Duke University is committed to diversity and increasing representation of Hispanic/Latino students. It actively recruits Hispanic/Latino students and has a graduation rate for them that is consistent with other students. The newly formed Duke University Hispanic/Latino Alumni Association aims to further this commitment through recruitment, communication, and growing the Hispanic/Latino Scholarship Fund endowment to provide more scholarships. The scholarship fund was established in 2004 and has grown but the association wants to increase it to over $5 million to support more students.

1. Duke
UNIVERSITY
Hispanic/Latino Scholarship Fund
Advancing Excellence in Higher Education for
Hispanic/Latino Students
November 2011
1

2. Duke is strongly committed to Diversity
DukeUNIVERSITY
The Duke University Strategic Plan Making a Difference includes Diversity as one of
the five enduring themes that have defined, and continue to define, Duke.
The Strategic Plan highlights that Duke seeks to diversify the undergraduate, graduate
and professional student bodies and provides them with depth of understanding of
themselves and the world that equips them to become better scholars, leaders and
citizens.
In addition, the Strategic Plan states:

“We must continue to diversify our student body by pursuing aggressive admissions policies
and offering as strong a program of need-blind undergraduate financial aid as our resources
permit.”

“We must seek opportunities to support disciplinary and interdisciplinary research programs on
issues of race, ethnicity, and gender in the sciences, social sciences, humanities and the
professions.
In Making a Difference, we outline our goals to aggressively recruit and retain a diverse complement of
faculty and students and to promote engagement and understanding across all human boundaries.
- Richard H. Brodhead, Duke University President

3. Duke’s commitment to Hispanic / Latino students
Duke UNIVERSITY
Duke promotes its commitment for a vibrant Hispanic / Latino student body through:

Strong Visible Leadership – President Brodhead has been vocal in his commitment to invite
people from all backgrounds and places around the globe into the Duke community.

Proactive Recruitment – Through its alumni network and admissions team, Duke proactively
recruits accomplished Hispanic / Latino students from around the world. Duke is proud that
Hispanic /Latino students comprise 7% of the current undergraduate class.

Strong Graduation Results – Duke is also proud of the fact that the Hispanic / Latino student
graduation rate is consistent with the overall undergraduate student graduation rate of 95%.
As further evidence of Duke’s commitment to Diversity, the University recently formally
organized the Duke University Hispanic / Latino Alumni Association

One of the Association’s responsibilities will be to assist in the growth of the Hispanic / Latino
Scholarship Fund

4. The Hispanic / Latino Alumni Association
DukeUNIVERSITY
The Duke University Hispanic / Latino Alumni Association (DUHLAA) was recently
established in the summer of 2011.
The primary objective of the Association is to promote the best interests of the University
by assisting it in tending to the needs of its Hispanic / Latino community and its alumni.
The Association’s specific goals are:

To promote and provide communication among and services for the Duke Hispanic community and
its alumni, so as to continually advance their personal and professional growth and cultivate a spirit
of fraternity among members of the community.

To assist in recruitment of Latino students, faculty and administration into the University, and to
strive for an ongoing institutional assessment of the University’s commitment to supporting a
strong Hispanic community.

To work and plan in securing gifts to the University and to expand the annual giving program
among alumni for the purposes of endowments and scholarships, primarily in the interest of
attracting and retaining top Latino students, as identified by the financial aid office.

5. The Hispanic / Latino Alumni Association Leadership
Duke UNIVERSITY
The Board of Directors of the Association is comprised of a group of dedicated Duke
alumni volunteers from Trinity College of Arts & Sciences, the Pratt School of
Engineering and the Fuqua School of Business.
The BOD serves two years terms, with the current term extending to 2013.
The current Board of Directors are:

Chair: Chris Brandt (T'00)

Chair-Elect: Nelson Bellido (T'89)

Secretary: Paul Lagunes (T'03)

Communications: Roberta Oyakawa (E'86)

Events: Roberto Olivares (T'88)

Development: Tim Mendoza (Fuqua '92)

6. The Hispanic / Latino Scholarship Fund
DukeUNIVERSITY
The Latino scholarship fund was established in 2004 with a $100,000 endowment from a
small group of alumni and friends of Duke University.
The mandate of the endowment is to fund:
“whole or partial scholarships to undergraduate students of Latino / Latina
heritage who are, or shall be at the time of receipt of this scholarship,
enrolled in Trinity College of Arts and Sciences at Duke University.”
The fund currently has a market value of $350,000 and has 67 sponsors.
In 2011, the scholarship fund distributed $20,000 to undergraduate students.
An important goal of the DUHLAA is to rapidly grow the endowment fund to $1m - and quickly
grow the fund to greater than $5m. By achieving these ambitious goals, the fund will be able
to support 5+ full-time scholarships.

7. Hispanic / Latino Philanthropy
Duke
UNIVERSITY
The University and the DUHLAA are committed to growing endowment funds that are
targeted at having a direct positive impact on the Hispanic / Latino student
community

The Hispanic / Latino Scholarship Fund endowment in an important centerpiece in this goal as it
promotes one of Duke’s most important traditions to Hispanic / Latino students: need-blind
undergraduate admissions.
Other forms of Hispanic / Latino philanthropic future support may include:

Sponsored Research into issues that are important to Hispanic / Latino community

Faculty Support in the form of professorships, teaching awards and research funds

Innovative Educational Programs focused on Hispanic / Latino studies

Medical Research for health issues afflicting the Hispanic / Latino community
On the behalf of Duke University and the DUHLAA, we thank you for your interest in the
Hispanic / Latino Scholarship Fund. Your support of our people and programs are vital in
making Duke University an exceptional world-class institution of higher-education.