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Dustin Luca
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SALEM, MASS. – A Hispanic administrator at Salem State University is being honored widely as part of National Hispanic American Heritage Month and in the wake of a conference on Hispanic-serving institutions that she helped lead.
Elisa Castillo, Salem State University’s assistant vice president for HSI-MSI initiatives, has been selected by the Healey-Driscoll Administration as a recipient of the Manuel Carballo Governor’s Award for Excellence in Public Service.
The Carballo Award is given to state employees who selflessly personify a deep commitment to serving the people of the Commonwealth. Named to honor former Secretary of Health and Human Services Manuel Carballo, the award will be celebrated at the 40th annual Performance Recognition Program Awards Ceremony on Thursday, Oct. 17 at the State House.
As part of National Hispanic Heritage Month, Castillo was also nominated and selected as a leader in Massachusetts’ Hispanic and Latino community to be featured in MassLive’s month-long coverage of leaders that readers have identified as inspirational leaders in the community.
“Throughout her career, she has spent time in roles working as a psychologist helping students with their mental health and wellness, working in administrative roles, improving resources and changing campus culture for students and working as co-lead for the pandemic response,” wrote MassLive’s Taylor Sanzo. “As someone who has always found passion in helping the youth, Castillo currently helps the Salem State University provide the Hispanic and Latino student population an educational environment where all students can thrive.”
The honors follow Castillo’s work co-leading this past summer’s Inaugural New England Hispanic and Minority Serving Institution Conference. The two-day event brought hundreds of college facutly, staff and administrators, as well as community leaders from across New England together to focus on serving the growing Hispanic college student population. Castillo co-led the conference with Cynthia Lynch, assistant vice provost for the Center for Civic Engagement.
Castillo, a Salem resident, grew up in Puerto Rico in a bicultural and bilingual family. With a bachelor’s degree from the University of Puerto Rico in Mayaguez, and a PhD from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Castillo has worked at Salem State for the past 19 years. She has served in a variety of roles supporting student wellness and helping the university adapt to changing circumstances.
In that time, Salem State has positioned itself to become the first four-year public comprehensive university to achieve the HSI designation in Massachusetts. As part of the university’s acts to embrace this identity, Castillo has partnered with colleagues and the community to create a Roadmap to Servingness, outlining how the university can be intentional about serving Latino students in our region.
“By centering Latino students, we can better serve all students. So many of our students are first generation college students, come from multilingual backgrounds, are transferring from community college or working several jobs to support family while also pursuing their education,” Castillo said. “HSI-MSI efforts will help welcome and uplift all students. This document has become a model for other institutions in our region who also want to prepare to serve our students of today.”
Following the conference, Castillo has been tapped to speak at numerous institutions and events, including for Hanover Research, CT State Capital College in Hartford, Connecticut, and Rhode Island College.
“The conference itself was so impactful and has been described as transformational by participants,” Castillo said. “It has been so positive to hear from our consortium partners at Bunker Hill, Holyoke, and Mass Bay, and their students and staff celebrating how meaningful it was to come together, to really center on the needs of our Latino students and students of color. Folks have responded very positively to that and are creating more opportunities on their various campuses.”
The inaugural conference was funded by the Healey-Driscoll Administration through the Massachusetts Department of Higher Education Innovation Fund (HEIF) grant program, which is aimed at addressing equity gaps in higher education in Massachusetts.
In working to co-lead the conference, Lynch said she and Castillo worked closely for several months, during which Lynch said she witnessed Castillo’s “ability to engage with students, faculty, staff, and community.”
Castillo’s leadership style is driven by “an asset-based approach and a deep commitment to preparing Salem Sate to be an HSI that focuses on student servingness and supporting Hispanic and Latino students,” Lynch said.
“With the many twists and turns that a 400-person conference brings, Elisa consistently led with a passion for making sure Salem State shined as the HSI leader in the Commonwealth and a love of her culture that permeated every decision she made from the nature of the breakout session topics to the menu we served to the swag we shared,” Lynch said. “It is an honor to work so closely with Dr. Castillo, and I am so proud of the many accolades bestowed upon her.”