¿Qué pasa, HSIs?

Dr. Keith Curry’s Freedom Dream: Becoming Black Serving Institutions

In this episode we talk about all things Black Serving Institution (BSI), a new designation in California that creates a pathway for public and private colleges and universities to commit resources to advance the success of Black students. The designation requires campuses to demonstrate programs dedicated to Black student success, such as African-American studies and affinity spaces, as well as a track record of strong Black retention, transfer, and graduation rates. Dr. Keith Curry, president of Compton College, joins the conversation and tells us about how his freedom dream to create a BSI designation became reality. We discuss the ways BSIs can embrace servingness, the importance of upfront accountability and strategic planning compared to federal enrollment-based designations, and strategies for truly serving Black students rather than just enrolling them. We also highlight Compton College’s comprehensive approach to supporting all students' basic needs, including a housing project underway, another freedom dream becoming a reality for Dr. Curry. In this “riff” (as Dr. Curry uses) we talk about cross-racial collaboration and solidarity, as well as building relationships with external partners like donors, legislators, and the community to advance Black student success. This episode is for all our HSI, BSI, AANAPISI, and multi-designated listeners.
Guest:
Keith Curry (he, him)
President, Compton College
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/keith-curry-7285b46 
Website: https://iamkeithcurry.org/
Show notes: 
New California bill seeks crucial funding for Black students
California community college leader urges funding for Black-Serving Institutions grant program after bill stalls
California bill would create ‘Black-Serving Institution’ designation
Black California students want more support. A new law names colleges that serve them best
SB 1348: Postsecondary education: Designation of California Black-Serving Institutions
https://www.theeduledger.com/from-the-magazine/article/15747360/defining-servingness-at-blackserving-institutions
APA Citation: 
Garcia, G. A. (Host). (2026, February 15). Dr. Keith Curry’s Freedom Dream: Becoming Black Serving Institutions (No.703) [Audio podcast episode]. In ¿Qué pasa, HSIs?. 

Balancing Hope and Loss Amidst Title V Defunding

In this episode of ¿Qué pasa, HSIs? we discuss the road to healing following the defunding of Title V grants that support HSIs. Our guests Dra. Melissa Menendez and Nathalie Quintero share their personal stories working at a Title V-funded HSI, Santa Barbara City College (SBCC), and the aftermath of the September 10, 2025 announcement to reprogram enrollment-based MSI funding. They describe how the Title V grants were used to create programs and initiatives that cultivated a sense of community, celebrated Latine/x culture, and provided academic and student support services. Funding was also used to create the Raíces Faculty Institute which supported the training and professional development of faculty at SBCC. The sudden loss of this funding has created uncertainty and grief, and our guests grapple with the loss of jobs, services, and programs. Despite the challenges, Melissa and Nathalie express hope in finding joy through their communities of fellow HSI practitioners and a shared commitment to continuing this important work.
Guests: 
Melissa  Menendez (she, her, ella)
Title V HSI Grant Director & Professor, Santa Barbara City College
LinkedIn: http://linkedin.com/in/melissa-menendez-ph-d-880220336 
 
Nathalie Quintero (she, her)
Raíces Program Advisor, Raíces First Year and Beyond, Santa Barbara City College
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/nathalie-quintero
 
Attachments / Show notes: 
https://sbcc.edu/raices/   
 
APA Citation: 
Garcia, G.A. (Host). (2026, February 1). Balancing Hope and Loss Amidst Title V Defunding (No.702) [Audio podcast episode]. In ¿Qué pasa, HSIs?.

