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Increasing Hispanic enrollment and the resignation of Elsa Murano -- Texas A&M's first Hispanic and female president -- were on the minds of many at the annual Texas A&M Hispanic Network summit Friday in College Station.
Vision 2020 -- Texas A&M's broad plan for becoming one of the nation's 10 best public universities by 2020 -- was a theme of the summit. Organizers focused on Imperative 6, the section of Vision 2020 that deals with diversifying and globalizing the A&M community.
When the advocacy group began six years ago, leaders said a goal of achieving a 30 percent Hispanic student population at Texas A&M by the year 2020 could be attained with a 2 percent increase in the freshman class each year.
The record on that has been spotty, said Robert Gonzalez, a 1968 Aggie graduate who gave a presentation about trends in Hispanics seeking higher education.
Hispanics would have to make up 22.3 percent of the freshman class this year for the goal to be on pace. But they represent only 17.3 percent -- or 1,400 students in an overall freshman class of 8,100 -- according to unofficial 2009 numbers.
"We have to set a record every year," Gonzalez said. "We have to set a record on the number of applicants, the number of admits and the number who enroll if we want to [achieve our goal]."
Chancellor Mike McKinney, chief of the Texas A&M System, told more than 150 attendees during introductory remarks that the education of Hispanic students was the most important economic issue facing Texas.
He said that the lifetime earnings difference between the average college graduate and someone who didn't attend college was $1 million. So for every 1,000 students who don't go to college, the economic impact is $1 billion, he said.
The chancellor also cited statistics that he said put Hispanic students at a disadvantage: 36 percent of Hispanic students live in poverty, and half of Hispanic newborns are born to single mothers, about 40 percent of whom have not completed high school.
"There is a direct and, I'm telling you, statistically significant relationship between poverty, health status and education," said McKinney, a former family physician.
The keynote speaker, Pete Garcia, a former Continental Airlines vice president, said corporations were increasingly recognizing the importance of catering to Hispanics, but he urged Hispanics to become more involved in business.
"Yes, [corporations] are reaching into our pockets, but what we need to do is reach back and get on their corporate boards," said Garcia, who is president of Pete Garcia International Inc., a consulting firm. He said Hispanics represent fewer than 3 percent of people on corporate boards.
Bill Flores, a major financial contributor to Texas A&M who spoke about the responsibilities of former students, said that Murano, who resigned in June, was treated in a "disrespectful" and "unprofessional" manner.
The 1976 Aggie graduate told the crowd that former students have responsibilities, including maintaining the reputation of the school, mentoring younger Aggies and holding the university's governing authority accountable for its actions.
"I firmly believe that if we as former students fulfill these responsibilities, we can restore Texas A&M University to the paths upon which it was traveling when Presidents Earl Rudder and Bob Gates were here," he said.
