Des Moines Register, IA 07-05-07 Colleges try new tactics to attract Hispanics By LISA ROSSI REGISTER AMES BUREAU Several colleges and universities in Iowa are poised to add Spanish-language pages to their university Web sites and some are buying Spanish-language radio ads - clear signs that higher-education officials in Iowa are increasing their efforts to recruit Hispanic students. The University of Iowa, University of Northern Iowa and Des Moines Area Community College are developing ways to make information on their Web sites available in Spanish. Iowa State University officials also said they foresee the addition of a Spanish section to the school's Web site. Grinnell College leaders said there's an "ongoing conversation" about adding Spanish to its site. That's only part of the effort among Iowa colleges to reach out to the fastestgrowing racial group in Iowa's public schools. From 1985 to 2005-06, the number of Hispanic students enrolled in Iowa's public schools rose from 4,069 to 28,145 - a nearly 600 percent increase. The number of white students decreased by 9.5 percent in that same time period. The number of these students attending Iowa's universities in the past 20 years has grown more slowly. Hispanic enrollment at the three state universities has more than doubled from 634 Hispanic students in the fall of 1985 to 1,582 students in the fall of 2006. But not every school in Iowa says it will use Spanish to market itself - and not every Iowan agrees that colleges should be promoting themselves in a language other than English. DMACC, U of I lead way in state Des Moines Area Community College and the University of Iowa are among the leaders in the state in using Spanish to reach potential students. DMACC plans to air its first Spanish radio ads this summer on a Spanishlanguage radio station. The ads are part of a $10,000 campaign to reach out to Hispanics. "We would be very willing to market in any language if there are individuals we can attract," said Rob Denson, DMACC's president. "We're going to have a tremendous work force shortage worldwide. It's very important we reach out to every individual who can or wants to work." At the University of Iowa, a committee is examining how to put admission, financial aid and housing information in a Spanish section on its Web site, school officials said. At the University of Northern Iowa, officials expect that by the end of the fall semester, the portion of the school's Web site directed toward prospective students would have a clickable option for a Spanish version of the site, said Phil Patton, the university's registrar and interim director of admissions. The university is also looking at offering information in more languages on its international admissions site, he said. "Here you may be specially targeting parents who may not be as fluent as their son or daughters, and parents are a vital part of helping sons or daughters in the college entrance experience," Patton said. UNI recruiters will also start visiting schools that have a growing number of Hispanic students, such as Marshalltown High School, he said. "It's a growing population that has not been served," Patton said. Iowa schools aren't the only ones reaching out to Hispanic students. Michigan State University and Arizona State University, among others, offer information in Spanish on their Web sites. Mixed views among Iowans, immigrants The move to boost Spanish-language recruitment of potential Hispanic students and their families is met with opposition from people concerned about access to education and illegal immigration. "You have to have a working knowledge of English," said Ron Harness, 50, from Ottumwa, who said immigrants who enter the country illegally "don't assimilate." "They are not going to learn English," he said. "They are going to suck our school systems dry trying to run English as a Second Language (programs)." Immigrants in the country illegally can currently enroll at Iowa's universities and community colleges, but they are not eligible for federal financial aid. Some people who recently immigrated to Iowa from Mexico are also mixed in their support for Spanish-language recruiting. Hector Barrera, 23, came to the United States four years ago to be with his parents. He's taking English-language classes at DMACC's Success Center, a building on Des Moines' south side where students learn English, prepare for the General Education Development test or take college-credit classes. Barrera said he has mixed feelings about colleges offering recruiting materials in Spanish. "I think it's a good idea, but if you're here, you should learn the language," he said through a translator. Barrera, who works at a flooring store, said in America he "listens and listens, and gets away from the fear of speaking English." Tina Contreras, 30, of Des Moines is a mother of two who said she would be better able to reach her goal of obtaining an interior design degree if colleges offered more information in Spanish. She moved to the United States six years ago and is studying to get her GED (in Spanish) and is also taking English classes, she said through a translator. Mario Palomino, 22, also supports recruiting in Spanish. Palomino came to the United States from Mexico in February with the goal of learning English and getting a master's degree in communication. Education, he said, is a pathway for him to "see different problems" in the world and help people. One school plans to stick with English It is not historically unheard of for businesses to write ads in languages other than English. Donna Gabaccia, a professor of immigration history at the University of Minnesota, said as soon as advertising began in the 1890s, U.S. businesses started printing ads in foreign-language newspapers. Business sought to make emotional bonds with immigrants - most of whom are bilingual after five or six years in the country - by printing their native language, she said. "When American businesses choose to market in the native tongue, it's to send the emotional message that 'You're important to us,' " she said. Marketing in Spanish is unusual for universities, Gabaccia said. That's because universities only started to use the marketing techniques that the corporate world adopted in the 1980s, she said. But not every college in Iowa is looking to incorporate Spanish into its student recruitment. Officials at Drake University, one of Iowa's largest private colleges, said they are not pursuing a Spanish-language option for their recruitment materials and do not employ recruitment staff that are fluent in Spanish. "Everything we have does go out in English exclusively," said Laura Linn, director of admission at Drake. "I hate to say we would never consider those sorts of things, because once a student arrives here, they need to have such a pretty solid understanding of the English language. We would want them in the process to do that as well."