A&M leaders promote University to incoming Hispanic students

By: Travis Robinson

Posted: 6/6/07

"Here at [Texas] A&M we don't just educate your mind, we educate your soul," said Student Body President Conner Prochaska. This may be familiar to students who've heard Prochaska's campaign speeches last spring, but it was a new concept to the crowd of nearly 300 incoming freshmen and their families as they gathered for the inaugural Hullabaloo Step-off at the Ripley House in downtown Houston.

Put on by the Texas A&M Hispanic Network, the Hullabaloo Step-off was the third step in a three-step process aimed to inform, attract and enroll Hispanic students at A&M. The first step was recruiting and educating prospective students in the winter. The second step was to encourage them to apply and then enroll during the spring, said Hector Cavazos, one of the Texas A&M Hispanic Network's directors.

"This is the first year we've done this final step," said Rene Enriquez, another director of the network. He said they hope to retain some of the students that, for whatever reason in years past, they have lost.

"This final step," Cavazos said, "is a celebration of their acceptance and enrollment at A&M. This is to help them further understand what A&M is all about."

All major entities of A&M life were represented from Student Life and Fish Camp to Aggie Mom's Club and the Corps of Cadets. But perhaps most important, says Enriquez, is representation from financial aid.

It's not just convincing the students, either. Many times it's convincing parents to allow and encourage their children to go beyond high school.

"Many don't know the resources available to them and that's what we're trying to show them tonight," Enriquez said.

The list of speakers included Prochaska, A&M President Ed Davis, Vice President for Student Affairs Dean Bresciani, and the Vice President and Associate Provost for Diversity Tito Guerrero.

President Davis, the keynote speaker, began by saying that often times a small number of people can become the tipping point for change. Davis said that he believed the Texas A&M Hispanic Network would prove to be just that for A&M.

"Everything you could ever want to find, you can find at Texas A&M," Davis said to the crowd of incoming freshmen.

The event included speakers who said they were trying to embolden, inspire and eradicate some of the freshmen nervousness.

"The country is full of outstanding research universities," Bresciani said. "But here at A&M, we have the family," a family he described as having an unparalleled sense of community.

Marty Holmes, assistant director of the Association of Former Students, echoed these sentiments.

"At A&M, you learn to give back and that's what makes the A&M family unique," he said.

This was all a part of an ongoing effort to continue the vision former president Robert Gates had during his time as president. As one of his top 10 goals for the Vision 2020 plan, Gates had planned to triple Hispanic enrollment.

When asked why reaching out to the incoming freshmen so early was important to him, Conner Prochaska said "It's just another opportunity to try and get the fish involved so they can hit the ground running and get the full effect of all that A&M has to offer."