Hispanic-serving institution

It's Hispanic out here.

We're an HSI, and that, that's a little different, but it's also part of the en- enjoyment of being here is that there are so many different kinds of people just everywhere.

And just going to the gym in the morning, I mean, we have people from India, we have people from Pakistan, we, we have, you know, we, we have our Hispanic community there as well, but, uh, we have people from...

I mean, my workout partners are Vietnamese, and it's like [laughs]

And, and are, are you worried about that chilling effect, particularly regarding supports for Black students that wouldn't have them otherwise?

Absolutely, and especially if you look at Historically Black Colleges and Universities, um, those institutions as well as HSIs, uh, Hispanic-serving in- institutions, as well as tribally controlled colleges, they could all be affected.

Essentially, the, the administration could say these institutions are discriminating against other students because they are enrolling predominantly, um, students whose, uh, who are minorities.

And so because these institutions have a mission to serve a particular type of student, they could inadvertently be harmed.

Wade is nationally recognized for his outcomes driven, data informed, and student centered leadership that challenges higher education to reimagine pathways for access, belonging, and student success.

Throughout his career, he has designed scalable first generation programs at HBCUs and HSIs, initiated enrollment and retention strategies that improved persistence and graduation outcomes at four year universities and community colleges, secured millions in grants and stewarded fundraising relationships to strengthen the student experiences at private liberal arts institutions, and amplified institutional impact through innovative digital storytelling nationwide.

He's also deeply committed to developing the next generation of higher education leaders through mentoring and national service.

Dr.

Bueno, es una ciudad, entre comillas, ah, pero está como a una hora y quince minutos de Chicago.

Y, ah, ahora somos un Hispanic Serving Institution.

Ya hay veinticinco por ciento de estudiantes que son hispanos, pero nun-- no siempre fue así.

Y en 1975, ah, empe-se empezaron muchos estudiantes a como, a protestar porque querían como un espacio para los estudiantes latinos.

So it's a great opportunity for those outside of the region to get a glimpse of everything that West Texas has to offer and outside of that as well.

And so for our listeners who may not know, an HSI is a Hispanic Serving Institute.

I was going to

ask.

It was a, a lot of fear.

And we are, at Montclair State University anyway, an HSI, a Hispanic-serving institution.

So when we see, you know, the, the world at large, um, definitely having a lot of fear and tumult, then that definitely trickles down and has a mental health impact on our students.

So that's kind of how I'm gonna answer it, which is being mindful of the classroom space and allowing students to express their views in their writing, in their course projects, I think as catharsis, as a space to be able to say, "Wow, I can channel what's going on in my everyday life and write it into a narrative essay.

And so how do we support them still? And then what new ways do we support them? I think that's what's really important.

And also, you know, how do you support them in spaces where a state is red and you're not allowed to do certain things? Like Daryl said, the students are still coming and you're at HSIs or you're at predominantly Black institutions.

How do you continue to support those students when... you know, the legislature is telling you you can't do it in that way anymore, or you're starting to get silenced in the classroom around sanitizing the language that you can use in the classroom, specifically around students of color or different groups.

I just think that it's been very difficult.

It's a pleasure to speak with you as well.

So one of the projects we just mentioned, which is really interesting, is that you led Google's initiative integrating generative AI into computer science courses in specifically for historically Black colleges and universities and Hispanic-serving institutions.

Really interesting project.

And I want to start by asking you about that project, and then we'll zoom out and talk more about some of what you do with North Star.

So this project actually originally took place back in 2024.

And I was the cross-course program lead as a contractor at Google through Synergist.

And we worked with faculty from these HBCUs and HSIs across several North American universities.

to create the first round of a series of gen ai integrated computer science courses and these courses are actually available online now for anyone to use at teachcswithai.org and one of our key faculty partners was james prather and he's a leader in ai in computer science education research and so the collaborative approach that we took with faculty including james was what made this project unique.