Hispanic-Serving Institutions Week, Sept. 11 – 17
Fullerton College and the Cadena Cultural Center invite the campus community to celebrate National Hispanic-Serving Institutions Week, Sept. 11 – 17. The week-long celebration recognizes more than 500 HSI’s throughout the nation for their work and critical role in educating and empowering Hispanic students.
For nearly two decades, Fullerton College has been recognized as an HSI based on the percentage of students who identify as Hispanic/Latinx. Colleges and universities are defined as an HSI when at least 25 percent of students at the institution identify as Hispanic. In 1996, Fullerton College reached a level of 25.42 percent Hispanic students to meet HSI criteria. The college now enrolls more than 50 percent Hispanic/Latinx students.
This year, Fullerton College was also named a 2023 Champion of Excellence from The Campaign for College Opportunity for Excelling in Equitable Course Placement of Latinx & Black students in Transfer-Level English enrollment. Fullerton College successfully supported 100 percent of Latinx students and 100 percent of Black students to enroll directly into transfer-level English coursework. The College was also recognized for campus-wide transfer-level English enrollment.
“National Hispanic-Serving Institutions Week is one way Fullerton College can celebrate and show solidarity for our Hispanic/Latinx students,” said
Director of Student Development and Engagement, Dr. Connie Moreno Yamashiro. “This year we are hosting a Cadena Conversation on Sept. 11 where we will have culturally relevant food, music, and host a discussion on ways students experience “servingness” and how we can better serve their culture on campus.”
The concept of “servingness” derives from author and scholar Dr. Gina Ann Garcia in her book Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs) in Practice: Defining “Servingness” at HSIs. Garcia along with other scholars argue that servingness is a multidimensional and conceptual way to understand what it means to move from simply enrolling Latinx students to actually serving them. Dr. Garcia will not be attending the event on Sept. 11 but will be a guest speaker at the Investiture Ceremony of Dr. Cynthia Olivo on Sept. 29.
The “Cadena Conversation: How Can We Better Serve the Latinx Community?” will take place on Sept. 11 at 12:30 – 1:30 p.m. in Building 500, Room 526. For more information, visit the Cadena Cultural Center website.
