WVC keynote highlights barriers for students of color

WENATCHEE — Dr. Gina Ann Garcia, a nationally recognized expert on Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs), delivered the keynote address during Wenatchee Valley College’s Dean’s Day on April 25, urging faculty and staff to elevate the voices of students from historically marginalized communities.

Garcia, a professor at the University of California, Berkeley’s School of Education, presented “Centering Student Voices at Hispanic Serving Institutions,” a lecture focused on closing equity gaps and strengthening HSI identity by prioritizing the lived experiences of Latine and other students of color.

“This event provided a beautiful opportunity to come together as an institution to reorient to our north star—our students,” said Vanessa Saldivar, WVC’s interim executive director of HSI initiatives. “Dr. Garcia ardently calls us to center our students, especially the roughly half that come from minoritized communities that are actively being targeted by discriminatory policies and hateful rhetoric. This is a critical moment for our community and for our college, as we deepen our understanding of, and our commitment to, our HSI identity.”

Garcia’s talk, organized and sponsored by El Corazón and the college’s Center for Teaching and Learning, was part of a broader effort supported by a Developing Hispanic Serving Institutions (DHSI) grant from the U.S. Department of Education. DHSI grants are intended to expand educational access and increase academic attainment for Hispanic students.

In her address, Garcia encouraged faculty and staff to reflect on how institutional policies and classroom practices can either perpetuate or dismantle barriers to student success.

She invited educators to “be unafraid educator[s] who work with and for all students.”

Garcia’s research focuses on equity and justice in higher education, with particular attention to how HSIs operationalize their mission to serve minoritized populations. Her work explores the role of race and racism in shaping higher education and examines the experiences of those working and studying within HSI environments.

Wenatchee Valley College has been designated as a Hispanic Serving Institution by the U.S. Department of Education. With a student population that is 45 percent Hispanic, the college qualifies for federal support aimed at improving outcomes for Hispanic and underserved students.