UNIVERSITY NEWS
Abriendo Puertas (Opening Doors)
New Admissions Director Explores Latino Outreach
BY MEGAN KNOX '24
When Dave Garcia joined FSU as the interim director of admissions earlier this year, he instantly had big plans. In just five months, Garcia is now the associate vice president of Admissions and has made a significant stride towards exploring new markets. Garcia is committed to growing the University’s Latino student population and fostering a deeper sense of belonging for Hispanic and Latino families on campus.
With a vision and a personal connection to the communities he is engaging, Garcia is working to make FSU a destination university for Latino students across Maryland and beyond. He knows that recruiting Latino students requires a different approach. It’s not just about convincing the student; it’s about engaging with the entire family.
“We reach out to (Latino communities) to invite them on campus, provide that sense of belonging once they’re here because the Latino-Hispanic culture is more than recruiting the student. You are recruiting the family,” Garcia explained. “The family really needs to feel that they can trust you and have a person to go to here on campus. I am that point person for those families.”
Garcia’s role at FSU has already exceeded traditional recruitment. He serves as a connection and translator of both language and college experience. He is also a representative of what Latino students can aspire and hope at FSU.
According to Garcia, the Latino student population is a significant and largely unexplored market for Frostburg.
“It is a very untapped market,” he said. “But I truly believe that once we develop a faculty and staff network here on campus that provides that support for these students and even enhance that belonging for these students, so when they get here they feel like we were expecting them and we’re here to support them through all the challenges that they will encounter while here at Frostburg State.”
FSU is targeting regions with large Latino populations in Maryland such as Hagerstown (Washington County), Baltimore (Baltimore County) and the surrounding metro area. Garcia emphasizes that the University’s marketing strategy is to make small adjustments to resonate with the community.
“We make sure that we spend some of our marketing dollars on advertisements, radio and TV ads, just to get them to think about coming here. Some of the themes we use to try to attract them to our campus is that we’re in a safe community. Affordability is another thing that really piques their interest because they care about cost.”
While FSU’s website currently offers some content in Spanish through translation tools, Garcia notes that there’s still a long way to go in terms of accessibility.
“In my experience recruiting Hispanic-Latino students, materials having Spanish is nice, but when they get here on campus, they would rather hear (Spanish). And so, I speak some Spanish, and I can answer some of their questions,” Garcia said.
Although Spanish-speaking campus tours are yet to be available in Spanish, Garcia sees the value in expanding access to Latino staff, especially in administration departments like Financial Aid and Admissions.
“It’s been my experience that the Hispanic-Latino students who are coming to Frostburg they’re first-generation, so the parents don’t know a whole lot about the college process.” he said. “They maybe understand some English, but if you can communicate with them in Spanish, or their native tongue, that can go a long way.”
Garcia includes that while high school graduation rates are expected to decline starting in 2026, the Hispanic-Latino population is the one demographic that is growing.
“It would help us to maintain our freshman class, if not, grow.”
While Admissions is taking steps in the right direction, Garcia believes there is still room for growth.
For all under-represented communities, he hopes for the future of Frostburg State includes not just more Latino students, but a campus culture that celebrates and embraces their presence of all cultures.
Garcia has encouraged for those who would like to know more about this outreach to the Hispanic-Latino population to contact the Center for Academic Advising and Retention (CAAR), the Multicultural Center and the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. Those offices are they key partners in building a campus that supports Latino students.
“If their son or daughter are having a great experience here at Frostburg, when they go back home, they will tell all their families,” Garcia said. “And so, I feel optimistic that once we get this going in the right direction, our enrollment numbers for next year will grow.”