CSU-Pueblo plays role in national HACU conference in Denver

PUEBLO – Numerous Colorado State University-Pueblo students, faculty, and staff will play significant roles in the national conference of the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities being held this year at the Downtown Denver Sheraton, Oct. 4-6. HACU’s Annual Conference, which typically attracts 1,500-2,000 attendees from throughout the U.S. and Latin America, provides a unique forum for the sharing of information and ideas for the best and most promising practices in the education of Hispanics. CSU-Pueblo regularly attends the national conferences given its designation as an Hispanic Serving Institution.

Executive Assistant to the President Trisha Macias as well as President Lesley Di Mare and Chicano Studies Professor Dora Luz Cobian-Klein have served on the conference planning committee, while Macias also helped plan the Young Leader Development Forum, which will precede the HACU conference on Oct. 3. The high school forum will include 600+ Colorado high school students with Pueblo area participants from South, Central, East High Schools and the Dolores Huerta Preparatory Academy. The daylong leadership conference is free to high school students, including transportation for which grants were made available.

The CSU System is a major sponsor for the conference and will have representatives from all three schools – CSU in Fort Collins, CSU-Pueblo, and CSU-Global promoting the system and its programs at booths and with a video created especially for the conference. Faculty/staff attendees from CSU-Pueblo will include Macias, Di Mare, Cobian-Klein, Executive Assistant to the Provost Tanya Baird, Associate Professor and Chicano Studies Coordinator Fawn Amber Montoya, and Victoria Obregon, coordinator of the Collegiate Assistance Migrant Program.

Eighteen dancers representing CSU-Pueblo’s Ballet Folklorico will perform at the HACU Youth Leadership Development Forum along with coaches Iskra Merino and Cobian-Klein.

CSU-Pueblo music students and senior guitarists Robert Chavez and Jeremy Aguilera, both from Pueblo, will perform at the conference’s Opening Reception on Saturday, October 4. In addition,  music major Hansuk Park, sophomore from Aurora, will perform at the HACU President's V.I.P. Dinner on Sunday, October 5.

CSU-Pueblo will sponsor nine college students to attend. Three received scholarships from HACU, while two were sponsor by Engineering Professor Jane Fraser through a STEM grant, and four sponsored through the President’s Office.  Macias said in advance of the conference, she has been meeting with students and providing guidance on everything from dining etiquette and professional dress to travel tips. Students attend the conference to explore internships, job opportunities and graduate programs, and many former students have returned with solid offers for internships and even jobs. 

The conference goals are to:
• showcase successful, effective, and exemplary programs and
initiatives of HACU member institutions 
• promote and expand partnerships and strategic alliances for
collaboration between HACU member institutions and public- and private-sector organizations 
• foster and identify graduate education opportunities for Hispanic students and graduates 
•  deliberate policy issues affecting the education opportunities of Hispanics, including HACU’s legislative agenda 
•  promote greater Hispanic participation in scholarships, fellowships, internships and other such programs funded by private and government organizations 
•  discuss emerging trends in higher education affecting Hispanics and HSIs, e.g., distance learning, student-centered learning, outcomes assessment, and cross-national accreditation
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