INFORMATION FOR
The President’s Diversity Lecture at William Paterson University will take place Monday, April 28 at 3 p.m. via Zoom. The lecture series, launched by President Richard J. Helldobler in 2021, brings WP campus faculty, students, and staff together to hear from a distinguished scholar on topics related to equity and inclusion.
This year’s guest speaker is Gina Ann Garcia, professor in the School of Education at University of California, Berkeley, whose research centers on issues of equity and justice in higher education with an emphasis on understanding how Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs) embrace and enact an organizational identity for serving minoritized populations.
Founder of the Cal HSI Center, which advances HSI research to inform practice and policy, Garcia’s lecture will explore what it means to be an HSI in practice – the experiences of administrators, faculty, and staff at HSIs and the outcomes of students attending these institutions.
“The President’s Diversity Lecture was established to provide the William Paterson community with opportunities to hear from experts in the field who can inform our ongoing efforts to provide the best education and support possible to our diverse student population,” said President Richard J. Helldobler. “We look forward to hearing the kind of insights that Dr. Garcia shares as a successful educator, author, and podcaster.”
Garcia is the author of Becoming Hispanic-Serving Institutions: Opportunities for Colleges & Universities for which she won the American Association of Hispanics in Higher Education Book of the Year Award in 2020. She also recently authored the book Transforming Hispanic Serving Institutions for Equity and Justice and served as editor of the book Hispanic-Serving Institutions in Practice: Defining “Servingness” at HSIs.
As part of her talk at William Paterson, Garcia will lay out the framework for understanding “servingness” and will provide examples of how HSIs can assess the extent to which they are serving Latinx students.
Additionally, Garcia hosts the popular podcast ¿Qué pasa, HSIs? available on Spotify, YouTube, and Apple Podcasts.
She has delivered more than 150 public lectures and workshops across the country and consults directly with HSIs to work towards organizational transformation.
“We look forward to gaining a nuanced understanding of the concept of ‘servingness’ from Dr. Garcia to enhance our practices here on campus and online,” says William Paterson University Chief Diversity Officer Jeanne Arnold.
Garcia graduated from California State University, Northridge with a bachelor’s degree in marketing, the University of Maryland, College Park with a master’s degree in college student personnel, and the University of California, Los Angeles with a PhD in higher education and organizational change. She is a proud alumna of a HSI and was a Title V Coordinator at Cal State University, Fullerton which drives and motivates her research and praxis.
04/02/25
