We return to our discussion of the book, "The HSI Movement: Strategies Driving Change at Hispanic Serving Institutions," with Yesenia Silva Estrada, Vice President of Planning and Chief of Staff at Colorado Mountain College (CMC). Yesenia shares her personal HSI journey, having been born in Chihuahua, Mexico, raised in one of the communities CMC serves, and having attended CMC herself as a first-generation student, to now serving in a role of influence as the campus transitioned to becoming an HSI. We discuss how HSI-mindedness at CMC has been driven by intersectional data analysis, a shared equity leadership model, and a commitment to measuring student thriving well beyond completion rates. We also discuss the VP’s role in the HSI movement, and how some days are challenging. We finish with a focus on Colorado's landmark House Bill 26-1006, which established the Colorado Thriving Institutions designation. As a leader in the HSI movement, she personally drafted the bill's language and worked with legislators and a broad coalition of partners to pass the legislation. The episode concludes with a strong message that HSI identity belongs to the institution and its communities, not to the federal government, and that institutions must continue to claim that identity regardless of what happens at the federal level.

Guest:

Yesenia Silva Estrada (she, her, ella)

Vice President of Planning and Chief of Staff

Colorado Mountain College

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/ysilvastrada

Facebook: https://facebook.com/yesilvaestrada

APA Citation:

Garcia, G. A. (Host). (2026, October 4). From Student to Change Agent: Building an HSI from Within (No.803) [Audio podcast episode]. In ¿Qué pasa, HSIs?.

Show Notes:

• https://coloradomtn.edu/about-us/hispanic-serving-institution/
• https://coloradomtn.edu/news/cmc-news/colorado-mountain-college-helps-lead-passage-of-landmark-thriving-institutions-legislation/

In this episode we learn with Dr. Katie Christoffersen, Associate Vice Provost for Bilingual Integration and Associate Professor of Applied Linguistics at University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV), exploring the concept of linguistic servingness at HSIs. Katie shares the story of how UTRGV built bilingualism into its academic core through the B3 initiative, which allows students to take courses across disciplines taught in Spanish or bilingually and graduate with the B3 Scholar Seal as an official honor on their transcripts. The conversation covers the origins of the initiative, how faculty are trained and compensated, and the compelling outcome data showing that students in B3 courses demonstrate higher academic success and satisfaction. Katie also offers four practical recommendations for HSIs looking to implement linguistic servingness on their own campuses, including starting with a baseline inventory, putting money behind the work, institutionalizing systems rather than one-off projects, and building an evidence base. She closes by defining linguistic servingness as "the institutional practice of treating students' full linguistic repertoire as an academic asset with actions and not just with words," and breaks it down into four dimensions: access, recognition, labor, and ideology.

Guest:

Katherine (Katie) Christoffersen (she, her, ella, ela)

Associate Vice Provost, Office for Bilingual Integration

Associate Professor of Applied Linguistics

University of Texas Rio Grande Valley

Website: https://katherinechristoff.wixsite.com/my-site

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katherine-christoffersen-590339214/

Show Notes:

• https://www.ginaanngarcia.com/post/language-bilingualism-multilingualism-in-hsis-ideas-for-linguistic-servingness
• Bilingualism in Higher Education Summit- Oct 14-16- website: https://bilingualism-higher-ed-summit.netlify.app/
• Christoffersen, K. (2026). “Hablo pocha, ¿no?”: Divergent language ideologies of pocho and mocho in the U.S.-Mexico borderlands. Applied Linguistics, 47(2). 1-20. https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/amag045
• Mazzaro, N., & Christoffersen, K. (2026). How prestige and socio-economic status shape the linguistic landscape of Brownsville, Texas. International Journal of Multilingualism, 1–23. https://doi.org/10.1080/14790718.2025.2612562
• Christoffersen, K, Ortín, R., López García, D., Cavazos, D, & Lu, M.T. (2025). Dual language in higher education: Assessing student success and student experiences. Foreign Language Annals, 58(2). 916-940. https://doi.org/10.1111/flan.70040
• Christoffersen, K. & Regalado, K. (2021). “Toda lengua es válida aquí en esta clase”: Translanguaging pedagogy and critical language awareness in sociolinguistics courses on the U.S.-Mexico border. Journal of Bilingual Education Research and Instruction, 23(1). 23-71.
• Christoffersen, K. (2019). Linguistic terrorism in the borderlands: Language ideologies in the narratives of young adults in the Rio Grande Valley. International Multilingual Research Journal, 13(3). 137-151.
• UTRGV Office for Bilingual Integration: https://www.utrgv.edu/bilingualintegration/
• B3 Scholarship & Creative Works Collection: scholarworks.utrgv.edu/b3_pub
• Office of Bilingual Integration https://www.utrgv.edu/bilingualintegration/index.htm
• B³ Scholar Seal overview: https://www.utrgv.edu/bilingualintegration/student-resources/b3-scholar-seal/index.htm
• Carvalho, A., Bessett, R. & Christoffersen, K. (2021). CESA and CoBiVa Training Handbook. https://bit.ly/CESA_CoBiVa_Handbook

