Claim Your Dreams, Latinx Leaders Urge

For at least three decades, Sarita Brown, who delivered the opening keynote, has been assisting students of Latino and African-American descent to forge their own paths. As co-founder and president of Excelencia in Education, her nonprofit organization focuses on accelerating Latino success in higher education by linking research, policy and practice. “When I was a student at the University of Texas at Austin, I saw very few students of color,” Brown told the audience gathered in Gaige Hall. “I had agency and asked why there were so few people of color. It seemed to be a byproduct of intentionality, and it wasn’t bending in our [Latino] favor.” Brown went on to work in the University of Texas at Austin’s graduate studies office, creating a national model promoting minority success. She said the university now ranks No. 1 in the nation for conferring doctoral degrees to Latinos.

“We built not only a pipeline but a structure from nothing,” said Brown, a former executive director of the White House Initiative for Educational Excellence for Hispanic Americans under President Bill Clinton.

When Brown co-founded Excelencia for Education 15 years ago, the idea was to create a national database that tracks higher education practices positively received by minority students.

“You [minority students] matter not only to yourselves and your community but also to this nation,” Brown said. “Colleges are hearing that message but are not comfortable yet. You are the ones who are going to be impacting higher education in the future.”