Morehouse, Texas Southern, Delaware State

Marilyn Gilroy. “Black Colleges Recruiting Hispanic Students.” The Hispanic Outlook in Higher Education. Paramus: Jan 5, 2009. Vol. 19, Iss. 7; pg. 18, 2 pgs

Eleven Black colleges and universities, affiliated with the United Methodist Church, have launched a campaign to attract Latino students.

Hispanic students, part of the fastest-growing minority in the United States, are attracting a new group of college recruiters - those from Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). Several of the nation's traditionally Black colleges are openly courting Hispanic students by offering them special scholarships and other incentives.

Morehouse, Texas Southern, Delaware State

Sterling Hudson, dean of admissions at the all male Morehouse College (Ga.), told ABC News last May that the college intends to get "aggressive" about enrolling Latinos. The institution's goal is to have 5 percent Hispanics by 2011.

The main reason for the new recruiting strategy is the changing higher education marketplace. Enrollments at HBCUs have been leveling off or declining for Ae past few years, primarily because Black students have more choices and are opting for majority-White colleges and universities. Although there are more than 250,000 Black students enrolled in HBCUs, the percentage of Blacks choosing these institutions has been decreasing. According to U.S. government statistics, less than 13 percent of college-bound African-Americans choose to attend a Black school.

On the other hand, the Department of Education projects that the number of Latinos enrolling in college will increase by 42 percent during the next few years. For this reason, Black colleges are trying to attract a more diverse student population by hiring Hispanic recruiters, placing ads in college guides for Hispanics, producing brochures in Spanish and adding courses to reflect their new diversity. In addition, some Black colleges have started holding Hispanic Heritage Month celebrations and inviting more Hispanic artists and lecturers to campus.

Recruitment efforts are paying off. Texas Southern University had 366 Hispanics in 2002, and last year that number increased to 538. The university now has several Hispanic student organizations, including a Latino fraternity and sorority.

Last year, Delaware State University (DSU) had 60 Hispanics enrolled among its 3,600 students. The university has hired a Spanish-speaking recruiter to reach out to the state's Hispanic population, which has more than doubled from 15,000 in 1990 to 38,000 in 2005. During the summer, DSU tapped into the population south of the border and accepted five exchange students from Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula. In a gesture to show its commitment to Hispanics mat goes all the way to the top, the university elected its first Hispanic board of trustees member, José Echeverri, in 2005.

Mlles, Hampton, Howard

Even small HBCUs are joining the move to target Hispanics. Dr. George French, president of Miles College (Ala.), which enrolls 1,700 students and is 97 percent African-American, said that he needed "a Hispanic recruiter who will go into the Hispanic community and be able to speak to those children."

Hampton University (Va.) is reaching out to Hispanic high school students by targeting those who score above average on the SATs. The university has expanded its scholarship offerings to students, regardless of race.

Some say the effort to recruit Hispanics to HBCUs is a natural outgrowth of the commonalities of these two minorities, both of which are underserved by higher education. Proponents of diversifying the campuses say Black institutions should move toward providing opportunities for all races. They also argue that these institutions are more welcoming to Hispanic students because the faculty is more nurturing and the campus climate is better for minorities. Moreover, Black colleges have been serving lowincome, first-generation students for years and know how to help them succeed.

To make their case, HBCUs are employing a new breed of recruiters, like Nelson Santiago, a native of Puerto Rico, who joined Howard University (Washington, D.C.) after graduating in 2001. Howard now has about 170 Hispanic students.

Tennessee State

José Vázquez was hired by Tennessee State University (TSU) to recruit Hispanics for its adult education and distance-learning programs. Vázquez was attracted to the work because he felt he could be effective in creating awareness of the educational opportunities that Tennessee State University has to offer minorities.

"I thought that I would be able to reach out to the community," he said, referring to Hispanics, "and let them know we are here."

As a recruiter, Vázquez participates in a variety of activities, going to the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, meeting with community leaders and appearing at local high school college fairs.

"We distribute information throughout the community," he said. "We have Spanish commercials and advertise in local Hispanic newspapers and the Yellow Pages."

Attending local celebrations and festivals, such as the traditional gathering for the Mexican-based Day of the Dead, is also part of Vázquez's outreach effort. In addition, he advises TSU's Latino student organization.

The positive response to raising the university's profile among Hispanics has been slow but steady. Vázquez said he is heartened by the fact that there is a mostly favorable reaction on campus to the idea of enrolling more Hispanics. To support recruitment goals, TSU is expanding its marketing plans, including translating the university's Web site into Spanish.

Some question the move, saying they are concerned about changing the tradition and purpose of the colleges. But Vázquez sees no conflict in broadening me college's mission to serving Hispanic students.

