From (In)visibility to Autonomy: Latinos and Higher Education in the US, 1965-2005 National Capitol Summit Latino Students & Educational Opportunity October 11, 2007 University of Maryland, College Park Victoria-Maria MacDonald, Visiting Associate Professor, Contact: vmacdona@umd.edu
Latino Higher Education Participation: i A Recent Historical Event Why? 1) Until well past the post-wwii era, Mexican Americans in the Southwest (where most lived at that point in our history) often blocked from attending school beyond the 8 th grade segregated Mexican School and persist to the white high school. 2) Thus, by 1960, highest level of education for the majority of southwestern Latinos was eighth grade (Donato, 1997). 3) Latinos were less than six per cent of first year college students in Southwestern higher education in 1958 (Carter, 1970).
Historical i Barriers to Latino higher h education, cont d. Early (1930s-1940s) Mexican American civil rights agenda focused on K-12 education. (e.g. Independent School District v. Salvatierra 1930, Texas; Lemon Grove v. Alvarez, 1931; Méndez et al vs. Westminster School District of Orange County, CA, 1946; and Delgado v. Bastrop, Texas 1948. African American civil rights, in contrast, focused on professional schools, higher education. (e.g. Murray vs. Maryland, 1936; Missouri ex re. Gaines v. Canada, 1938) to get access to higher education because a network of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (although segregated and under funded) existed to provide for undergraduate education
Research Barriers to Documenting Latino Higher Education pre 1970 Invisibility among identification of Latinos from local, state, and federal government record keeping. Latinos were excluded from the decennial census (with exception of samples in 1930 Southwestern states). 1970 was the first year Latinos were included in the U.S. census. Implications: difficult to clearly document inequities prior to 1970 for civil rights purposes. Legal Status as a separate ethnic minority. Hernandez v. Texas (1954) All-white jury convicts Mexican American. US Supreme Court rules that Latinos are a protected class for equal protection purposes. Without status as separate group cannot sue in courts.. 1970 Cisneros vs. Corpus Christi Court rules that the 1954 Brown v. Board can be used for Mexican Americans. Mexican Americans were established as an ethnically identifiable minority group for the first time, no longer white for desegregation cases.
Four-Year College Participation - Most Promising for B.A. Completion Data courtesy of Linda J. Sax, Cooperative Institutional Research Program, University of California, Los Angeles. Freshman Survey Study. Minority Representation of Students in Four-Year Colleges: 1971-2001 14.0 12.0 10.0 P ercentage 8.0 6.0 4.0 2.0 0.0 1971 1976 1981 1986 1991 1996 2001 Year African American/Black American Indian Asian American/Asian Mexican American/Chicano Puerto Rican American Other Latino
Overview of Participation, i 1974-2003 Adults ages 18-24, by combinations of sex and race/ethnicity, 1974-2003
Percent (% ) of Bachelor s and Doctoral Degrees granted to Non-Hispanic White, African American, and Latina Women, 1980, 1990, & 2000. 1980 1990 2000 Point Change NHW BA NHW PHD 86 84 84 76 75 67-11 -17 AA BA 7.8 7 10.3 +2.5 AA PHD 5.6 4.5 6.7 +1.1 LATINA BA 2.4 3.5 6.5 +4.1 Latina PHD 17 1.7 25 2.5 41 4.1 +2.4 Source: Table 261. Bachelor s degrees conferred by degree-granting institutions, by racial/ethnic group & sex of student, 1976-77 through 2003-04; and Table 267, Doctoral degrees conferred by degree-granting institutions, by racial/ethnic i group & sex of student, 1976-77 through 2003-04 National Center for Education Statistics (www.nces.gov accessed May 16, 2007).
How and Where Hispanic Serving Institutions Develop: Five Stages of Development, 1965-2005 1. Visibility and Legitimacy 2. Self-Determination 3. Self-Scrutiny Scrutiny 4. Emulation 5. Autonomy
Visibility ibilit Latinos as Invisible ibl Minority Where were Latinos attending college before 1965? INTERSECTION OF CULTURAL FACTORS WITH TYPE OF HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTION CONCEPTS OF LA FAMILIA (STAY CLOSE TO HOME TO ASSIST), ROMAN CATHOLICISM, PROTECTION OF LATINA GIRLS VIRTUE, STILL RELEVANT TODAY. Southwestern state and community colleges (Miami Dade, East L.A. CC) State teacher training colleges El Rito Spanish American Normal School, New Mexico. Roman Catholic Colleges (Our Lady of the Lakes) PIONEERS present at UT-Austin, Univ. of CA. Berkeley, Harvard, blend/hide among international Latin American students for social lives and clubs. Cuban refugees (1959-1970) 1970) Sponsored by federal government assistance and relief agencies provided scholarships and grants to attend US colleges free. University of Miami, e.g. offers scholarships.