The $507.9 Million Loss: HSIs Under Attack and Fighting Back

We kick off season 7 of ¿Qué pasa, HSIs? discussing the $507.9 million loss to HSIs following the Department of Education’s announcement to defund enrollment-based MSIs on September 10, 2025. This conversation explores the current state of HSIs under the 47th president of the United States as well as the complex ways HSIs have leveraged Title V funds over the last 25 years. Our guest Dr. Rebecca Perdomo provides key insights into policy research including the ways HSIs have taken an "opportunistic" approach to grant-seeking amidst chronic underfunding compared to predominantly white institutions, with lower expenditures per student and significant deferred maintenance backlogs. We also explore the research on how HSIs promote upward social and economic mobility for their students showing that HSI outperform non-HSIs in promoting mobility. Dr. Perdomo’s stance is clear: racialized funding streams like Title III and Title V are critical to supporting HSIs and the students they serve. Despite the grief and anger over HSI funding losses, the HSI community must fight back and remain resolute in continuing their mission-driven work to support Latine/x students and communities. In this episode we call on HSI advocates to elevate the stories of resilience, hope, and success and to make the case for continued investment in HSIs.
Guest: 
Rebecca Perdomo (she, her)
Senior Research Associate & Independent Consultant, Rutgers Center for Minority Serving Institutions and the Samuel DeWitt Proctor Institute for Justice
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rebecca-perdomo-phd
Website: https://sites.google.com/view/rebeccaperdomophd
Show Notes:
Generational Jumps? How HSIs Promote Upward Mobility
Caring vs. Capitalizing: How HSIs Leverage Title V Funds
The Impact of Trump Administration Funding Cuts on Hispanic-Serving Institutions
https://www.forbes.com/sites/marybethgasman/2026/01/08/experts-chime-in-on-ed-depts-assessment-of-race-based-minority-serving-institutions/
APA Citation: 
Garcia, G.A. (Host). (2026, January 11). The $507.9 Million Loss: HSIs Under Attack and Fighting Back. (No.701) [Audio podcast episode]. In ¿Qué pasa, HSIs?.

Advising as Servingness

For the final episode of season 6 we bring in a “new to the show” conversation on advising. And the whole episode is about advising and servingness. Dr. Gabe Bermea, a visiting scholar at the The Rutgers Center for Minority Serving Institutions, is a scholar and expert on advising practices with a keen focus on HSIs. He describes different types of advising models and dives deep into humanistic advising and the ways to use this approach in serving Latine students.  He challenges us to think about the conceptual natures and structures of advising as intertwined with servingness. Gabe reminds us that if 63% of Latines are enrolled in HSIs, that means HSIs are responsible for advising 63% of them, not just enrolling them. Advising is a vital structure for serving that must be intentional and can, in itself, be servingness. Listen and learn
Guest: 
Gabe Bermea
Visiting Scholar, The Rutgers Center for Minority Serving Institutions
https://www.linkedin.com/in/gbermea/
https://www.gabebermea.com/
Show Notes - all links are are open access:
Bermea, G. O. (2025). Compañeros en el Camino: Preparing Academic Advisors to Serve at Hispanic Serving Institutions. The Rutgers Center for Minority Serving Institutions.
Bermea, G.O. (2024). Construir el Camino: How Hispanic-Serving Institutions Design and Deliver Academic Advising. The Rutgers Center for Minority Serving Institutions.
Bermea, G.O. (2024). Advising Latino students at hispanic-serving institutions: A strategy rooted in servingness and intentionality. Academic Advising Today, 47(4).
Bermea, G.O. (2023). Advising With Intention: Exploring Academic Advising at Minority-Serving Institutions. The Rutgers Center for Minority Serving Institutions.
Bermea, G.O. (2022). Humanistic advising: Applying humanistic theory to the practice of academic advising. NACADA Review, 3(1). https://doi.org/10.12930/NACR-20-07 
APA Citation: 
Garcia, G.A. (Host). (2025, June 1). Advising as Servingness. (No.610) [Audio podcast episode]. In ¿Qué pasa, HSIs?. https://www.ginaanngarcia.com/podcast/

