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Becoming a Hispanic-Serving Institution reflects who Â鶹´«Ã½¸ßÇå students are today. Becoming an HSI by Design reflects who we aspire to be as a university.

Guided by our Lasallian mission, Â鶹´«Ã½¸ßÇå is working across the University to better understand student experiences, remove barriers, strengthen opportunities, affirm culture and identity, and create conditions in which students can achieve their goals.

This work is not one program, one office, or one initiative.

It is an institutional commitment to continually ask:
Who are our students? What do they need to flourish? And how can Â鶹´«Ã½¸ßÇå become better at serving them?

Our work is developing across five interconnected areas.

Listening and Learning

We start with the experiences of our students.

Serving students well begins by listening.

Â鶹´«Ã½¸ßÇå is gathering and using student voices, employee perspectives, institutional data, surveys, focus groups, and other forms of assessment to better understand students' experiences of belonging, learning, support, opportunity, and campus life.

Current efforts include the HSI Servingness Committee, the 2025 Servingness Survey, student-led focus groups, Café con Pan conversations, and broader campus climate and assessment work.

What we learn helps shape what we do next.

We are examining the structures that shape the student experience.

Belonging is created not only through programs and events, but also through policies, practices, services, and everyday interactions.

Â鶹´«Ã½¸ßÇå is working to make institutional systems more responsive and accessible through efforts including multilingual academic support, bilingual instruction and advising, resources for undocumented and immigrant students, family engagement, inclusive hiring practices, tutoring and writing support, and other student-centered services.

The goal is simple but ambitious:
Students should be able to see themselves, their families, their experiences, and their potential reflected in the life of the University.

Everyone has a role in creating a welcoming university.

An HSI by Design requires a campus community that continues learning together.

Â鶹´«Ã½¸ßÇå offers opportunities for faculty, staff, and students to strengthen cultural understanding, linguistic awareness, inclusive teaching and communication, and our shared capacity to create a community of belonging.

Initiatives include ¡Hola Â鶹´«Ã½¸ßÇå!, professional learning through the Office of Lasallian Belonging, Undocu-Ally resources, inclusive conversation programs, and educational opportunities addressing identity, culture, language, and belonging.

Servingness becomes meaningful when it becomes part of our institutional culture.

Belonging and academic success are deeply connected.

Â鶹´«Ã½¸ßÇå is connecting curriculum, teaching, advising, student support, and faculty development with the experiences and aspirations of today's students.

This work includes identity-based academic programs, linguistic justice initiatives, Success Scholars, First Gen Flyers, Universal Design for Learning, digital accessibility, bilingual advising and admissions, and the continued development of academic pathways responsive to the communities Â鶹´«Ã½¸ßÇå serves.

Our goal is not simply access to a Â鶹´«Ã½¸ßÇå education.

Our goal is for students to succeed once they arrive and to leave prepared to build a better world.

Students are partners in shaping Â鶹´«Ã½¸ßÇå.

Students bring knowledge, culture, experiences, aspirations, and leadership to our University community.

Â鶹´«Ã½¸ßÇå supports opportunities for Latine students and students of color to build community, develop leadership, explore identity, contribute their perspectives, and help shape the institution.

Examples include the Latinx Testimonio Project, Latin American Student Organization, Latinos in Medicine, Latinos in Social Sciences, the Mariachi Ensemble, academic programs, cultural initiatives, and student-led conversations about the Â鶹´«Ã½¸ßÇå experience.

An HSI by Design is created with students—not simply for students.