https://stories.marquette.edu/the-hispanic-serving-institution-network-of-wisconsin-hsi-at-marquette-f93e10eec2f7https://www.hacu.net/images/hacu/conf/33ac/MarquetteHACU%20presentation%202019_final.pdfHispanic student enrollment up at Milwaukee-area universities as schools increase efforts | WUWM 89.7 FM - Milwaukee's NPRUWM's Roberto Hernández Center provides Latinx students a home away from home (youtube.com)

In this episode we elevate the voice of one alumni of an HSI who calls themselves a critical friend to the institution. Throughout this episode we grapple with the tensions of calling on HSIs to change the structural ways they serve students while acknowledging some of the progress being made. I talk to Carlos Benitez Cruz (they/them) who is a PhD student in Community Psychology at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Carlos reflects on their time as a student at Dominican University, highlighting how they advocated for a cultural center on campus by learning from the legacy of struggle highlighted in the PBS documentary, The First Rainbow Coalition. Carlos also reflects on lost opportunities, like the failed retention of a Latina staff member who was highly favored by students of color, and calls to question the role of class struggle in HSIs, which continue to be neoliberal institutions that rely on the production of students who get jobs and the money they bring into the institution. The confessions of a critical friend are also the confessions of a highly engaged, politically active, student artist-activist at an HSI that didn’t adequately serve them. Guest: Carlos Benitez Cruz (they/them), PhD Student in Community Psychology, University of Illinois at Chicago Social Media: X: @xismoso_ APA Citation: Garcia, G.A. (Host). (2024, February 11). Confessions of a Critical Friend to HSIs (No.402) [Audio podcast episode]. In ¿Qué pasa, HSIs?. https://www.ginaanngarcia.com/podcast/ Attachments / Show notes: https://www.genderjustice-uic.org/https://www.pbs.org/independentlens/documentaries/the-first-rainbow-coalition/

We kick off another season of ¿Qué pasa, HSIs? with our friends from Metropolitan State University of Denver. Dr. Michael Benitez, Jr. serves as the Vice President of Diversity and Inclusion and Dr. Del Real serves as the Executive Director of HSI Initiatives and Inclusion. In this episode we talk about the strategies they have used to advance servingness both on campus and across the state of Colorado. They talk about using HSI grants to advance servingness and discuss the importance of having both a V.P. of Diversity and Inclusion and a campus-funded Director of HSIs on campus to drive HSI efforts. We also dream about educational liberation and Latinx-informed innovation and accountability for serving. Throughout this episode we honor the past, the work of elders, and the work of leaders who sometimes put their jobs on the lines for what would become HSIs. Guests: Dr. Michael Benitez, Jr. (He/His/Him/Yo), Vice President of Diversity and Inclusion, Metropolitan State University of Denver LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-benitez-jr-ph-d-4656333/ Dr. Manuel Del Real (He/Him/Él), Executive Director of HSI Initiatives and Inclusion, Metropolitan State University of Denver LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/manuel-d-66532925 Instagram: elpositivo03 | msudenverdiversity APA Citation: Garcia, G.A. (Host). (2024, January 28). Honoring the Past & Strategizing for the Future. (No.401) [Audio podcast episode]. In ¿Qué pasa, HSIs?. https://www.ginaanngarcia.com/podcast/ Show Notes: https://www.msudenver.edu/diversity/hispanic-serving-institution/ http://www.tobyjenkins.net/the-hip-hop-mindset.html