1965 Higher Education Act Second greatest federal act (after GI Bill of 1944, 1958 NDEA (less so) providing direct aid to students through loans and grants. Title III Strengthening Developing Institutions Intended for Black Colleges, initial bill specified Black Colleges but was struck from bill because of 1964 Civil Rights Act. By 1965 Strong network of Black colleges from segregation era had created a Black middle class, strong alumni base and lobbying power for Historically Black Colleges and Universities defined as those institutions established BEFORE 1964.
President Lyndon B. Johnson and Latinos. JFK elected through help of Mexican American vote. Viva Kennedy clubs. LBJ seen as friendly to Mexican Americans because of Texas connection and experience teaching in segregated Mexican American school. Mexican Americans pushed for political visibility in his Great Society Programs, but LBJ saw African Americans as #1 Priority.
2. Self-Determination Latinos learn from African-American strategies that they must not rely on politicians without constant lobbying and agitation. During 1960s and 1970s Latino student activism, view HBCU s as models. Latinos create a network of Hispanic-centered colleges with help from Rockefeller and Ford Foundations. Colegio César Chavez in Oregon (1973); Colegio Jacinto Trevino in Mercedes, Texas (1970); Hostos Community College (CUNY system), 1969 and Boricua College in Brooklyn are examples.
Self-Determination, cont d. These schools could not be sustained without support and did not qualify for Title III funding because of lack of accreditation. Only two of the original ten remain Hostos and Boricua. National Hispanic University was created in California later, 1981, and is still in operation. Idea of a set of Latino institutions that would be analog to HBCU s fails.
III. Self-Scrutiny in the 1980s So-called Decade of the Hispanics in reality disappointing. i Numbers of Latinos in higher education decreasing after peak in 1975, picks up again in early 1990s. Colleges with Hispanic enrollment of more than 20% Latino on mainland only receiving 6.4% of Title III funds.
III. Self-Scrutiny TRIO programs utilized by only a fraction of Latino students, majority to Black students. MALDEF concerned that Office of Civil Rights Mandates will only desegregate Blacks and Latinos - left out of 1978 higher education orders. Suit filed in Texas, LULAC v. Ann Richards, Governor of Texas (1987) that Latinos were discriminated against in Texas higher education system. Case lost but steps taken to create schools in Texas along Mexico-Texas border.
Philanthropy steps in. Ford and Rockefeller foundations shift funding priorities to Latinos saying, What Hispanics have need of today is what blacks needed twenty-five years ago; greater knowledge and understanding of their economic, social and political situation and of the roots of their disadvantage, and the development of an infrastructure that will increase their participation in the mainstream of society. (Ford Foundation, 1984)
IV. Emulation Creation of HACU Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (1986) KEY to HSI development, use insider tactics HBCU lobby had relied on for decades. Create federal category for Hispanic Serving Institutions within Title III in 1992 Reauthorization. Hispanic Serving Institution definition 1) 25% or more FTE Latino population enrollment 2) not less than 50% of its Latino students low-income AND first generation college students and 3) an ADDITIONAL 25% of its Hispanic students either low- income or first generation.
V. Autonomy 1998 Authorization Hispanic Serving Institutions receive their OWN title, Title V to meet specific and unique needs of their population. HACU board member states: It is not our goal today to pit one favorite child against the other. We recognize that a rising tide lifts all boats. Therefore, as a general proposition we support a general increase for Title II across the board. 1997 Hearings.
Questions for HSIs in the Future Does the attraction of HSIs for Latino students discourage Latinos from attempting to access the cultural capital that can be secured from attending the nation s historical and prestigious institutions? Can Latinos at HSIs create their own talented tenth as HBCUs and Women s Colleges have? And if so, how? Gender imbalance in higher education exists among Anglos, African Americans, and Latina/os. Can institutions that allegedly already have a special interest in promoting Latino success also address this issue?
Questions, cont d. Latina/o Faculty Numbers of Latino faculty at HSIs are apparently higher than other institutions. In 2003, African Americans and Latinos held 5 percent and 3 percent of all faculty positions respectively (NCES, 2004). Collectively, African American and Latino faculty comprise only 5 percent of all fullprofessors nationwide (NCES, 2001). Among women as percent of all faculty, only 2.9 percent of all those with tenure were African American or Latina in 2001 in contrast to 25.9 percent of white women. The numbers of tenure-track faculty for the two historically underrepresented groups in all major universities have remained stagnant for almost three decades, as has the progress made by increased enrollment of historically i under-represented d students t in higher h education systems. Can we use HSIs as research sites to determine if indeed having faculty of the same background as students enhances academic achievement?
Muchas Gracias. To John M. Botti (Ph.D. candidate at University it of Maryland, College Park, Lisa Hoffman Clark (Ph.D. Florida State University, it 2007). Spencer Foundation support over the years for research on Black and Latino educational history.