Introducing FHSU’s new president
For many years now, the Hispanic community has been a top priority of Fort Hays State University and the Kansas Board of Regents. As the new president of Fort Hays State University, I want to assure the readers of 2más2KC that a quality college education for the growing Hispanic population of the state and region remains a high priority.
Fort Hays State was created in 1902 to train teachers of one-room schools across western Kansas. Farmers, ranchers and business people who wanted an education to be available for their children and grandchildren campaigned for years to make that school happen.
As a university, our mission is the same – to expand opportunity through education, helping to prepare citizens, careers and lives. Our institutional culture is focused on the student, on transforming lives by providing a quality, student-centered learning experience.
My career as an educator has primarily been in the area overtly dedicated to student life and success. For seven years before becoming a university president in North Dakota, I was the vice president for student affairs at Fort Hays State. This university’s intense focus on the student is a major reason I wanted to return as its president.
I, like so many Hispanic students, am a first-generation student – the first in my family to achieve a college degree. The focus on the student is important to me.
In a way, our institution began with the hopes and dreams of an entire population of first-generation students. Access to education is as important now as it was then.
A new semester is about to begin, and we – the university and I and hopefully some of you – are beginning a new journey together.
