The White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanic Americans.
Did your eyes just glaze over with incomprehension upon reading that? You’re not alone.
The initiative is actually a nationwide effort to promote quality education for the nation’s Latinos. It’s been in existence since 1990.
And yet, few people have actually heard of it. That point was illustrated during a public forum Wednesday afternoon at Housatonic Community College in Bridgeport. Close to 50 people attended the forum to share their ideas about improving Latino educational attainment with White House Initiative executive director Juan Sepulveda.
Most of them were invited. Yet — as a quick survey by Sepulveda showed — only two of those in attendance had even heard of the initiative before being invited to the forum. Sepulveda said he’d taken a survey at a forum held that morning at HCC, which drew a similiar number of people. One only person from that event had heard of the initiative.
That’s OK, Sepulveda said. That lack of awareness is part of the reason he came to HCC, and is visiting communities throughout the country. “Most people don’t even know we’re here,” he said.
For more on Sepulveda, the intiative and the HCC forums, read tomorrow’s Connecticut Post.
