Marietta (May 31, 2001) ---- The Atlanta-based Goizueta Foundation has made possible a dramatic expansion of educational opportunities for students at Southern Polytechnic State University with a $750,000 grant to the university. The grant will increase Spanish language education for all students, and establish and endow the Goizueta Foundation Scholars Fund for Hispanic and Latino students.

The Goizueta Foundation was established by the late Roberto C. Goizueta, CEO and chairman of the board of directors of The Coca-Cola Company. In addition to civic and community leadership, Goizueta was active in supporting opportunities for Hispanic and Latino families in the United States.

The Scholars Fund of $526,380 will create an endowment for need-based scholarship assistance annually to Hispanic and Latino students whose families currently reside in the United States, beginning in January, 2002. The remaining $223,620 will fund and staff a state-of-the-art Spanish language learning laboratory for four years.

Georgia’s Hispanic population of 475,000 is expected to increase to about one million by 2010, according to the Center for Applied Research in Anthropology at Georgia State University. The population’s growth rate throughout the ‘90s was some300 percent. While this significant growth has not yet resulted in major increases in the Hispanic student population at SPSU, the numbers have slowly but steadily increased each year since 1995. Hispanic students currently represent approximately 3 percent of the total student body.

According to President Lisa A. Rossbacher, the university is currently engaged in several activities to attract additional Hispanic students. "These include mentoring programs for Hispanic students at local high schools, and recruiting students in parts of the state with strong Hispanic populations," she said. "We are involved in a collaborative education program with Girls, Inc. to increase awareness of educational options among young Hispanic girls and their families." Southern Polytechnic is also expanding its exchange program between the school and Universidad Iberoamericana-Laguna in northern Mexico.

Providing these increased educational opportunities at Southern Polytechnic is particularly meaningful to President Rossbacher, who served as chair of the University System of Georgia Board of Regents’ Hispanic Task Force in 1999. Rossbacher said the committee’s studies documented that Latino students drop out of the educational pipeline at a relatively high rate nationally and locally, but that those enrolling in the University System were as likely to graduate as students from any other population. "This is in spite of the barriers they must overcome in academic preparation, finances, languages and residence issues, " said Rossbacher. "I’m so appreciative of The Goizueta Foundation’s support of educational opportunities for Hispanics and, also, of increasing Spanish language learning among all of our SPSU students through the new laboratory."

Equipping and staffing the Spanish Learning Laboratory will significantly increase the number of students who learn Spanish. Introductory Spanish classes are currently filled to capacity and the demand is increasing. Southern Polytechnic established a minor in Spanish in the fall of 2000 that is somewhat unique.

Courses emphasize activities and vocabulary associated with technology and business. "Having our students know Spanish prepares them to work effectively and comfortably in an increasingly global market," says Rossbacher. The Apparel and Textile Engineering Technology Department was the first on campus to require majors to enroll in Spanish classes, recognizing the increasingly important role that Spanish- speaking people and countries have in the textile industry. Other departments are following with requirements for Spanish language as part of their curriculum. The university is also increasing student participation in study-abroad programs in Spanish-speaking countries.

Dr. Rossbacher also notes the need for language skills begins right here at home. "Georgia is attracting increasing numbers of Latin-American-based companies. Collectively, Latin America represents the greatest single source in the region for international business investment in Georgia."

A chapter of Delta Pi, the national Spanish Honorary Society, is currently being established on the SPSU campus. Many students will be eligible for membership beginning Spring of 2002.

"The support of The Goizueta Foundation is a tremendous boost to Southern Polytechnic’s existing efforts and to an accelerated fulfillment of our long-term hopes for serving the Hispanic population, and for increasing the global skills and knowledge of all our students," summarized Rossbacher. "We are appreciative of the support, and we are proud to be associated with the work of this exceptional Foundation."