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Dustin Luca
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SALEM, MASS. – This week, Salem State University will host educational leaders and local and national policy experts for the Inaugural New England Hispanic (HSI) and Minority Serving Institution (MSI) Conference. The two-day affair, bringing together two- and four-year institutions from around the region, serves to advance Salem State’s work toward becoming a Hispanic and Minority Serving Institution. The conference is possible due to the strong collaboration with the university’s consortium partners Bunker Hill Community College, Holyoke Community College and MassBay Community College.
The sold-out conference, the first of its kind in New England, features two keynote addresses at the Sophia Gordon Center for Creative and Performing Arts on Thursday and Friday, July 18 and 19. Nearly two-dozen breakout sessions are also scheduled for both days across the university’s Harrington and North campuses. The full program is funded by the Healey-Driscoll Administration through the Massachusetts Department of Higher Education’s Higher Education Innovation Fund (HEIF) grant program, which supports collaborative projects that advance racial equity.
“Salem State University is proud to collaborate with our consortium partners at Bunker Hill, Holyoke, and MassBay community colleges and to serve as the host of the Inaugural New England Hispanic and Minority Serving Institution Conference,” said Salem State University President John Keenan. “As the Commonwealth’s civic engagement university and likely the first public four-year comprehensive HSI/MSI in Massachusetts, Salem State welcomes the opportunity to partner with our colleagues to build capacity to better serve our students, contribute to a diverse well-educated workforce, and leverage the importance of Hispanic and Minority Serving Institutions in New England.”
Hispanic Serving Institutions, a federal designation, 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 south and western parts of the country, and they represent 20% of all colleges and universities and enroll 63% of all Latino undergraduate students. Salem State is on track to become the first four-year state university in Massachusetts to achieve the designation.
The conference will bring 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 prepare to be ready to serve our present and future Hispanic and Latino students.
“I’m grateful to Salem State and its partners at Bunker Hill, Holyoke, and MassBay community colleges for convening national and regional expertise on this crucial priority,” said Commissioner of Higher Education Noe Ortega. “These campuses recognize that student success should be central to HSI and MSI initiatives, and that we must work together to remove systemic barriers for students. This conference exemplifies the collaboration that the Higher Education Innovation Fund (HEIF) is meant to inspire, and I’m hopeful that it marks the start of continued, innovative approaches to successfully serving Latine students, as well as all students who have historically been underrepresented in our system of higher education.”
The overarching intent of the conference is to close equity gaps and create a higher educational environment where all students can thrive. Participants will learn from local and national experts about the growing Hispanic and Latino population, and the importance of Hispanic and Minority Serving Institutions in New England.
“Breaking down barriers to success for our Hispanic students strengthens the mission of MassBay and of our partner institutions,” said MassBay Community College President David Podell. “We are eager to join our friends and colleagues from Salem State University and from our sister community colleges at this conference to share collective knowledge and uncover new strategies and tools we can use to support current and future Hispanic members of our community. We are grateful to the Healy-Driscoll Administration for their support of this important work, and for their acknowledgment that Hispanic Serving Institutions play a crucial role in developing a skilled workforce and in fortifying the Massachusetts economy.”
Keenan offered similar thanks to “the Massachusetts Department of Higher Education for recognizing the importance of removing any barriers to college access and completion for our Hispanic and Latino student population, and for the funding to make this conference possible.”
The two-day conference has more than 40 partnering institutions, including several community and state colleges from all over New England, the Massachusetts Department of Higher Education, the Governor’s Latinx Empowerment Council, and the National Science Foundation.
“As one of the Commonwealth’s largest and longest-tenured Hispanic Serving Institutions and Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions, Bunker Hill Community College is honored to join Salem State University and our partners from around the state in organizing this important conference,” said Bunker Hill Community College President Pam Eddinger. “We are grateful for the continued backing of the Healey-Driscoll Administration in supporting this critical work, which will help to ensure student success and build a more inclusive and prosperous future workforce for the region.”
“As a Hispanic Serving Institution, HCC is proud to be a partner in the first-ever New England Hispanic and Minority Serving Institution Conference,” said Holyoke Community College President George Timmons. “We are committed to educating ourselves and supporting others to eliminate academic barriers for all students and working with other institutions to create better pathways to success. The conference will provide a great opportunity for professional development and allow our faculty and staff to share their expertise and learn from others as well.”
The conference comes as Salem State University is slated to become the state’s first four-year university to achieve the federal designation. It 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 within the next two years.
“Here at Salem State, we have been focused on our emerging identity as an HSI, and we have been learning from nationally recognized speakers and organizations to prepare us to intentionally serve our students,” said Elisa Castillo, assistant vice president for HSI and MSI initiatives at Salem State University. “I am thrilled to bring these scholars and policy experts to campus for the conference so that we can all learn together in community.”
Statements of Support
“Hundreds of educators and administrators from throughout New England will come together to learn from national experts, consider best practices, and build community,” said Christopher Macdonald-Dennis, vice president of diversity and inclusion at Salem State. “Ultimately, this conference will help us build a movement that will transform our campuses into ones that truly serve all of our students.”
“As the Commonwealth’s Civic Engagement University, we embrace our responsibility to provide a transformative educational experience that is rooted in social justice, engages with our community and values our students’ and broader communities’ cultural wealth,” said Cynthia Lynch, assistant vice provost for civic engagement, and executive director of the Frederick E. Berry Institute of Politics. “With a robust program, this HSI and MSI conference will increase our collective capacity to serve our Hispanic and Latino population, support our students as they pursue their academic and life goals, and enhance the public good for the regions we serve.”
“Currently HSIs are geographically concentrated in the south and western part of the USA, and we have not traditionally focused on HSIs or MSIs here in the Northeast,” said Elisa Castillo, assistant vice president for HSI and MSI initiatives. “However, the New England area already has 23 Hispanic Serving Institutions, and 42 emerging HSIs. Within this decade, we will see a significant increase in Latino student enrollment and in Hispanic Serving Institutions in our region. This is our time to build our capacity to serve our student population and to learn how to leverage the benefits of being an HSI.”
Schedule and More Information
Please visit salemstate.edu/hsiconference