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First New Mexico symposium opens as part of tried-and-true national program, offering students workshops, leadership growth, and support throughout the year
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - An inspiring and expanding program to help develop and grow the next generation of professionals will guide 100 promising high school students on a path to achieving college degrees and careers for the first time in New Mexico this summer.
The inaugural New Mexico Hispanic Youth Symposium will be launched at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque on July 9-12, 2008, by the Hispanic College Fund, a nationally renowned nonprofit that provides scholarships and programs to Hispanic students eager to achieve a college education and professional career. The symposium will serve promising students from all around the state of New Mexico and encourage and guide them to enter the fields of business, science, technology, engineering, and math.
The Hispanic College Fund has chosen New Mexico Mathematics, Engineering Science Achievement (NM MESA) Inc. as its New Mexico partner to help identify and recruit student participants and coordinate year-round educational programming. NM MESA is a non-profit organization that promotes educational enrichment for middle and high school students from historically underrepresented ethnic groups.
“New Mexico MESA is the ideal partner for this effective and innovative symposium, especially as it is tailored to the region,” said Lindsay Bernsten, director of the Hispanic College Fund Youth Symposium, Western Region. “They have tutoring resources, they encourage talented students to pursue science and math, and the Hispanic Youth Symposium complements the leadership element of what they do. They also have connections to students throughout the entire state, making this symposium unique in its reach and diversity of students.”
Boasting an impressive track record in several major U.S. cities, the Hispanic Youth Symposium has grown into a four-day event and one-year follow-up program designed to increase Latino knowledge of the milestones and prerequisites needed to prepare for and attend college.
This year in Albuquerque, it will inspire students to nurture their dreams and take pride in Hispanic culture with educational workshops, leadership opportunities, mentorship, and an emphasis on academic achievement.
NM MESA Director Toney Begay said he is thrilled about the collaboration between NM MESA and the Hispanic College Fund to implement the first Hispanic Youth Symposium in New Mexico.
“It just falls right in place with our mission to support high school students in their educational endeavors and also to provide enrichment activities, events, and classes in the math, science, and engineering areas,” he said. “We want to provide encouragement that students can be successful, and that they truly can major and succeed in these subjects that they expected to be difficult and hard.”
About 65 percent of NM MESA’s students are Hispanic or have ties to both Hispanic and Native American cultures, Begay said. Bernsten of the Hispanic College Fund said this is one reason the New Mexico symposium is drawing not only Hispanic students but those who culturally relate to the Hispanic culture, as well. “The Hispanic College Fund recognizes the unique privilege in having a New Mexico symposium because of the cultural overlaps in the Southwest, such as those who share a Native American heritage,” she said.
Research has shown that one of the most significant barriers to Latinos attending college is a lack of knowledge about the college preparation process, but Latino families consider education to be very important, according to Kathryn Grady, the Hispanic College Fund’s Director of Corporate and Foundation Relations, Western States. “The Hispanic Youth Symposium helps bridge this gap between a lack of information and the desire to pursue an education,” she said.
Follow-up research by the Hispanic College Fund has shown that after students participated in symposia throughout the United States - including Fresno, Calif., the San Francisco Bay Area, and Baltimore, Md. - they significantly increased their knowledge of the college application process and dramatically raised their interest in pursuing internships and volunteering in their communities. The large majority reported gaining a positive role model/mentor from the program.
The University of New Mexico is serving as university partner in the New Mexico Hispanic Youth Symposium, providing facilities and funding and helping with administration.
Rose Cervantes, program operations of the College Enrichment and Outreach Programs at the University of New Mexico, said the institution’s Vice President for Student Affairs Dr. Eliseo “Cheo” Torres and the Interim Provost Dr. Vi Flores have been tremendously supportive in collaborating to bring the program to the Albuquerque campus. In addition, there is a committee with members from across the state to ensure statewide participation, Cervantes said.
“This symposium is about reaching out to our students across New Mexico by promoting leadership development and higher education. We really need to offer resources and opportunities to students who would not otherwise be exposed to them,” Cervantes said. “To be able to offer the Hispanic Youth Symposium at our university is, well, amazing in my opinion, especially as we watch the partnerships come together so well for the benefit of the students. It’s a win-win situation for everyone.”
To help administer the symposium, about 150 community volunteers will be engaged to assist with everything from logistics coordination to talent show judging. Approximately 20 college student resident advisors who work as volunteers also are being recruited to help with the symposium management.
“The Hispanic College Fund depends on its community partners to help reach students and mobilize support from local donations to volunteers,” said Fernando Barrueta, CEO of the Hispanic College Fund. “We bring national sponsorships and visibility to the communities that we serve - and national opportunities for students - but we rely on the local support to make the program as successful and personal as it is. It truly will help shape the next workforce of scientific and technical graduates in these communities,” Barrueta said.
Nearly one-half (44.7%) of New Mexico’s population is Hispanic, but as recently as 2006, only 12.5% of Hispanics in the U.S. had a college degree - the lowest rate of any group in the United States.
New Mexico Hispanic Youth Symposium sponsors include Applied Research Associates, Inquiry Facilitators, Los Alamos National Labs, Sandia National Labs, the University of New Mexico, and Wells Fargo. The Albuquerque Hispano Chamber of Commerce is also supporting the program as a lead community partner.
The symposium reaches out to student participants who meet the following criteria:
In order to track the results of each symposium, the Hispanic College Fund will conduct pre- and post-event surveys to determine whether students show a marked improvement in their understanding of the college application process, the financial aid process, and the role that community involvement and high school academic achievement play in the college preparation process. Also, the Hispanic College Fund will conduct a longitudinal study of its student participants to track how their college preparation improves, whether they go to college, the caliber of the college they attend, and the kind of career they pursue upon graduation.
NM MESA will conduct follow-up sessions with all symposium alumni. Throughout the year, the non-profit will offer leadership, career, and college preparation workshops; college visits, tutoring services, educational field trips and speakers, standardized test preparation, and mentorship opportunities.
In May, the website of the New Mexico Hispanic Youth Symposium will be released. For more information on the national Hispanic Youth Symposium, go to www.hispanicyouth.org.
For information on how to sponsor the Hispanic Youth Symposium, call Kathryn Grady at (202) 527-0372 or email her at kgrady@hispanicfund.org.
About the Hispanic College Fund
Founded in 1993, the Hispanic College Fund is a non-profit organization based in Washington, D.C., with a mission to develop the next generation of Hispanic professionals. For 15 years HCF has provided scholarships and, since its founding, has incorporated internship and mentoring programs for students throughout the United States and Puerto Rico. The result is an established career pipeline of talented and career-driven Hispanics who are trained in the fields of business, science, technology, and math.
The Hispanic College Fund has an annual budget of $6 million with 20 full-time employees. In 2006, the Hispanic College Fund received the Brillante award for “Nonprofit of the Year” from the National Society of Hispanic MBAs, and in 2007 was recognized by USA Today as one of the nation’s top 25 charities.
Website: www.hispanicfund.org
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Contact: Lisa Sandoval, Director of Communications, (202) 296-5400 ext. 117
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