HSI Emergingness in Kansas

With over 400 campuses emerging toward 25% enrollment of Latine students and 600 institutions already meeting the threshold, we must talk about what it means to emerge as a campus that truly serves Latine students. Emergingness is the intentionality that goes into embracing servingness, and it is happening across the U.S. In this episode we welcome Kansas to the mic to learn about HSI work going on at Wichita State University. Dra. Sara Mata, Executive Director of Hispanic Serving Initiatives at WSU, is joined by two students, Valeria Paunetto and Dimas Gonzalez, who talk about the HSI movement on their campus, an emerging HSI. They share information about their signature offering, Herencia, a summer bridge program that centers Spanish, and their Somos Shockers campaign, which is the umbrella for all their HSI initiatives. Listening to students make sense of servingness is one of the most important things HSIs and eHSIs can do while they emerge.

Sara Mata (she/ella)

Executive Director of Hispanic Serving Initiatives, Wichita State University 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sara-mata-ph-d/

Instagram: @sara.mataphd | Facebook: sara.mata

Valeria Paunetto (she/her)

Somos Shockers Coordinator, Wichita State University 

Instagram: @paunettovaleria

Dimas Gonzalez (he/him/él)

Outreach Specialist, Wichita State University 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dimas-gonzalez-bb3440303/ 

Show Notes: 

• https://www.wichita.edu/about/designations/hsi/index.php 
• https://www.al.com/sports/2015/03/what_the_heck_is_a_shocker_and.html 
• https://www.wichita.edu/about/wushock.php 

APA Citation: 

Garcia, G.A. (Host). (2025, May 18). Emergingness in Kansas (No.609) [Audio podcast episode]. In ¿Qué pasa, HSIs?. https://www.ginaanngarcia.com/podcast/