HSI Emergingness in Kansas

With over 400 campuses emerging toward 25% enrollment of Latine students and 600 institutions already meeting the threshold, we must talk about what it means to emerge as a campus that truly serves Latine students. Emergingness is the intentionality that goes into embracing servingness, and it is happening across the U.S. In this episode we welcome Kansas to the mic to learn about HSI work going on at Wichita State University. Dra. Sara Mata, Executive Director of Hispanic Serving Initiatives at WSU, is joined by two students, Valeria Paunetto and Dimas Gonzalez, who talk about the HSI movement on their campus, an emerging HSI. They share information about their signature offering, Herencia, a summer bridge program that centers Spanish, and their Somos Shockers campaign, which is the umbrella for all their HSI initiatives. Listening to students make sense of servingness is one of the most important things HSIs and eHSIs can do while they emerge.
Sara Mata (she/ella)
Executive Director of Hispanic Serving Initiatives, Wichita State University 
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sara-mata-ph-d/
Instagram: @sara.mataphd | Facebook: sara.mata
Valeria Paunetto (she/her)
Somos Shockers Coordinator, Wichita State University 
Instagram: @paunettovaleria
Dimas Gonzalez (he/him/él)
Outreach Specialist, Wichita State University 
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dimas-gonzalez-bb3440303/ 
Show Notes: 
https://www.wichita.edu/about/designations/hsi/index.php 
https://www.al.com/sports/2015/03/what_the_heck_is_a_shocker_and.html 
https://www.wichita.edu/about/wushock.php 
APA Citation: 
Garcia, G.A. (Host). (2025, May 18). Emergingness in Kansas (No.609) [Audio podcast episode]. In ¿Qué pasa, HSIs?. https://www.ginaanngarcia.com/podcast/

Solidarity Across Multiple MSI Designations

In this episode we get in (racial) formation with Dra. Kristine Jan Cruz Espinoza, an assistant professor of Counseling and College Student Personnel at California Lutheran University. Dra. Espinoza’s research revolves around racial and organizational classifications, focusing on MSIs; particularly dual and multiple designated MSIs. She lays out the landscape of these institutions drawing on her dissertation titled, “Let’s get in (racial) formation: A three-paper exploration of dual- and multiple-designated Minority-Serving Institutions.” We talk about the complications, but also call on educators in these institutions to work in relation and solidarity across racialized lines. The call to action is to acknowledge that the number of dual and multiple designations is on the rise and we must do servingness work in relation and with responsibility. We also invent new words like, “AANAPI-Rizzies,” nodding to the University of California and other research institutions that are embracing multiple designations while remaining focused on their historic mission. This episode is a must listen for all HSI, AANAPISI, HBCU, and Black Serving Institution (BSI) educators and leaders. Let’s work in solidarity! 
Kristine Jan Cruz Espinoza (she/her/siya)
Assistant Professor of Counseling and College Student Personnel, California Lutheran University
X/Instagram: @kageceratops
https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristinejan 
https://linktr.ee/kristinejan
APA Citation: 
Garcia, G.A. (Host). (2025, May 4). Racialized Solidarity Across Multiple MSI Designations. (No.508) [Audio podcast episode]. In ¿Qué pasa, HSIs?. https://www.ginaanngarcia.com/podcast/
Show Notes: 
Espinoza, K.J.C. (2024). Overview of Minority-Serving Institutions in the United States. State Higher Education Executive Officers Association. https://sheeo.org/project/sheeo-publications/
Espinoza, K. J. C. & Watson, R. T. (2022) In the hands of students: The charge of a Minority-Serving Institution student council at a dual-designated Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-Serving Institution and Hispanic-Serving Institution. AAPI Nexus: Policy, Practice and Community, 19(1-2), 35-56. https://escholarship.org/uc/item/1pk403dm 
Nguyen, M. H., Espinoza, K. L., Gogue, D. T.-L., & Dinh, D. M. (2020). Looking to the next decade: Strengthening Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions through policy and practice. National Council of Asian Pacific Americans. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED608022.pdf  
Alcantar, C. M., Rincón, B. E., & Espinoza, K. J. (2020). In a state of becoming: How institutions communicate Asian American and Pacific Islander- and Latinx-servingness through campus artifacts. Association of Mexican American Educators Journal, 14(3), 104-119. https://doi.org/10.24974/amae.14.3.405
Espinoza, K. J. C., Rincón, B. E., Drake, B. M., Harbin, J. J., & Ethelbah, K. K. (2024). Oceania in the desert: A QuantCrit analysis of the (under)counting of Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander students at an AANAPISI-HSI. Journal of Research on Educational Effectiveness, 1–24. https://doi.org/10.1080/19345747.2024.2349671
Ngo, F. J., Espinoza, K. J. C., Lee, D. E., & Teranishi, R. T. (2024), “We will come to you”: Serving newcomer immigrants and English learners at an AANAPISI community college. Innovative Higher Education. Online first https://doi.org/10.1007/s10755-024-09763-z

