Leaders in American higher education are working diligently to make their institutions responsive to demographic realities. One of those realities is the growing Hispanic population.
Barry Creamer, president of Criswell College—the institution I serve as vice president of student affairs and communications and as dean of students—has said: “Criswell College’s mission is to equip Christian leaders to serve throughout society. Several years ago, when we compared the 9 percent of our students who were Hispanic with the 40 percent of our immediate society which was Hispanic, we knew we were falling short of our own mission.”
At Criswell College, the commitment to the cause of serving more Hispanic students is not just aspirational; it is measurable. Over the past six years, our Hispanic student population has grown from 9 percent to 25 percent, officially designating us as a Hispanic-Serving Institution.
This growth has been complemented by a deliberate expansion of Hispanic representation across our staff at the executive, mid-level and entry-level tiers. Together, these efforts place us in a prime position to serve, mentor and empower effectively the fastest-growing demographic in the United States.
Criswell College has been helped by the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities “in developing Hispanic leadership and staff,” which “has helped us level the playing field, so our student population better reflects the whole of the society we seek to serve,” President Creamer has said.
Challenging the challenges
However, our collective work is not without challenges. Recently, Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti filed a complaint questioning the legitimacy and equity of federal funding allocated to Hispanic-Serving Institutions.
As someone who has seen firsthand the transformative impact of this funding, I must express respectfully and firmly how critical these resources are.
The core requirement for becoming a Hispanic-Serving Institution is to have at least 25 percent of your student body identify as Hispanic. This threshold does not exclude others. It simply recognizes and supports those institutions that have made intentional efforts to recruit, retain and graduate Hispanic students. It’s not about preference; it’s about progress.
The recent complaint by the Tennessee attorney general against the U.S. Department of Education’s support for Hispanic-Serving Institutions undermines decades of progress toward leadership development for Hispanic students.
Hispanic-Serving Institutions are not exclusionary; they are responsive. These institutions serve nearly two-thirds of all Hispanic undergraduates in the United States, most of whom are first-generation college students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds.
The reality
Federal grants to Hispanic-Serving Institutions do not displace students from other groups but empower institutions to close equity gaps, improve degree completion and build capacity in under-resourced communities.
In 2023 alone, more than $228 million in grants to Hispanic-Serving Institutions enabled critical student success initiatives in areas like STEM education, academic advising and infrastructure development.
Federal grants to Hispanic-Serving Institutions have empowered institutions like Criswell College to provide tailored academic support, improve student success outcomes, and build the infrastructure necessary to prepare future leaders and citizens who will enrich and serve our communities.
Given that Hispanics now make up nearly 20 percent of the U.S. population—and growing—this investment not only is strategic, it also is essential.
Empowering academic institutions to serve more of a growing population should not be feared or blocked, but should be encouraged.
A biblical perspective
From a biblical standpoint, God’s expectations for his people are clear: “He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” (Micah 6:8).
This is not a suggestion, it is a divine requirement rooted in God’s character.
At Criswell College, we define leaders as cultivators, laborers and peacemakers—people who not only think theologically, but also live redemptively. In that spirit, we believe the recent complaint is not simply a matter of public policy, but is a test of moral and spiritual conviction.
To deny opportunity to a historically underserved community is to reject the very justice and kindness Micah calls us to pursue.
Jesus described this type of leadership in the parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10). It was the outsider, not the religious elite, who stopped, saw the brokenness and acted with compassion. He became the cultivator of healing, the laborer who took responsibility and the peacemaker who restored dignity where it had been stripped away.
In the same way, the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities’ Leadership Academy cultivates and equips leaders from Hispanic backgrounds to walk into places of power, including Capitol Hill and college presidencies, often for the first time.
Now, more than ever, the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities deserves our full support. It is one of the few national organizations boldly standing in the gap, developing leaders, influencing policy and calling our country to invest in its largest growing minority population.
Luis Juárez is the vice president of student affairs and communications and dean of students at Criswell College and a 2024-2025 alum of the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities’ La Academia de Liderazgo/Leadership Academy.