"I think that Tennessee State University has a commitment to excellence in its charge to provide access to higher education for all Tennesseans," he said. "I think that everyone at the university is on board with the plan and welcomes more diversity to the campus."

TSU is one of more than 100 HBCUs, which generally are between 50 and 100 years old. The National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education (NAFEO), a professional association that represents and advocates for HBCUs, says that although the institutions were founded primarily for the education of Black Americans, their charters are not exclusionary.

Many HBCUS are located in the South because they were established during the late 1800s, when society was segregated. They are often in or near cities such as Houston, Atlanta or Washington, D.C., which is an advantage in recruiting Hispanics who live in urban areas and might not want to go far from home when they enter college. There are several Black colleges in states projected to have Hispanic-majority populations in the next five years, such as Texas and Florida.

Clark, Bethune-Cookman, KSU, Huston-Tillotson, SCSU

Eleven of the historically Black colleges and universities are affiliated with the United Methodist Church. They include Clark Atlanta University (Ga.) and Bethune-Cookman College (Fla.). Two years ago the presidents of these institutions met and discussed ways to create a welcoming climate for Hispanics on their campus. They heard from a Hispanic marketing group and young Latinos about various aspects of Hispanic culture. Several of the colleges already enroll a number of Hispanics, and their leaders urged colleagues to focus on a fundamental question: what kinds of resources would be needed to be successful in serving the Hispanic population? At the end of the three-day session the presidents remained cautious about pursuing a formal initiative to recruit Hispanics, especially in view of tight operating budgets.

"Whenever you are going to reach a population that is going to require additional intervention ... that is a very expensive proposition," said Larry Earvin, president of Huston-Tillotson University (Texas).

Larger HBCUs, such as Kentucky State University (KSU), have been able to allocate more resources to meeting recruitment goals. Nancy Calix is director of KSU's Hispanic/Latino Initiative and also president of the statewide initiative, Educating Latinos for Kentucky's Future, which has a primary goal of encouraging Kentucky's Latinos to take advantage of postsecondary educational opportunities. Calix came to the U.S. from Honduras and received a bachelor's and master's degree from KSU in the 1990s. She hopes to recruit 100 more Hispanics to the university in the next five years.

"We want to increase our Hispanic enrollment as a means of empowering the community," she said.

HBCUs are not only diversifying by recruiting Hispanics. They also are going after other nonBlack students. For example, Aaron Robinson is White and a senior criminal justice major at South Carolina State University (SCSU), which dates back to the 1890s. He received a scholarship to play on the school's golf team and is president of the Beta Delta chapter of the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, a historically Black fraternity. He is the chapter's first White member.

The drive to recruit a more diverse student population at SCSU is being spearheaded by Antonio Boyle, assistant vice president for enrollment management, who vowed to change the approach for recruitment.

"Colleges are no different from businesses and other organizations," he said recently in an interview on NBC News. "Those that fail to diversify will fall by the wayside."

Under Boyle's leadership, rhe number of Whites and Hispanics enrolled on campus has increased by 30 percent in the past few years. Nationally, the number of Whites attending HBCUs has increased more than 60 percent over the last 25 years. The most recent data from the National Center for Education Statistics, for example, show mat the number of Hispanics enrolled at HBCUs increased from 3,400 in 1976 to approximately 7,000 in 2005.

Although diversifying HBCU campuses is touted as an educationally noble goal, it is also a bottom-line decision. Many Black colleges have had financial difficulties, which, in turn, have threatened their accreditation ratings and led to a perception that the quality of education is suffering. Morris Brown College (Ga.), which came to the attention of the nation in the movie Drumline, has been working to raise $26 million to pay off debts that threatened its survival.

Other institutions also faced shaky finances due to declining enrollments. Allen University (S.C.) slashed its budget by several million dollars by cutting salaries and positions and instituting a hiring freeze.

The fiscal situation is compounded by the fact that many individuals at HBCUs come from low-income backgrounds, with more than 80 percent of students at Black colleges receiving financial aid. Endowments at the colleges are nowhere near those of their majority White counterparts. Three years ago, the combined endowment for all of the HBCUs was only $1.6 billion, compared to Harvard's $19 billion.

Antonio Flores, president and CEO of the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU) , agrees that the HBCU recruiting strategy is one that meets several needs.

"On the one hand, Hispanics and African-Americans do share a similar reality of historic underrepresentation and exclusion in higher education," he said. "It is also true that as Hispanics continue to be the fastest-growing, youngest and largest ethnic population in the U.S., HBCUs will increase their efforts to attract more Hispanics to their campuses as a matter of institutional viability and greater diversity."