For the final episode of season 3 I talk to Vanessa Varela, Assistant Professor in Education, and Jason Meyler, Associate Professor of Spanish at Mount Mary University, a small women’s college HSI in Wisconsin. In this episode we dive into HSI NOW efforts in Milwaukee, the evolution of servingness at Mount Mary University, and the importance of acknowledging language and multilingualism in servingness efforts. Our guests highlight Mount Mary’s multilingual strategic plan, which is embedded in their HSI philosophy, and the Culture, Classroom, and Multilingual Learners Workshop, which builds capacity among faculty, adjuncts, and tutors to deliver academic content in diverse linguistic classrooms. This is the first ¿Qué pasa, HSIs? episode to unpack linguistic servingness in HSI, but it won’t be the last as this topic is truly multidimensional as Vanessa and Jason highlight. Listen in and learn about linguistic mobility at HSIs. Guests: Vanessa Varela (she/her/ella), Assistant Professor in Education, Mount Mary University www.linkedin.com/in/vanessa-varelam1 https://twolanguageedition.wordpress.com/ Jason Meyler (He, him, él), Associate Professor of Spanish | Chairperson of the World Languages Department | Coordinator of the Leadership for Social Justice Seminar, Mount Mary University linkedin.com/in/jason-meyler-48a86573 APA Citation: Garcia, G.A. (Host). (2023, November 12). Linguistic Servingness at HSIs. (No.310) [Audio podcast episode]. In ¿Qué pasa, HSIs?. https://www.ginaanngarcia.com/podcasthttps://www.ginaanngarcia.com/podcast/episode/c29d5e2b/linguistic-servingness-at-hsis

This multi-guest episode of ¿Qué pasa, HSIs? is full of knowledge sharing. I had the opportunity to talk to 5 members of Cabrillo College’s HSI Task Force, who shared their journey to making an intentional HSI. They talk about the accomplishments of their HSI Task Force, share tips for gaining support on campus for HSI efforts, and talk about the secret sauce to servingness work, which includes grassroots leadership and support from positional leaders including the president and trustees. We also learn about the historic moments along Cabrillo College’s path to becoming an HSI. Ann Endris, Title V HSI Director at Cabrillo College and former associate faculty member is joined by Cabrillo College alum Dr. Blanca Baltazar-Sabbah who shares much of the historical aspects of Cabrillo’s HSI identity. Dr. Alicia Bencomo Garcia, a tenure-track instructor of Ethnic Studies at Cabrillo, and Serina Eichelberger, a social justice focused educational leader and Title III HSI STEM Project Director at Cabrillo share information about Cabrillo’s current efforts to embrace an HSI identity. President Matt Wetstein rounds out the group in this episode, sharing a president’s perspective on the process of becoming an intentional HSI. Guests: Ann Endris (she/her), Title V Director Instagram: @akendris Blanca Baltazar-Sabbah (she/her/ella), Dean, Academic Counseling, Career, and Educational Support Services (ACCESS) X: @DraBaltazar | https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-blanca-baltazar-sabbah-5a2374b2 Alicia Bencomo Garcia (she/her), Faculty X: @AliG_phdjourney Serina Eichelberger (she/ella/they), HSI Title III STEM Project Director linkedin.com/in/serina-eichelberger-335b3220 Matthew Wetstein (he, him), President APA Citation: Garcia, G.A. (Host). (2023, November 5). The making of an intentional HSI: Cabrillo College. (No.309) [Audio podcast episode]. In ¿Qué pasa, HSIs?. https://www.ginaanngarcia.com/podcast/episode/9e499aaf/the-making-of-an-intentional-hsi-cabrillo-college Show Notes: https://drive.google.com/file/d/19fQ43ZqjOyLrYIYk1kub3GGIwYeoNDc-/viewhttps://www.cabrillo.edu/office-of-instruction/hispanic-serving-institution/https://static1.squarespace.com/static/62c4ba2609f6370427726636/t/64e3fc4108a23457e70a9415/1692662859454/Report%2B4%2BHSCC-spreads-small+%281%29.pdfhttps://www.insidehighered.com/news/institutions/community-colleges/2023/08/17/cabrillo-college-delays-choosing-new-name#https://www.cabrillo.edu/title-v/https://www.cabrillo.edu/abriendo-el-camino/https://www.cabrillo.edu/title-iii-hsi-stem/