Historic HSIs and Historic Spaces of Servingness

What does it mean to be an historic HSI? Since few HSIs were founded with the mission to serve Latine students, the definition of an “historic HSI” is to have enrolled 25% Latine students since 1992 when the Higher Education Act was reauthorized to include HSIs. The historic HSIs are important because they have provided access to Latine students for over 30 years. In this episode we elevate these HSIs that I affectionately call “tia HSIs.” We also touch on the “historic spaces of servingness” which includes cultural centers, ethnic studies, and Trio programs. This plática includes Rosa Isela Cervantes, the Director for El Centro de la Raza at the University of New Mexico, and Julián G. Ángel, an undergraduate student and Program Assistant for HSI Initiatives, who talk critically about their progression from being set in their “tia HSI ways” to embracing servingness. We also interrogate what it means to be a Hispanic Serving Research Institution. This episode allows us to love and honor historic HSIs while also talking about holding them accountable to servingness.
Guests:
Rosa Isela Cervantes (She/Her/Ella)
Director, El Centro de la Raza and Special Advisor to the President on Latina/o Affairs, The University of New Mexico
Instagram: @rosaisela742 | @elcentrounm
Julián G. Ángel, (He/Him/Él)
Program Assistant-HSI Initiatives, El Centro de la Raza, The University of New Mexico
Instagram: @juliangangel
Show Notes 
https://elcentro.unm.edu 
https://eid.nmsu.edu/extra-pages/nsf-hsi-hubs-faculty-fellow/nsf-hsi-hubs-faculty-fellow.html 
Garcia, G. A. & Okhidoi, O. (2015). Culturally relevant practices that “serve” students at a Hispanic Serving Institution. Innovative Higher Education, 40(4), 345-357. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10755-015-9318-7
APA Citation 
Garcia, G. A. (Host). (2025, April 20). Historic HSIs and Historic Spaces of Servingness (No.607) [Audio podcast episode]. In ¿Qué pasa, HSIs?. https://www.ginaanngarcia.com/podcast/
 

Rethinking Developmental Mathematics as Servingness

Developmental mathematics is one of the most pressing educational issues that colleges across the nation are addressing. Many states have passed legislation to address inequities in placement into developmental mathematics while individual colleges are trying innovative approaches to ensure the success of students who enroll in these courses. It’s an issue we may not fully solve, but there are many best practices to learn from. Our guest Dr. Vanessa Hill is a math professor who has spent the last 18 years at Springfield Technical Community College (STCC) doing what she loves–teaching mathematics. She has also been involved in efforts to rethink developmental mathematics, both at her college and abroad. She has developed effective models and redesigned curriculum through the lens of servingness, acknowledging that as an HSI, STCC enrolls a large percentage of Black and Latine students who place into developmental mathematics at higher rates than white students. In this episode, we have a lively discussion about developmental mathematics as servingness.
Vanessa Hill (she/her)
Professor, Springfield Technical Community College
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vanessa-hill-phd-26718817/
Show Notes:
https://www.stcc.edu/about-stcc/news/stcc-professor-awarded-fellowship-to-revamp-developmental-math.html 
https://www.escalaeducation.com/about-escala/copy-of-our-team 
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.3102/0162373720973727 
California AB705 https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201720180AB705 
California AB1705 https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB1705 
APA Citation: 
Garcia, G. A. (Host). (2025, April 6). Rethinking Developmental Mathematics as Servingness. (No. 606) [Audio podcast episode]. In ¿Qué pasa, HSIs?. https://www.ginaanngarcia.com/podcast/episode/a3c06889/rethinking-developmental-mathematics-as-servingness

