With an Hispanic student population of 21 percent, Front Range Community College (FRCC) is what the Hispanic student success organization Excelencia in Education calls an “emerging HSI.”
The “emerging” Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) label makes FRCC one of 328 institutions that are on track to become HSIs, which are colleges or universities that meet a 25 percent threshold of Hispanic student enrollment. As HSIs, institutions become eligible for federal grants that can be used to increase or enhance programs that promote Hispanic student retention and completion.
But beyond tracking enrollment, FRCC leaders are intentionally working to make the institution an inclusive environment for Hispanic student success.
“We started working internally on what we call our philosophy of inclusion – a series of conversations about what it means to be an inclusive institution,” says FRCC President Andrew Dorsey. “From that, we’ve developed an equity, inclusion and diversity council. We’ve also set some target goals to close the achievement gap between all students of color and our White students over the next six years.”
Dr. Deborah A. Santiago, co-founder and chief executive officer of Excelencia in Education, says that, in addition to creating a positive campus climate, intentionally serving Latinx or Hispanic students means enrolling them, retaining them, supporting them financially, graduating them and having staff and faculty that is representative of Hispanic groups on campus.
“Demography,” she warns, “does not equal success independently.”
FRCC’s student population is 62 percent White, 21 percent Hispanic, 5 percent unknown, 4 percent Asian, 2 percent Black and 1 percent American Indian. Dorsey notes that the north Denver area that FRCC serves around its Westminster campus is one that has become more popular to people of color over the last 25 years.
