8/7/2019 VALHEN Has Just Concluded Its Annual Encuentro

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VALHEN CONCLUDESSUCCESSFUL 2011 ENCUENTRO 

VALHEN members have just attended the 2011 VALHEN Encuentro, an interactive

conference attracting leading professors, instructors, administrators, teachers,

counselors, and other professionals within the higher education community in Virginia

and beyond. The Encuentro was hosted by Northern Virginia Community College(Annandale campus) on March 24th and 25th. The theme of the conference, Latinos:

Growing and Driving Success in Virginia, sparked dynamic discussions as well as

informal intercambios amongst the conference participants, who came from all corners

of the Commonwealth.

The program opened with a plenary session on “Demographics and Education: the

Nation and the Commonwealth.” The panel of nationally renowned presenters included

Qian Cai, Weldon Cooper Center, Richard Fry, Pew Hispanic Center, and Jonell

Sánchez, College Board. The session was followed by a series of break-out sessions

on such diverse topics as innovative education initiatives through service learning, theimportance of entrepreneurship, financial education, and understanding diversity and

cultural issues. The keynote speaker was Michael Olivas, William B. Bates

Distinguished Chair in Law and IHELG Director, University of Houston Law Center. Dr.

Olivas delivered a highly engaging speech entitled “The Arc of Triumph and the Agony

of Defeat: Latinos in the Polity and the Danger of the Discourse.” At the end of a

productive day, participants the enjoyed a festive networking reception, complete with

live music provided by an Andean band.

Day two of the conference began with a plenary session on Latinos-Under-Represented

in Strategic Areas: STEM, Nursing, and the Public Sector. The panel again includednational experts, including Pamela Moreno, Marymount University, Jorge Ponce, Office

of Civil Rights, DOC, and Carlos Rodriguez, American Institutes for Research. The

day’s break-out sessions facilitated lively discussion and exchanges on a variety of 

topics including Pathways to Baccalaureate, the Issue with Money, opportunities for 

college savings through 529 college savings plans, and “The Unfulfilled Promise of For-

Profit Colleges and Universities.” The program closed with a plated lunch, and closing

speaker José Rico, Deputy Director, White House Initiative on Educational Excellence

for Hispanic Americans. In an earlier decade, Mr. Rico would not have been able to join

us as an unexpected event required that he remain at his office. However, thanks to the

miracle of technology, he was able to join the conference for his presentation via Skype.

The final event was the presentation of five VALHEN scholarships awarded to Hispanic

students. Indeed, between the highly informative presentations by national experts, the

rich discussion among professionals, and the exchange of innovative ideas, solutions,

and strategies, the entire conference was in keeping with VALHEN’s mission to support,

promote, and advocate for Latinos success and advancement in higher education in the

Commonwealth.

8/7/2019 VALHEN Has Just Concluded Its Annual Encuentro

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The Virginia Latino Higher Education Network (VALHEN) is the only state-wide, non-

profit, 501(c) (3) organization serving as a networking structure to support, promote, and

advocate for Latino success and advancement in higher education for the benefit and

betterment of the Commonwealth of Virginia. VALHEN members—all volunteers—are a

network of college and university faculty, staff, administrators, and community

members.

The Board of Directors of VALHEN invites you to visit the website, www.valhen.org, for 

information on membership and upcoming events.