How Hispanic-Serving Institutions Help Latine Students

For Dr. DeSanctis, who speaks on behalf of Community College of Denver’s approach to the accreditation, communicating with students and making sure that they’re able to navigate the knowledge experience is key. “Here, we really leaned into the role of family when a student who is Latine comes to us, and we provide a whole lot of opportunities for the family,” Dr. DeSanctis says. “This last Saturday, we had our summer social where we invited families and new students, and we gave them opportunities for parents to ask questions completely in Spanish. Whatever they want to ask, we give them tips on how they can best support their students through this journey.” This kind of event seems more than necessary when more than 44% of Latine students are the first in their family to attend college, and parents don’t know how to navigate academic institutions, especially not in their second language.