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Dustin Luca
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SALEM, MASS. – The threshold has officially been crossed.
Salem State University is elated to announce that it has cleared the eligibility requirements to becoming a designated Hispanic-Serving Institution as of the fall 2024 semester, allowing the community to launch an estimated year-long effort that could end with the designation in hand for spring 2026. This comes after 25.4% of Salem State’s student body self-identified as Hispanic or Latino to begin the now-active academic year, with 25% required to become eligible.
“We are ecstatic to have surpassed the 25% threshold of our students identifying as Hispanic and to be even closer to becoming the first public four-year institution in the state to become an HSI,” said Salem State University President John Keenan. “Along this journey, we have centered our efforts, and shall continue to do so, on servingness for all our students and on understanding our diverse students’ needs. As the Commonwealth’s civic engagement university, we are excited about what we have accomplished thus far, and we are ready for the work ahead of us.”
Currently, Hispanic and Latino students make up the largest and fastest growing “minority” student population, both at Salem State and in the Commonwealth. Salem State University has woven into its culture a commitment to better serve this growing population, which amplifies the quality of an education achieved by all students attending Salem State.
“Becoming a Hispanic-Serving Institution demonstrates Salem State's commitment to becoming a vibrant, inclusive campus where all of our students will flourish,” said Christopher Macdonald-Dennis, vice president of diversity and inclusion. “As we support the success of Hispanic and Latine students, we create a more dynamic environment where the cultural wealth of all of our students is valued and where we work to ensure that students' unique needs are centered. At such an institution, we can learn from diverse perspectives and an enriched curriculum that prepares them for a global society. In serving one, we uplift all.”
The work leading up to this moment, and the work that follows, is led by Elisa Castillo, assistant vice president for HSI-MSI Initiatives. Castillo is also the recent recipient of the Manuel Carballo Governor’s Award for Excellence in Public Service in part because of her efforts in the field.
“We’re thrilled to be on track to become the first public, four-year, master's comprehensive university to achieve the federal HSI designation in Massachusetts,” Castillo said. “Our numbers indicate that not only are our Hispanic students enrolling at Salem State, but that they are also persisting. Salem State is proud to be serving our surrounding communities with intentionality.”
The news arrived on campus as Keenan, Castillo, and four students traveled to Colorado for a meeting with members of the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU) on Thursday, Oct. 31.
The road ahead: Salem State embarks on next steps
Hispanic Serving Institutions are two- and four-year colleges and universities who enroll a diverse student population including more than 25% Hispanic students. There are 600 HSIs in the United States, most of them in the southern and western parts of the country. They represent 20% of all colleges and universities and enroll 63% of all Latino undergraduate students.
There are two paths to becoming an HSI, one under HACU, and the other under Title V of the Higher Education Act, the latter of which requires Salem State to stay above the threshold for the next academic year as well. This would lead the university to receiving the designation in spring 2026 and becoming eligible for federal grants later that year.
Salem State has been an emerging HSI, requiring at least 15% of students to self-identify as Hispanic, since fiscal year 2018. That data point has continued to grow for the past decade, bringing officials at Salem State to anticipate crossing the 25% threshold and preparing for steps that are now coming to fruition.
“This year, we will continue to work on increasing access to higher education and increasing our retention and student success,” Castillo said. “For HSI-MSI initiatives, we are working collaboratively on increasing language access for our Latino families, increasing support for immigrant students, providing training and education to help us build capacity to better serve our students, and to focus on our disaggregated data to analyze our strengths and areas that need attention to close equity gaps and better serve all our students. We are also building partnerships to be able to uplift our community and to have the support we need so that all our students can thrive.”
Over the summer, Salem State hosted the Inaugural New England Hispanic and Minority Serving Institution Conference. The two-day event brought together a broad range of Hispanic Serving Institutions, Minority Serving Institutions and emerging Hispanic Serving Institutions, along with key leaders from Latino-service non-profits, to spotlight and to prepare to serve our present and future Hispanic and Latino students.
“While it may take us another year to be recognized or designated as an HSI, and therefore also as an MSI, it is clear that not only is it our natural trajectory, but it is already who we are as a public regional institution serving our gateway communities and focused on civic engagement and student success,” Castillo said. “Salem State is the only institution that has a leadership position dedicated to being an intentional ‘servingness’ institution, and that has created a Roadmap to Servingness that was created by our community and is guiding our work. Our ability to host the inaugural HIS-MSI conference this summer also set us apart as a leader in New England and beyond.”