Elmhurst University has been awarded a $3.4 million federal grant that will supercharge the University’s support of its Hispanic and underserved students, and includes the establishment of a Center for Excellence and Achievement on campus.
The just-received Title V grant comes after the University was designated a Hispanic-Serving Institution by the U.S. Department of Education.
The University will immediately begin utilizing the grant to increase its efforts in the areas of student success and equity.
“While our commitments to fully embracing our designation as a Hispanic-Serving Institution were cemented with or without receiving the grant, our being awarded the grant is a game changer allowing us to move forward with greater intentionality and speed,” Vice President for Equity and Inclusion Bruce King said.
The Elmhurst grant is called La Promesa Azul (The Blue Promise): Creating Opportunities and Enhancing Resources to Assure and Sustain Success for Hispanic and Underrepresented Students at Elmhurst University.
Project goals include creating the new Elmhurst Center for Excellence and Achievement/Centro para la Excelencia y el Logro. The Center is envisioned as a “one-stop shop” that can assist students and their families—not only academically, but also with social services that help remove barriers to pursuing an education.
“La Promesa Azul (The Blue Promise) is the product of a highly collaborative process, and it bears testament to the commitment that Elmhurst University’s administration, faculty and staff demonstrate to serving our students in an equitable and inclusive way so that all can achieve success and fulfill their potential,” said Beatriz Gomez Acuna, professor of Spanish and chair of the Department of World Languages, Literatures and Cultures.
Other goals include:
- Supplementing the first-year seminar (FYS) program to ease students’ transition to college.
- Hiring additional staff to engage with community-based organizations and other external resources.
- Establishing an endowed fund to help students participate in internships, study away programs, research projects and service learning.
- Providing faculty development on culturally responsive pedagogy.
President Troy VanAken added: “I am so excited for the opportunities this grant will create—not only for our Latino and Latina students, but for our entire campus community. Our students’ success is the ultimate testament to our mission as an institution.”
As a next step, King said, the University will create an advisory council “that allows more voices to support the work we promised the Department of Education we will accomplish with their resources.” King added that the work of achieving the grant goals is only beginning, and that if Elmhurst carries out its mandate, “wonderful opportunities” lie ahead.
What is a Hispanic-Serving Institution?
Last year, the U.S. Department of Education designated Elmhurst University a Hispanic-Serving Institution, or HSI, making Elmhurst eligible to apply for federal Title V grants.
For the past few years, more than one-quarter of Elmhurst’s 2,800+ full-time undergraduate students have identified as Hispanic and Latino or Latina, meeting one of the primary qualifications to attain HSI status.
Original source can be found here.
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