Manhattanville College Hosted its Culminating Hispanic Heritage Month Event with HACU

PURCHASE, NY, October 16 – Manhattanville College hosted its culminating Hispanic Heritage Month event on October 12 with the CEO and President of the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU), Antonio Flores, Ph.D. Dr. Flores delivered a keynote address as part of a ceremony celebrating the college joining this important organization. 

Dr. Flores was invited to speak by Manhattanville’s first Latino President, Frank Sánchez, Ph.D., who kicked off the event with welcome remarks.

 

President Sánchez spoke about the influence of the Latino community on the U.S. economy.

“Today our U.S. Hispanic and Latinx communities have become ubiquitous with American society,” said Dr. Sánchez. “Our collective history and art, literature, music, our entertainment and sports industries, government, healthcare, education, and contemporary issues have forever been shaped by our community’s presence. In fact, America’s workforce and economic drivers have become dependent on the Latinx influence.” He quoted a study that from Arizona State that said if the U.S. Latino population was a country, it would have the fifth largest economy with a GDP of 3.2 trillion dollars.

 

Dr. Flores’s keynote address was on “The Future of Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs): Serving Diverse Students While Meeting the Workforce Needs of Tomorrow.”

 

Saying that young Latinos make up the fastest growing share of the workforce, Dr. Flores underscored the need to better prepare them for the future. He added that 50 percent of Latino students who attend college, attend schools like Manhattanville which are Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs). As a result, HACU has been growing by leaps and bounds and will soon be opening its first permanent headquarters in San Antonio, Texas. He said HACU is also launching a fellowship program this month with 56 fellows, the largest national internship program for Latino students in an effort to raise the numbers of young Latinos accepted into medical school (only 7 percent of Latino students are accepted to medical school) and other high-level professions.

 

“Manhattanville College has served their students and community with an unwavering focus on ensuring success for all, and their recent designation as a Hispanic-Serving Institution highlights the expansion of that focus,” said HACU President and CEO Antonio R. Flores. “Their membership with HACU will provide new opportunities, tools and a robust network of partners and supporters that will create pathways to brighter futures for all of their students.”

 

Manhattanville College has earned a designation as a Hispanic Serving Institution by the U.S. Department of Education, evidence of the increasingly diverse student body and commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion. This designation allows the college additional opportunities to seek federal support for Hispanic students. Hispanic Serving Institutions play a pivotal role in fostering opportunities for diverse student populations to succeed in the workforce of tomorrow. To be designated as an HSI, an institution of higher education must have a full-time equivalent (FTE) undergraduate student enrollment that is at least 25 percent Hispanic. Manhattanville’s student body is 38% Hispanic.

 

Antonio R. Flores has served as president and CEO of the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities for more than 27 years, leading advocacy efforts for Hispanic-Serving Institutions

across the nation and Latino higher education. His contributions to higher education have been recognized across the country. Under his tenure HACU has tripled membership, budget and

programs, advocated for HSI legislation and funding, and secured new private funding for HSIs and member institutions.

 

About Manhattanville College

Manhattanville College is a small, private liberal arts institution dedicated to academic excellence, purposeful education, and social justice. “U.S. News and World Report” ranks Manhattanville as the #1 private, non-profit institution in New York among Top Performers of Social Mobility in Regional Universities North 2022, 2023, and 2024. Located 30 miles from New York City on a 100-acre suburban campus in the heart of bustling Westchester County, Manhattanville enables easy access to robust entertainment offerings, educational resources, and business opportunities for its primarily residential and diverse student body. The college serves close to 1,400 undergraduate students and nearly 1,000 graduate students from more than 44 countries and 33 states. Founded in 1841, the college offers more than 75 undergraduate and graduate areas of study in the arts and sciences, education, business, creative writing, and continuing and executive education programs. Graduate students can choose from more than 70 graduate and certificate programs. Extracurricular offerings include more than 70 clubs and organizations and 24 NCAA Division III teams. To learn more, visit www.mville.edu.

 

About the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities

 

The Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities, founded in 1986, represents more than 500 colleges and universities in the United States, Latin America, Spain, and school districts throughout the U.S. HACU is the only national association representing existing and emerging Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs). The Association’s headquarters are in San Antonio, Texas, with regional offices in Washington, D.C. and Sacramento, California. www.hacu.net