Loyola Marymount University has been singled out for its ongoing efforts to increase enrollment of Latino students by Excelencia in Education, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to improving the access of Latino students to higher education in the United States.
In its research brief “Emerging Hispanic-Serving Institutions: Serving Latino Students,” the organization lauded LMU’s proactive efforts to maintain and increase diversity among its student body.“The university’s practices to serve Latino students include targeted outreach and recruitment programs that engaged both Latino students and parents, an increased attention to recruiting community college transfer students (since many Latino students start college there), fostering support services among Latino student peers, and attention to cultivating ‘inclusive excellence’ in faculty, research, teaching, and student engagement,” the report states.
The report noted that LMU’s programs are designed to increase the number of Latino students applying to and enrolling at the university, and also to improve graduation rates. It cited programs that engage both students and parents, such as Latino Scholars Day and the Latino Overnight Program. LMU’s undergraduate student body is currently 20 percent Hispanic. Since 1999, LMU has had an office of Intercultural Affairs that is charged with supporting diversity among faculty, staff and students. Through the efforts of this office, the university has recruited many faculty members from diverse backgrounds who have, in turn, helped move LMU toward increased institutional diversity. “LMU’s commitment to diversity is deep and long-standing, and it goes beyond mere tolerance and respect, important as those are,” said Anne Prisco, vice president for enrollment management at LMU. “Because our Latino students are so important to us, we strive to provide an environment that enables them to feel at home while also challenged to grow and become their best, to dream large about themselves and about their communities.” |