Hispanic Theological Initiative Earns Excelencia In Education Honors

Excelencia in Education, a Washington DC nonprofit, named the Hispanic Theological Initiative (HTI) at Princeton Theological Seminary the winner of its 2010 Examples of Excelencia at the graduate level. Excelencia in Education recognizes schools that best fulfill a responsibility to help Latina/o students succeed.

"This award is a great honor," said Joanne Rodríguez, HTI's director for the past eight years. "It acknowledges HTI's success at creating leaders for the wider educational community, while highlighting the needs we must continue to address as America's Latina/o population grows." She accepted the honor at a ceremony in Washington DC, September 29, at the U.S. Capitol Visitor Center. Speakers included Hilda L. Solis, U.S. secretary of labor, Raúl Grijalva, U.S. representative from Arizona and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Education Taskforce chair, and Rubén Hinojosa, U.S. representative from Texas and the American Association of Hispanics in Higher Education Legislator of the Year, among others.

More than ninety schools were nominated for this year's Examples of Excelencia, which recognizes programs that accelerate Latina/o students success at the associate, baccalaureate and graduate levels, and that share information with educators and policymakers. This year's associate-level honor went to Carreras en Salud (Careers in Health) at Humboldt Park Vocational Education Center of Wilbur Wright College, in Chicago, Illinois; the baccalaureate honor went to College Assistance Migrant Program (CAMP) at California State University, San Marcos, in San Marcos, California.

These three programs were honored based on graduating Latina/o students, accelerating Latina/o students' achievement, creating strong networks of stakeholders, providing professional staff focused on addressing the needs of Latina/o students and all students, and integrating the Hispanic culture and enhancing students' navigation between their homes, communities, schools, and professions.