VOCES: Hearing from Latino Students about College
Capitol Hill Press Conference and Town Hall Meeting
June 12, 2007 from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00p.m.,
Dirksen Senate Office Building, Room G11
Events were organized as the first collaboration between Excelencia in Education, the Hispanic Heritage Foundation and the Hispanic College Fund. During press conference Antonio Tijerino, President of the Hispanic Heritage Foundation introduced Senator Joe Lieberman (ID-CT) and Representative Hilda Solis (D-CA) who spoke to the importance of investing in higher education. Sarita Brown, President of Excelencia in Education closed the press conference by saying, “ we must open the door wide and build the bridge strong for this generation of Latino college going students.”
The Voces town hall event followed immediately. Idalia Hernandez, President and CEO, Hispanic College Fund opened the event and Sarita Brown introduced Moira Lenehan-Razzuri Education Legislative Aid to U.S. Congressman Ruben Hinojosa, 15th District of Texas to provide comments on the current policy environment. Deborah Santiago, Excelencia’s Vice President for Policy and Research reviewed the data on Latino college participation and moderated the panel of Latino college students: Mynor Alvarado, Mayrin Anton, Steven Galvan, Carolina Peña, Norma Rojas and Yuridia Soto.
The students spoke powerfully about how they and their families view college costs, affordability and opportunity. Anchored by current data on today’s Latino college-going students, this event gave voice to Latino students and served as an important source of information for Excelencia’s newest publication, VOCES (Voices): A Profile of Today’s Latino College Students released in October 2007. This brief is designed to help service providers and colleges and universities better reach, and serve, Latino students and their families.
Find out more about the publication
Read About the Event
Hispanic Students Hungry for College
Diverse, Issues in Higher Education, June 14, 2007Quick Takes
Inside Higher Ed, June 13, 2007
