Shaping the future of Chapman as a Hispanic Serving Institution

Graphic by Jule Donovan

Chapman has made a lot of strides to increase its Latinx and Hispanic population and is now poised to emerge as one of 120 Hispanic-Serving Institutions in California and increase initiatives geared toward the Hispanic and Latinx community. Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSI) are accredited higher education institutions with an undergraduate enrollment of at least 25% Hispanic or Latinx full-time equivalent student enrollment. 

There are currently 120 HSI institutions in California and as of this year, Chapman has nearly reached the required enrollment threshold, with 22% of students enrolled identifying as Hispanic or Latinx and first-generation students making up a large proportion of Hispanic and Latinx students. At Chapman, 48% of the Hispanic and Latinx community are first-generation students, according to the HSI Dashboard. 

“Being first-gen often means carrying the hopes and expectations of my family, which has been both a source of motivation and pressure,” said Bella Sandoval, a senior strategic and corporate communication major, who is both Latina and a first-generation student. “I didn’t seriously consider going out of state for college because I have responsibilities at home, and I didn’t want to be too far from my family.”

Sandoval emphasized the difficulty of navigating the culture at Chapman, which can make minority students feel unwelcome. 

“There’s a strong culture of privilege and wealth on campus, which can isolate students from different backgrounds,” said Sandoval. “I’ve faced moments of imposter syndrome, feeling out of place or wondering if I belong in this space.” 

However, she said that the challenges presented her with new perspectives. 

“I strive to foster respectful conversations that bring awareness to different lived experiences, emphasizing the importance of listening and understanding,” she said. “Even if it’s not always possible to relate directly.”

The U.S. Department of Education allocated nearly $50 million in funding for HSIs to assist Hispanic and Latinx students and the colleges and universities that are preparing them for the future. Chapman's designation as an HSI would enable the institution to foster a more diverse and inclusive environment and provide more scholarship opportunities and financial aid support, as well as mentorship programs. Sandoval believes that becoming an HSI would be a step forward for Chapman and demonstrate their commitment to Latinx students. 

“It would signal that Chapman values diversity and actively works to create an environment where Latinx students can excel and feel at home,” Sandoval said. “This would strengthen our sense of community, help us celebrate our heritage, and affirm that we belong and are valued here.”

Some resources that currently exist for Latinx students include the Cross-Cultural Center (CCC), the office of the vice president of diversity, equity and inclusion and the Latinx club.  

Gabriela Castaneda, the director of Latinx achievement, has been working towards achieving the HSI designation by recruiting students and ensuring Hispanic and Latinx support. 

The CCC is open to all students and organizes events to promote different cultures and create a space outside of the classroom for students to find advice, establish a community, and explore different ideologies. Some events they host are the First-Gen Homecoming, Academic and Professional workshops/presentations and National First-Gen Day.

Another important initiative Chapman has set in place to better serve Hispanic and Latinx students is encouraging these students to study abroad and offering support along the way. Before the pandemic there was a gap between Hispanic and Latinx students who study abroad and Hispanic and Latinx students at Chapman who decided to study abroad. Nationwide, the enrollment of Hispanic and Latinx students was 20% and those who studied abroad was 12%. By comparison, at Chapman, the total enrollment was 19% and those who participated in study abroad was 7%. 

To this end, the Center for Global Education hosts orientation sessions completely in Spanish for bilingual students and families where English is not their first language. Emilio Rodriguez and Daniel Garcia are the leading administrators working to accommodate and make study abroad accessible to Hispanic and Latinx students.  

“One of the biggest barriers is that a lot of students may think that studying abroad is expensive, and a lot of the if there's any overlap between like students who are coming from low income backgrounds and the Latinx population,” said Garcia. “It's possible that it is not as expensive or even less expensive.” 

Another challenge for Hispanic and Latinx students to overcome is family. Garcia explained that there is an overlap between Hispanic and Latinx families and first-generation students where the families are not familiar with studying abroad. 

“They're less encouraging because they don't really know what it is about,” Garcia said. “Parents worked really hard to come to the United States, so it's hard to think why their students would want to go away from the United States when we work so hard to come here.”   

Rodriguez and Garcia explained that the study abroad program offers Hispanic and Latinx students the opportunity to embrace their heritage by going to the countries their families are from, or even those with shared history. 

“We have some programs in Argentina, Costa Rica and Chile that students can actually go to and also get that experience of being in Latin America,” said Garcia. “It could mean going to Spain, and even if you're not from Spain learning about the culture that colonized the country that you came from.”

According to Garcia, the center is trying to implement an exchange program with Mexico to provide a strong connection for Mexican-American students. 

“That will also help some of the Mexican American communities, or some of the Mexican students that have been raised here, and who haven't been in Mexico much, they can actually go back,” he said. 

Looking to the future and becoming a HSI Garcia and Rodriguez emphasized the continuous need for support and resources for Hispanic and Latinx students. 

“What we're aiming to do right now is focus on providing the support so that way we can get more students who go abroad, to be properly supported,” said Garcia. “With the university's strategic plan to become an HSI, we're only going to get more Latinx students and Hispanic students, so we're just making sure that we have the support systems in place.”

Sandoval also commented on the need for more celebrations and resources that are present year-round, instead of only during holidays or special events. 

“While these efforts are valuable, I feel that Hispanic and Latinx culture could have a stronger year-round presence on campus,” she said. “I would like to see more workshops, guest speaker events, and consistent programming that honors the Latinx experience throughout the academic year.”

Garcia and Rodriguez said while the future is promising there needs to be support across all departments both financially and with outreach. Garcia suggested more scholarships for students to pay for flights and the extra $500 study abroad fee.

“I think Chapman as a university needs to recognize that we're going to increase our Latinx population. That means that there's a lot of overlap with Latinx population, with the first-generation population, with the low-income status population,” said Garcia. “So if we're going to accept all these increases, we need to have more support for those students, and that might mean to give them the same opportunities as other students who can afford more things.”