Nerding out on Governing Boards at HSIs

In this episode we nerd out on all things governance in higher education, with a focus on governing boards and trustees in HSIs. The role of governing boards in advancing servingness is an understudied topic, despite the importance of gaining support from trustees in order to advance equity and social justice goals. Dr. Demetri L. Morgan joins the conversation, bringing a wealth of knowledge on the topic. He is an associate professor of education at the University of Michigan's Marsal Family School of Education in the Center for the Study of Postsecondary and Higher Education. His research focuses on the critical role that higher education institutions play in fostering a diverse democracy and researches the influence of culturally sustaining governance on institutional transformation. In this episode we discuss the crucial role of governing boards in HSIs, talking about an article we published entitled, “Mission-based vs. enrollment-based institutions: Segmented governance at a Catholic Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI).” We discuss the intricacies of developing this study and the ways we combined two theoretical frameworks to make sense of the fiduciary duty of obedience that trustees have and the ways they must uphold an historic (Catholic) mission as well as an emerging (HSI) mission.  
Guest: 
Demetri L. Morgan (he, him)
Associate Professor of Education, University of Michigan 
@DMorganPhD
Download the Article (open access):
Garcia, G. A. & Morgan, D. L. (2025). Mission-based vs. enrollment-based institutions: Segmented governance at a Catholic Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI). The Review of Higher Education. https://doi.org/10.1353/rhe.0.a952249 
APA Citation for this Episode: 
Garcia, G. A. (Host). (2025, March 23). Nerding out on Governing Boards at HSIs (No.605) [Audio podcast episode]. In ¿Qué pasa, HSIs?. https://www.ginaanngarcia.com/podcast/episode/abacfc74/nerding-out-on-governing-boards-at-hsis 
Show Notes:
https://marsal.umich.edu/directory/faculty-staff/demetri-morgan
https://www.aaup.org/programs/academic-freedom/center-defense-academic-freedom/fellows 
Trustees’ handling of Nikole Hannah-Jones’ tenure application shows how university boards often fail the accountability test: https://theconversation.com/trustees-handling-of-nikole-hannah-jones-tenure-application-shows-how-university-boards-often-fail-the-accountability-test-161622
ASHE Presidential Podcast Politics: Governance and Governing Boards 
Morgan, D. L. (2021). Nuancing political identity formation in higher education: A phenomenological examination of precollege socialization, identity, and context. Journal of Diversity in Higher Education, 14(1), 12–24. https://doi.org/10.1037/dhe0000153 
Rall, R., Morgan, D., & Commodore, F. (2020). Toward culturally sustaining governance in higher education: Best practices of theory research, and practice. Journal of Education Human Resources, 38(1), 139-164. https//doi.org/10.3138/jehr.2019-0006
Morgan, D. L., Rall, R. M., & Commodore, F. (2023). “Getting to where we need to be”: (Re)envisioning postsecondary education through the Equity X Governance paradigm. In L. W. Perna (Ed.), Higher Education: Handbook of Theory & Research (38th ed., pp. 1–62). Springer Nature. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-94844-3_8-1

Transformation Teams Leading HSIs

What happens when a group of 15 change agents from across campus come together to build an HSI movement? That was the guiding question for a small grant project funded by the Student Experience Research Network (SERN). With the grant we launched “HSI Transformation Teams” at two community college campuses–Santa Rosa Junior College and Fullerton College. In this episode we talk about how the teams came together to transform HSIs in practice, in community, and with the purpose of fostering collaborative research-practice-policy partnerships. Members of the transformation teams learned about HSI scholarship and engaged in participatory action research to develop action-based solutions to address the most pressing concerns on their campus. Our guests on this episode co-led the transformation teams, offering knowledge on the process, the challenges faced, and the wins experienced over the year. Dr. Robert Holcomb, Vice President of Academic Affairs/Assistant Superintendent at Santa Rosa Junior College, and Dr. Julio Flores, Dean of Counseling & Support Services at Santa Rosa Junior College provide insight into their process and are joined by Dr. Flor Huerta, Dean of Counseling & Student Development at Fullerton College. Listen and learn about what happens when a group of dedicated practitioner-activists ignite servingness.
Guests:
Flor Huerta (​​she/her/ella)
Dean, Counseling and Student Development, Fullerton College
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/flor-huerta-ed-d-049943173
Instagram: @dra.florhuerta
Robert "Bobby" Holcomb (he/him)
Vice President of Academic Affairs/Assistant Superintendent, Santa Rosa Junior College
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/robert-holcomb-ph-d-25608620
Instagram: @robert__holcomb
Julio R. Flores (he/him/él)
Dean, Counseling and Support Programs, Santa Rosa Junior College
Show Notes:
https://academicaffairs.santarosa.edu/
APA Citation for This Episode: 
Garcia, G.A. (Host). (2025, March 9). Transformation Teams Leading HSIs (No.604) [Audio podcast episode]. In ¿Qué pasa, HSIs?. https://www.ginaanngarcia.com/podcast/episode/9c7f5c56/transformation-teams-leading-hsis