APA Citation:

Garcia, G.A. (Host). (2026, September 20). Linguistic Servingness in the Classroom: Learning with UTRGV (No.802) [Audio podcast episode]. In ¿Qué pasa, HSIs?.

We kick off season 8 of ¿Qué pasa, HSIs? discussing Dr. Garcia's new book "The HSI Movement: Strategies Driving Change at Hispanic Serving Institutions.” The conversation covers Dr. Lujan's personal journey in the HSI movement, including his role as Texas Tech's inaugural director of HSI initiatives and his leadership of a $3 million Title V grant, before transitioning into his current role in research development. Together, we explore key concepts from the book including processes of servingness, first-order versus second-order change, and leading for change from the middle, with Dr. Lujan drawing direct connections between the book's frameworks and his own lived experiences navigating anti-DEI legislation, institutional barriers, and the push for deeper organizational transformation beyond surface-level programming. The episode also highlights the critical role that professional associations such as TACHE (Texas Association of Chicanos in Higher Education) and AHSIE (Alliance of HSI Educators) play as the "connective tissue" of the HSI movement, providing community and shared best practices for educators who may feel isolated on their own campuses. Despite the current political pressures, this episode provides optimism and hope about the future of HSIs.

Guest

Jarett Lujan (he, him, el)

Assistant Director for Research Development & Communications

Texas Tech University

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jarett-lujan-ph-d-a1043b7b/

Instagram: @drjarettlujan

Show Notes:

• https://www.angelo.edu/live/news/19856-more-than-the-climb
• https://ahsie.org/jarett-lujan-bio
• Lujan, J., & McNaughtan, J. (2024). Moscas en la leche: A critical evaluation of Hispanic-Serving Institution campus spaces through photovoice methodology. The Journal of Higher Education, 96(2), 197–222. https://doi.org/10.1080/00221546.2024.2355077
• Lujan, J., McNaughtan, J., & Williams, B. (2024). “Not simply the act of enrolling”: Defining servingness at Hispanic‐serving community colleges. New Directions for Community Colleges, 2024(205), 115–129. https://doi.org/10.1002/cc.20617
• McNaughtan, J., & Lujan, J. (2023). “A moral, ethical, and fiduciary obligation to serve”: Perceptions of the role of Presidents at Hispanic-serving community colleges. Community College Journal of Research and Practice, 48(8), 491–505. https://doi.org/10.1080/10668926.2023.2189179

APA Citation:

Garcia, G.A. (Host). (2026, September 6). Leading from the Middle: Advancing the HSI Movement Through Resilience and Community. (No.801) [Audio podcast episode]. In ¿Qué pasa, HSIs?.

