This year’s theme on my servingness world tour is “becoming an unapologetic HSI.” The servingness world tour isn’t really a world tour, more like a few states in the U.S., but it is an opportunity for me to raise HSI awareness and reinforce the narrative of servingness. Raising awareness of what it means to be an HSI beyond the enrollment and eligibility requirements and beyond Title V and Title III grants, and educating people on the concept of servingness, is necessary. At this time in the evolution of HSIs as legitimized organizations, very few people truly understand HSI as a construct. Yet we have the opportunity to shape the narrative. And the idea of becoming an unapologetic HSI is part of that narrative.
To be unapologetic means to live authentically and confidently without fear of being questioned or challenged. It means to live in self-assurance and genuineness without the need to apologize. To be unapologetic is to embrace who you are and to live out your purpose without conforming to the expectations of others or the norms of society. And although we often think about being unapologetic as an individual characteristic, I am suggesting that organizations, and in this case HSIs, can also be unapologetic. So, what does it mean to be an unapologetic HSI?
To be unapologetic means to embrace your HSI organizational identity without fear of excluding others. People think that if we say we are a Latine-serving institution, it somehow means we do not care about any other racial/ethnic group. This is so wrong. Hispanic-serving does not mean Hispanic-only. But the reality is most colleges and universities are still white-serving (including HSIs), yet they all claim to be “inclusive.” So, let’s keep that same energy as we embrace an HSI identity. Say it with me, “We are an HSI, and we are inclusive.” But in reality, we have a lot of work to do to become inclusive. Yet embracing an HSI identity allows us to lean into equity and servingness. If we are committed to equity, then we use a data driven approach to disrupt historical inequities for all groups, and especially those facing the greatest inequities and with a keen understanding of how race and racism shape outcomes and experiences. And if we are using a servingness approach, then we are committed to assessing the campus for indicators of serving, to launching culturally-relevant and identity-conscious curricula and services, to hiring faculty of color, and to transforming our entire educational infrastructure.
To be unapologetic means to wear your HSI-ness proudly. The same way people of color wear their identity on their chest, sometimes literally by wearing a t-shirt or earrings that state who they are and how they identify (e.g., Black girl magic, Chingona, Pinay pride), HSIs too should wear this identity with pride. This pride could appear in many ways, including stating that you are an HSI on your website, in your mission statement and strategic plan, on your social media accounts, and sometimes on a t-shirt too. Oxnard College created t-shirts that say, “The OG HSI since 1975.” Pasadena City College launched a “Somos PCC” campaign that appears on t-shirts, stickers, and even on their digital reader boards. UC Santa Cruz created an animated video in both English and Spanish to help students, families, and campus community members understand what it means for UCSC to be an HSI. There are so many examples, and I appreciate when the luchadores in the HSI Movement tag me on social media posts and gift me with HSI t-shirts and stickers so that I can share your good work with the HSI community.
To be unapologetic means that everyone who is a part of the campus knows it is an HSI. Students would know they attend an HSI and wouldn’t be worried about being excluded, because they would feel cared for and know they can be as unapologetic in their identities as the campus is about its HSI identity. Faculty would know they work at an HSI and do faculty things through a servingness lens; conduct research with and for Latine people and communities of color; teach through culturally-affirming, identity-conscious, and anti-racist frameworks; and serve with and for Latines and people of color on campus. Staff would know they work at an HSI and know that servingness shows up across the campus, whether it be in the cafeteria where Latine foods are served, in the campus programming where Latine artist and musicians are invited to perform, in the physical infrastructure where the paintings on the wall make it feel like an HSI, and in the student services where Latine-identity is considered in all offices including counseling and psychological services, disability services, the career center, outreach and admissions, family engagement offices, and everything in between. Alumni would be proud graduates of HSIs and claim it whenever they are given the opportunity. Trustees would proudly serve on the board of an HSI and know what it means to their decision-making. The be an unapologetic HSI means that everyone who is connected to the institution is unapologetic about it too.
If you need an example of what being an unapologetic organization looks like, take time to get to know Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Tribal Colleges and Universities, and women’s colleges. These identity-based organizational identities are threaded through every dimension of the campus in the same way the HSI identity should be threaded into all things we do at HSIs. I leave you with this final question to ponder, “When is your HSI going to become unapologetic?”.