More than 100 higher education professionals gathered on an undeveloped 4.7-acre weed-covered plot along Huebner Road to celebrate the groundbreaking of a new headquarters for the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities.
Construction on the 25,000-square-foot, $18.8-million facility will be complete in the summer of 2025, according to HACU. The new headquarters will lay the foundation for eight San Antonio institutes, expanding programs and services to increase higher education initiatives and success among Hispanic students.
With the larger building comes a larger focus on STEM education, the network’s president said.
“There are a lot more demands for STEM field graduates, and we are behind in terms of Latino graduation rates in those fields,” said HACU President Antonio Flores. “We have to catch up and provide a quality workforce that the country needs.”
At the groundbreaking, staffers and member colleges were reminded why the headquarters are needed. The Hispanic population is the fastest growing in the country, which means the workforce will heavily depend on how well Latinos are educated, Flores said.
“That’s why we are committed to investing in longterm permanence here,” Flores said. “The new site will make San Antonio a center for [Hispanic-Serving Institution] initiatives and new ways of advancing the success of all students in national and international higher education.”
HACU is a nonprofit organization founded in 1986 in San Antonio by a small group of higher education leaders who recognized that poverty and language barriers, among other factors, were preventing Hispanics from reaching their full academic potential.
As the nonprofit nears its 37th anniversary, the organization currently leases office space at Corporate Square building along I-410 in Northwest San Antonio.
“It’s not as convenient, but we couldn’t do it any other way,” Flores said. “We needed to expand. … Two years from now, if everything goes to plan, we won’t have [this] problem.”
HACU also has offices in Washington, D.C., and California, but chose San Antonio as its headquarters because it’s the city in which it was founded. Today, the nonprofit represents more than 500 colleges and universities committed to Hispanic higher education success in the U.S., Puerto Rico, Latin America and Europe.
The new headquarters is being built by Marmon Mok Architecture and Miro Rivera Architects. Marmon Mok is no stranger to San Antonio projects, which include University Health’s new Women’s and Children’s Hospital and UT Health San Antonio’s Center for Oral Health Care and Research, and other sites like the Veterans Memorial Plaza at The Tobin Center and the Bexar County Public Works Administration Building.
At the ceremony celebrating the groundbreaking, officials said the building design will reflect trends in Latin regions of the world by thoughtfully integrating artwork by prominent artists to promote Hispanic culture and through Spanish style landscaping.
The building will be two stories high and will feature multi-departmental spaces, collaborative workspaces and teaching environments. Around the building, a walking trail will be open to employees and the community.
Eight new and existing programs, which HACU will call “institutes” will be based at the new headquarters. HACU spokeswoman Norma Jean Garcia said the organization is not ready to detail those programs just yet.
“We have to be on top of all of the needs of our younger generations and the needs of the economy in terms of workforce,” Flores said.
All 15 San Antonio colleges are members of the HACU, including the Alamo Colleges District, Hallmark University, Northwest Vista College, Our Lady of the Lake University, Palo Alto College, San Antonio College, St. Mary’s University, St. Philip’s College, Texas A&M University-San Antonio, Texas Lutheran University, Texas State University, UTSA, the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, Trinity University and the University of the Incarnate Word.