In this episode of ¿Qué pasa, HSIs? we think outside of the normative constructs of higher education learning with and from Dr. Joe Louis Hernandez who is the Director for the Rising Scholars program at Mt. San Antonio College (Mt. SAC). Dr. Hernandez is a Streetwise Scholar who attended Mt SAC, Cal State LA, and Cal State Long Beach, all of which are HSIs, having profound effects on his educational journey. But more so than the institutions, he talks about mentors and co-defendants who have guided him along the way, many of whom believed he would get a PhD before he did. He talks to us about his own journey from the carceral system to the graduation stage at Claremont Graduate University. His research focuses on the experiences of formerly incarcerated and system-impacted students in higher education with an anti-deficit perspective on this student population. Joe Louis' passion for serving this population arises from his own experience with incarceration and having gone through the criminal justice system. We discuss the Rising Scholars Program, which fosters a college-completing atmosphere and a holistic approach to student development, and his research, which teaches us how servingness can co-exist with streetwise epistemology. Joe Louis Hernandez (he/him/él), Rising Scholars Director, Mt. San Antonio College | Adjunct Professor, Cal Poly Pomona Department of Educational Leadership Twitter: @STRWISEScholar | Instagram: @STREETWISE_SCHOLAR Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joe-louis-hernandez-ph-d-2b223318a APA Citation: Garcia, G.A. (Host). (2023, October 29). Streetwise epistemology and servingness. (No.308) [Audio podcast episode]. In ¿Qué pasa, HSIs?. https://www.ginaanngarcia.com/podcast/episode/a170d1f8/streetwise-epistemology-and-servingness Attachments / Show notes: https://doi.org/10.1177/00027642211054827

This episode of ¿Qué pasa, HSIs? features Dra. Dez Zuniga, HSI faculty lead for the Abriendo Caminos project at Pasadena City College (PCC), along with four members of PCC’s Student Advisory Equipo. The Equipo is an HSI initiative with significant impact and influence at PCC, led by Latine student leaders who participate in committees and working groups to help build a campus culture for serving Latine students. Our guests share their many successes and challenges along the way, guided by the love of their femtor Dra Dez, who embodies servingness as an HSI advocate on campus and creator of the student advisory group. Each guest shares their path to HSI consciousness and their journeys into and through college, which are not linear. They also talk about working in solidarity to elevate the needs and voices of Latinx/a/o/e, Black/African American, and Asian Pacific Islander Desai American (APIDA) student populations at PCC. Listen to these students, who are fierce advocates for justice! Guests: Dr. Desiree (Dez) Zuniga (she/her/ella), Associate Professor/Faculty Counselor/HSI Faculty Lead, Pasadena City College / HSI Title V Grant: Abriendo Caminos LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/zunigadesiree Enith Reyes (she/her/they/ella/elle), Lead Resource Advocate, Former Student Advisory Equipo Leader/Scholar (Cohort 1), Pasadena City College Pride Center/Undoc Dream Center LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/enithreyes/ Diego Iniguez (he/him/él), Student Advisory Equipo Leader/Scholar (Cohort 2-5), Pasadena City College / HSI Title V Grant: Abriendo Caminos Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/diego-iniguez Emmanuel Gómez (he/him/él), Student Advisory Equipo Leader/Scholar (Cohort 1-5), Pasadena City College / HSI Title V Grant: Abriendo Caminos LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emmanuel-gomez-48b435233/ Gustavo Sanchez (he/him/él), Student Advisory Equipo Leader/Scholar (Cohort 4-5), Pasadena City College / HSI Title V Grant: Abriendo Caminos LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gustavo-sanchez-lozada-552706252/ APA Citation: Garcia, G.A. (Host). (2023, October 22). Spaces of Empowerment: HSI Student Equipos. (No.307) [Audio podcast episode]. In ¿Qué pasa, HSIs?. https://www.ginaanngarcia.com/podcast/episode/a03adfcb/spaces-of-empowerment-hsi-student-equipos Attachments / Show Notes: https://www.instagram.com/pcc_equipo/https://pasadena.edu/about/hsi/equipo.php