We finalize this season exploring collective grief, hope, and joy with Dr. Bracho, an assistant professor at Cal State Long Beach and certified death doula. Dr. Bracho recounts a long history of intimate loss including the loss of his father and his mother and explains how writing, ritual, and formal training as a death doula helped him develop a practice of accompanying others through death and mourning. Drawing from his chapter “Grieving in Spanglish: A Glossary of Loss,” Dr. Bracho critiques the dominant “gringo” five‑stage model of grief as overly clinical and individual, and instead offers six Spanish terms as alternative ways to understand grief as ongoing, embodied, spiritual, communal, and self-defined. We apply this model to the current attacks on HSI funding, DEI programs, immigrants, and marginalized communities, naming the collective “dolor” of lost programs, jobs, safety, and belonging, and emphasizing the importance of grieving together rather than being forced to “move on” in silence. Dr. Bracho offers words of advice for moving through our grief in community and offers perspectives on the ways Cal State Long Beach is sustaining HSI efforts and servingness practices even as grants end. He urges HSIs to create intentional ritual spaces and institutional practices that openly name grief, honor loss, and treat emotions as assets in the ongoing struggle for liberation and thriving.

Guest:

Christian A. Bracho (he, him)

Assistant Professor/Program Coordinator, California State University Long Beach

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christian-a-bracho/

Show Notes:

• https://www.csulb.edu/college-of-education/curriculum-and-instruction/page/christian-bracho
• https://ahsie.org/christian-a-bracho-bio
• https://inelda.org/about-doulas/what-is-a-doula/
• Sana, Sana: Latinx Pain and Radical Visions for Healing and Justice (Common Notions, 2023)
• https://perilresearch.com/resource/brick-for-hispanic-serving-institutions/

APA Citation:

Garcia, G.A. (Host). (2026, May 24). Grieving in Spanglish. (No.710) [Audio podcast episode]. In ¿Qué pasa, HSIs?. www.ginaanngarcia.com/podcast

What do we do when the federal government attacks HSIs? Stand up, fight back!!!! Amanda Fuchs Miller, former Deputy Assistant Secretary for Higher Education Programs at the US Department of Education, who oversaw all Title III and V programs during the Biden-Harris administration, discusses the current political climate for HSIs and offers strategies for advocating for Title III and Title V funding. We talk about how the current administration has attacked enrollment-based MSIs in unprecedented ways despite these institutions having bipartisan support for over three decades. Amanda explains that while HSIs remain constitutional and statutorily defined, the administration has chosen not to defend the programs in court and has reprogrammed discretionary funding away from HSIs and other enrollment-based MSIs to HBCUs and TCUs. Amanda recommends that HSIs apply for SIP (Strengthening Institutions Program) grants as an alternative funding source, since these have similar eligibility requirements but without the racial/ethnic enrollment-based criteria. She emphasizes the need for aggressive advocacy, including meetings with Congress members and their staff, litigation on mandatory funding, and coalition building with other stakeholders. The episode concludes with Amanda encouraging the HSI community to tell their stories to members of Congress who are currently in their home districts.

Guest:

Amanda Fuchs Miller (she, her)

President, Seventh Street Strategies

Website: https://www.seventhstreetstrategies.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amanda-fuchs-miller-b75bb23

Show Notes:

• https://www.seventhstreetstrategies.com/
• https://www.insidehighered.com/opinion/views/2026/03/06/dear-colleague-any-other-name-opinion
• https://www.insidehighered.com/opinion/views/2026/02/20/ed-department-weaponizes-ferpa-restrict-voting-opinion
• https://www.insidehighered.com/news/government/politics-elections/2026/03/26/ed-leaves-msi-programs-out-grant-eligibility

APA Citation:

Garcia, G.A. (Host). (2026, May 10). Stand Up, Fight Back: Strategies for HSI Advocacy (No.709) [Audio podcast episode]. In ¿Qué pasa, HSIs?.

What is the role of HSIs in building a diverse nursing workforce? With intentionality and partnership, HSIs can and should train bilingual, bicultural nurses. In this episode Dr. Garcia welcomes Dr. Tina Loarte-Rodriguez, Executive Director of the Connecticut Center for Nursing Workforce and founder/author of Latinas in Nursing. The conversation addresses critical gaps in nursing diversity, noting that only 7-8% of the nation's 5 million nurses identify as Latinx despite Latinxs representing 30% of the population. Dr. Loarte-Rodriguez shares her personal journey from often being the only Latina in nursing settings to creating resources for representation and belonging in healthcare, including her book Latinas in Nursing and the follow-up Latinos in Nursing. She offers strategies for HSIs to increase Latinx representation in nursing through partnerships with state nursing workforce centers and community organizations. We also discuss barriers facing Latinx nursing students, including financial constraints from recent federal loan restrictions that cap graduate borrowing. The episode emphasizes the need for culturally relevant nursing curricula, bilingual training for heritage Spanish speakers, and increased Latina faculty representation in nursing programs.

