In December, Cal Poly’s Department of Culture and Institutional Excellence awarded 13 high impact mini-grants totalling $28,000 to support Hispanic-serving projects and programs for the 2025-26 academic year, according to the CIX website.
Projects range from providing funding for costumes for dance clubs to creating an admissions welcome event for high school students from Santa Maria. Participants proposed projects that work toward educational programming, cultural community engagement and innovation goals.
READ MORE: Features on the last cycle of HSI mini grant recipients
The grants align with broader institutional efforts related to Cal Poly’s plan to become a Hispanic Serving Institution, according to the CIX website. These grants are not federally funded, according to University Spokesperson Keegan Koberl.
In the fall 2024, Cal Poly reached 25% Hispanic/Latino enrollment, which must be held for at least two academic years for Cal Poly to become an HSI. Cal Poly remained above 25% this year as well. To receive the designation, Cal Poly also must have a high proportion of Pell-eligible students. Currently, less than 25% of students are Pell recipients, according to enrollment data.
READ MORE: What students want to see as Cal Poly hopes to become a Hispanic-Serving Institution
Susana López, a psychology and child development professor, has seen a lot of positive movement and support for the university to become an HSI, but she witnesses the challenges as well.
“I also think that we’ve had some bumps in the road and barriers to maybe moving as quickly as they would like in achieving the Hispanic Serving Institution component of the servingness,” López said. “Not just the numbers but being able to serve.”
López is leading a project with psychology professor Lisa Sweatt to host workshops in trauma healing for Latinx/e students in order to be a restorative space in a predominantly white university, according to the CIX website. The first workshop will be at the end of February in the Latinx/e Center for Academic Success and Achievement. They hope to continue hosting them in the spring as well.
With the grant money, López said they will use the money to buy supplies including journals, candles and food and drink in order to host conversation and lead students in breathing exercises and mediation. After the activities, the workshop will host a group dinner.
“After being vulnerable and sharing so much of our feelings or experiences together that afternoon, we end it with that and community,” López said.
Among the recipients was the Robert E. Kennedy Library for a new speaker series “Voces de Cal Poly.” The series is a four-part speaker series that aims to foster belonging, dialogue and visibility by highlighting storytelling, poetry and research to celebrate Latino and Latina voices, according to project lead Victoria Tonascia.
The speakers of the series will be hosted at both the Kennedy and Maritime Library to talk about their current research and engage in community storytelling, according to Tonascia.
Tonascia and associate Claire Burns are in the process of searching for speakers for the series but hope to use their $2,300 HSI mini-grant to give each speaker a $500 honorarium. Any money left over will be used for resources needed for the events.
