With the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act on the horizon, FIU made the case for greater focus on urban public institutions and promoted its agricultural research on the same week the university was honored for its success with the Hispanic community.
FIU receives CHLI’s Maestro award
Riding the momentum of a week of commencement exercises, where thousands of Panthers graduated, FIU leaders and alumni visited Washington D.C. for the Congressional Hispanic Leadership Institute’s (CHLI) 11th Annual Gala and Leadership Awards ceremony on Wednesday, May 13.
More than 40 Panther alumni from all over the country were in attendance at the Mandarin Oriental to watch FIU’s Provost Kenneth Furton and Alex Acosta, dean of the College of Law, accept CHLI’s Maestro award for the university’s commitment to Latino youth. The recognition began with a video from President Mark B. Rosenberg who spoke of FIU at 50 and his gratitude for receiving such a high honor from CHLI.
“FIU is forming the leaders of tomorrow,” said CHLI Chairman and former Congressman Lincoln Diaz-Balart.
Additional honorees at the evening’s gala included Alvaro Uribe Velez, former Colombian President and former Governor Jeb Bush who were awarded the International and Public Service awards respectively. In his taped remarks, Rosenberg said both honorees have played a role in FIU’s success and global reach – Governor Bush in authorizing our Colleges of Law and Medicine and President Uribe recognizing our work in justice reform in his country.
For more photos of the evening, click here.
Launching a new partnership to increase D.C. internships
Moments before the start of the awards gala, FIU announced its new partnership with CHLI, which will expand the number of internships, alumni mentors, programming and services for both CHLI interns and FIU students from the Honors College.
Chairman Diaz- Balart, Provost Furton and Dean Acosta shared their excitement about the relationship that dates back several years, including CHLI’s leadership in helping create 20 annual scholarships for aspiring first-generation law students at FIU. At the event, FIU and CHLI alumni also shared how the partnership has impacted their life.
“Partnerships like the one created here today allow for FIU to be one of the leading urban Hispanic serving public research institutions,”said Furton.
Leading the charge on urban, public education investments
While in D.C., Furton and Michelle Palacio, vice president of Governmental Relations, met with education staffers from the Senate Health Education Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee to advocate for critical measures during this years consideration of the Higher Education Act. One important priority is protecting Pell grants and reinstating a second Pell grant for use during the summer. At FIU, more than 50 percent of the undergraduate population receives Pell grants and lost more than $10 million when the second Pell grant was eliminated.
Protecting South Florida’s agro-industry with drones and dogs
Furton also met with the director of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) – National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) Sonny Ramaswamy about the work FIU is doing with drones and dogs, used to detect and locate infected trees. Alumnus Fred Pfaeffle, Henry Artigues from the Office of Research and Economic Development Deputy Assistant Secretary also joined.
Congressman Curbelo, alumni take lead on transportation, sea level rise research
This week, Congressman Carlos Curbelo took bold steps in support of two FIU research priorities. Curbelo co-sponsored a congressional letter of support for the country’s University Transportation Centers (UTC) alongside Congressman Dan Lipinski of Chicago. The letter had the signatories of 68 other congressional officials from both sides of the aisle. View the news release and the letter of support.
On Thursday, May 14, Telemundo interviewed Carlos Duart, FIU alumnus and member of the Dean’s Advisory Council for the College of Engineering and Computer Science, on the need for more investments in UTCs.
Congressman Curbelo also made news for his strong statement on the issue of climate change. The Congressman acknowledged the threat that rising sea levels poses on south Florida saying, “I have concerns about the ecological impact that climate change has on our planet, especially as it relates to rising sea-levels.”
Both Transportation and Sea Level Rise are two of FIU’s federal priorities this year.
Coming to D.C. for a summer internship?
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Welcoming new student leadership in Washington D.C.
This was also the first week of service for the new FIU in D.C. Student Intern Chris Cummins and D.C. Summer Internship Experience Coordinator Bianca Ordoñez.
Want to learn more?
Interested in FIU’s growing role in D.C. or want to see what the office is involved with this summer, stay connected with FIU in D.C. on Facebook and Twitter.
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