Guest:

Tina Loarte-Rodriguez (she, her, ella)

Executive Director, Connecticut Center for Nursing Workforce

Author, Founder, & CEO, Latinas in Nursing

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/tina-loarte-rodríguez

Website: https://latinasinnursing.org/

APA Citation

Garcia, G. A. (Host). (2026, April 26). Building a Diverse Nursing Workforce: The Role of HSIs (No.708) [Audio podcast episode]. In ¿Qué pasa, HSIs?. https://www.ginaanngarcia.com/podcast/

Show Notes:

• https://www.ctcenterfornursingworkforce.com
• https://latinasinnursing.org/

In this episode we talk about policies of possibility and the ways HSIs along the Mexico-U.S. border support transborder students. We feature Dr. Mark Sanchez, CEO/President of Southwestern College in California, who advocated for California's Assembly Bill 91, a five-year pilot program starting in 2024 that provides low-income Mexicans living within 45 miles of the Mexico-California border with non-resident fee exemptions to attend college while paying in-state tuition. Dr. Sanchez shares his personal journey as a first-generation college student who attended Southwestern College and returned 35 years later as its president. Moreover, he emphasizes the college's location just 7 miles from the Mexico-U.S. border and highlights the binational economy between Tijuana and San Diego County, which generates about $250 billion annually. We discuss several key aspects for serving transborder students, including the creation of basic support facilities like lounges, microwaves, refrigerators, and shower access for students who may arrive hours early due to unpredictable border crossing times. The episode addresses the current political climate, with Dr. Sanchez explaining how the college supports immigrant, undocumented, and transborder students throughout these challenging times.

Mark Sanchez (he, him, el)

Ceo/President, Southwestern College

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/mark-sanchez-57820232a

Instagram: @swc_president25

Website: https://www.swccd.edu/about-swc/leadership/office-of-the-superintendent-president/index.aspx

APA Citation:

Garcia, G. A. (Host). (2026, April 12). Beyond Fronteras: How HSIs Support Transborder Students. (No.707) [Audio podcast episode]. In ¿Qué pasa, HSIs?.

Emerging into HSI-ness is a powerful construct that we continue to explore in this episode. Irvine Valley College (IVC) is an emerging HSI community college that has been intentionally transforming its campus to better serve Latine/x students without waiting for federal HSI eligibility or Title V funding. The college is already an Asian American Native American Pacific Islander-Serving Institution (AANAPISI), having reached 41% API enrollment and receiving federal funding. In this episode our guests describe their commitment to servingness, equity, and attaining dual-eligibility regardless of the federal government’s attacks on funding. The college developed a comprehensive year-long training series based on the Transforming HSIs for Equity and Justice book and workbook that brought together faculty, classified staff, and administrators to examine institutional policies, practices, and power structures through an equity lens. This work emerged from their Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility (DEIA) Council, which operates under an innovative tri-chair model ensuring shared leadership across all campus constituencies. Through this episode we learn how the college has built and maintained its commitment to equity and servingness, demonstrating that transformational change can occur through internal resources, strong leadership, and a campus-wide culture of caring for students.

Guests:

Martha McDonald (she, her, ella)

Vice President for Student Services, Irvine Valley College

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/mcdonaldmartha

Julie Fagundes Scholl (she, her)

Program Coordinator- Adult English as a Second Language (AESL), Irvine Valley College

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/julie-f-scholl

Rebecca Beck (she, her, ella)

ESL Faculty/Academic Senate President, Irvine Valley College

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/rebecca-beck-6882232b5

APA Citation:

Garcia, G. A. (Host). (2026, March 29). Building HSI Mindsets: Irvine Valley College’s Training Approach. (No. 706) [Audio podcast episode]. In ¿Qué pasa, HSIs?.