The University of Texas at Arlington recognized and celebrated National Hispanic-Serving Institutions Week with activities and events across campus.
This marked the 10th year UTA has been designated as a Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI) by the U.S. Department of Education. HSIs are defined as having 25% or more undergraduate Hispanic student full-time-equivalent enrollment.
"In 2014, UTA was honored to be designated as an HSI. We're 10 years into being an HSI and we are very excited," said Maria Yareli Delgado, senior director of HSIs at UTA.
She said the HSI designation is extremely important to UTA since HSIs are at the forefront of efforts to increase educational access and success for the nation's student population.
UTA belongs to the Alliance of Hispanic-Serving Research Universities, which represents every HSI university that has also been categorized as R1 (very high research activity) by the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education. In addition, UTA is one of only 39 colleges and universities to have earned the Seal of Excelencia, a national certification for institutions that strive to go beyond enrollment to intentionally serve Latino students.
The National HSI Week series of events provided opportunities for students, faculty, staff, alumni and the community to engage and share what the federal designation represents to the University.
During one National HSI Week event at UTA, Las Kermés, Dania Garcia, a freshman psychology major, said being on a campus with so many other Hispanic and first-generation students has helped her find a community.
"I love my people, I love everybody. I have been able to relate to so many people that I've met," said Garcia. "We've all been sticking together and hoping to help each other with assignments, finding resources or knowing what to do around campus."
Delgado and her team put together a convocation to kick-off the week, while a movie night and a day of service helped end it with a flourish.
"It was fantastic welcoming everybody and being able to thank them for supporting UTA's HSI designation," said Delgado. "Somos UTA, somos HSI."
