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NOTE: Media is invited to High School Outreach Day and the Keynote Speech. Details below.

News — EL PASO, Texas — In 2013, the State of Texas created Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso, which would become a Hispanic-Serving Institution unlike any other university in the Lone Star State.

A decade later, TTUHSC El Paso remains at the forefront of Hispanic education as it celebrates Hispanic-Serving Institution Week at the university. This weeklong event, beginning Sept. 16, honors the university's commitment to educating Hispanic students who will go on to improving the health of underserved communities along the U.S.-Mexico border.

El Pasoan Cristóbal Rodríguez, Ph.D., will deliver the event’s keynote address. He’s a member of the President’s Advisory Commission on Advancing Educational Equity, Excellence, and Economic Opportunity for Hispanics. He said HSIs like TTUHSC El Paso are vital in delivering educational opportunities to underserved regions, particularly in our Borderplex.

“TTUHSC El Paso provides the essential access to an education otherwise not readily available to a historically underserved region," said Dr. Rodriguez, a Del Valle High School graduate. “By leveraging existing cultural, linguistic, and intellectual solutions, the university can transform a community toward actual equality.”

Other events will include panel discussions, cultural performances, and opportunities for current and potential future students. High School Outreach Day will allow local students to explore careers in the health sciences and the university’s first HSI Symposium will showcase innovative practices and research by students and faculty.

The importance of Hispanic-Serving Institutions

Christiane Herber-Valdez, Ed.D., TTUHSC El Paso’s assistant vice president for academic affairs, believes HSI Week is an excellent way to show students, faculty, and staff, as well as the public, the vital role Hispanic-Serving Institutions play in daily life.

“We’re part of a network of Hispanic-Serving Institutions in the country with a special mission,” she said. “HSI Week will foster excitement and awareness that we’re an HSI located on the border, where each academic year sees new cohorts of first-generation students. I hope students and faculty attending any of these events walk away feeling proud.”

Congress created the Hispanic-Serving Institution classification in 1992 as part of revisions to the Higher Education Act of 1965. Unlike historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs), HSIs qualify based on Hispanic enrollment, which must be maintained at or above the 25% threshold, and financial need.

TTUHSC El Paso met many of the requirements for being recognized as a Hispanic-Serving Institution in its first year. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, TTUHSC El Paso is one of only three special focus academic health centers eligible for HSI status and the only one on the U.S.-Mexico border.

TTUHSC El Paso is also teaching its students to address the unique health care challenges the multicultural and bilingual community faces, particularly in our Borderplex region. Students and faculty are actively researching common health disparities prevalent in Hispanic communities, such as obesity and diabetes. Soon it will also be home to the Steve and Nancy Fox Cancer Center, the region’s first comprehensive cancer center.

A legacy of service and education

As a Hispanic-Serving Institution, TTUHSC El Paso addresses the critical need for health care providers in our region and has played a pivotal role in educating students who go on to be health care providers who are well-equipped to serve a divergent multicultural, bilingual, and medically underserved population. For instance, the medical and dental schools were among the first in the U.S. to integrate a medical Spanish requirement to meet the needs of the communities they serve. During their first weeks on campus, medical and dental students fan out across the county to survey historically underserved communities as they come to understand the health challenges of the region.

With a Hispanic enrollment of 48%, the university stands out as a leader among academic health sciences centers nationwide. Furthermore, the university has been directly responsible for increasing the number of practicing physicians in our Borderplex by 66%, nurses by 45%, and soon, dentists as well.

Dr. Cristóbal Rodríguez

Dr. Rodríguez is associate provost and professor at Western Michigan University. He previously served as associate dean with the Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College of Arizona State University and an assistant professor at New Mexico State University in Las Cruces and Howard University in Washington, D.C.

Dr. Rodríguez received his Ph.D. in education policy and planning with a portfolio in Mexican American studies from the University of Texas at Austin and post-doctoral studies in Germany as a U.S. Congress-German Bundestag scholar.

HSI Week Event Highlights:

All events will be held on the TTUHSC El Paso campus Tuesday, Sept. 17

• High School Outreach Day: 10 a.m.-2:30 p.m. at Medical Sciences Building II Auditorium, 137 Rick Francis St.Wednesday, Sept. 18

• HSI Symposium: 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. at Medical Sciences Building II Auditorium, 137 Rick Francis St.Friday, Sept. 20

• Keynote Speaker: White House Commissioner Dr. Cristóbal Rodríguez 1-2 p.m. at Medical Sciences Building II Auditorium, 137 Rick Francis St.

About TTUHSC El Paso

TTUHSC El Paso is the only health sciences center on the U.S.-Mexico border and serves 108 counties in West Texas that have been historically underserved. It’s a designated Title V Hispanic-Serving Institution, preparing the next generation of health care heroes, 48% of whom identify as Hispanic and are often first-generation students.

Established as an independent university in 2013, TTUHSC El Paso is a proudly diverse and uniquely innovative destination for education and research.

With a mission of eliminating health care barriers and creating life-changing educational opportunities for Borderplex residents, TTUHSC El Paso has graduated over 2,400 doctors, nurses and researchers over the past decade, and will add dentists to its alumni beginning in 2025. For more information, visit ttuhscepimpact.org.