Hispanics are not a current trend. They have been here for centuries and embody an integral part of the United States and higher education.
Every racial term—including Hispanic, Latino/a, and more recently Latinx and Latine—is imperfect and problematic. There is no consensus about what works best. Despite this reality, the lives and stories of non-White faculty are essential to the future of Christian higher education.
Each author shares their account of working in a predominately White Christian institution. Filled with triumphs, struggles, and penetrating insights, the chapters explain what it is like to experience the shifting demographics of today’s universities, which are bringing increasing numbers of Hispanic students even as the overall number of Hispanic colleagues remains exceedingly small. This book will be especially useful for leaders who may be unaware of how difficult it is to navigate the challenges of Christian higher education as Hispanic faculty.
Benjamin D. Espinoza serves as Vice President of Northeastern Seminary at Roberts Wesleyan University. Espinoza graduated from Cedarville University, Asbury Theological Seminary, and Michigan State University, where he earned his PhD in Higher, Adult, and Lifelong Education. He is the editor of Theology and the Star Wars Universe and lead editor of Story, Formation, and Culture. Ben has written numerous articles in the areas of Christian formation and ministry, race and diversity, theological education, and leadership.
Octavio J. Esqueda is Professor of Christian Higher Education and Director of the PhD and EdD Programs in Educational Studies at Talbot School of Theology at Biola University. He graduated from the University of Guadalajara, Dallas Theological Seminary, and the University of North Texas, where he earned a PhD in Higher Education. The author of several journal articles on theological education, Christian higher education, and literature, Esqueda has coauthored Anointed Teaching and The Cruciform Faculty. More info can be found at octavioesqueda.com.
Octavio Javier Esqueda is a full professor of Christian higher education and director of the PhD and EdD programs in educational studies at the Talbot School of Theology at Biola University. He graduated from the University of Guadalajara, Dallas Theological Seminary, and the University of North Texas, where he earned a PhD in higher education. Dr. Esqueda has several publications on theological education, Christian higher education, and literature, including the coauthored books Anointed Teaching: Partnership with the Holy Spirit and The Cruciform Faculty: The Making of a Christian Professor. He is an academic leader and practical theologian with worldwide experience and is an avid soccer fan.
Benjamin Dallas Espinoza serves as vice president of Northeastern Seminary at Roberts Wesleyan University in Rochester, New York. He previously served as special advisor to the president for diversity and belonging, associate vice president of adult and online education, and executive director of seminary administration. He is a graduate of Cedarville University, Asbury Theological Seminary, and Michigan State University, where he earned his PhD in higher, adult, and lifelong education. He is the editor of Theology and the Star Wars Universe and lead editor of Story, Formation, and Culture: From Theory to Practice in Ministry with Children. Ben has written numerous articles in the areas of Christian formation and ministry, race and diversity, theological education, and leadership.
Leticia I. Espinoza is originally from México. She arrived in Grand Rapids to finish her engineering degree in 1998; instead, she graduated from Calvin College with a major in business/communications and a minor in English. Later she received her doctorate in Hispanic works of literature from Western Michigan University. At Cornerstone University, she teaches language and literature.
Michael Jimenez earned his PhD from Fuller Theological Seminary and is an associate professor of history at Vanguard University. He is the author of Remembering Lived Lives: A Historiography from the Underside of Modernity and Karl Barth and the Study of the Religious Enlightenment: Encountering the Task of History. He is currently researching the influence of Cesar Chavez’s nonviolent activism and the recent history of Costa Rica.
Itzel Meduri Soto is a daughter of Mexican immigrants, born and raised in Los Angeles, California. She is a graduate of Los Angeles Harbor College; California State University, Dominguez Hills; and the University of California, Irvine. She is currently an associate professor of Spanish at Biola University, where she teaches second language and heritage language learners. Her writings cover a wide range of subjects, including bilingualism, racial identity, immigration, and mothering.
A son of Puerto Rico and the US South, Nathan Luis Cartagena was born in Charleston, South Carolina, and raised in Somerset, New Jersey. He is an Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Wheaton College (IL), where he teaches courses on race, justice, and political philosophy. He is a fellow in The Wheaton Center for Early Christian Studies and is an affiliate faculty member in the Latin American and Latino/a studies program.
Verónica A. Gutiérrez is a historian specializing in the origins of Mexican Catholicism, is the director of the Great Books program en español for the Angelicum Academy, a Catholic homeschooling program renowned for its online Socratic discussions, as well as a History Faculty Fellow for Hildegard College. A trained writer, award-winning scholar, and sought after speaker, she has provided keynotes in the United States and México; co-led a faculty development tour through México; given a TEDx talk about Cholula, Puebla, México; and published in English and Spanish. Her scholarship and teaching challenge the myths pervading native peoples of the Americas. She is writing a children’s chapter book for Ignatius Press about sixteenth-century native visionary Juan Diego, relating this wellknown story from an Indigenous perspective, thereby introducing readers to the beauties of Nahua culture and the Nahuatl (Aztec) language.
Damon A. Horton is the program director of intercultural studies and an assistant professor at California Baptist University. He received his PhD in applied theology from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, emphasizing North American missions. His dissertation was titled The Qualitative and Quantitative Measuring of Spiritual Capital among Latinas/os in Higher Education. He is currently coediting two academic works intersecting Christianity and justice, and his research interests include the Community Cultural Wealth model, Latin American missiology, and urban apologetics. He has been married to Elicia for twenty years, and they have three children. He and Elicia serve on staff at the Grove Community Church.
Pete C. Menjares is an author and higher education professional with three decades of experience. Dr. Menjares is a two-time university president, a provost and senior vice president, a professor, and a trustee. Dr. Menjares most recently served as the interim president and member of the Board of Seattle Pacific University (Seattle, WA). Prior to this assignment, Dr. Menjares served as provost and senior vice president for academic affairs at Vanguard University (Costa Mesa, CA), the eleventh president of Fresno Pacific University (Fresno, CA), and a professor and administrator at Biola University (La Mirada, CA), where he held the positions of associate professor of education, education department chair, associate provost for diversity leadership, and vice provost for faculty development and academic effectiveness. He is a Senior Fellow for Diversity with the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities (Washington, DC).
Introduction | The Importance of Our Voices in the Academy | Octavio J. Esqueda
Chapter 1 | Teaching as a Calling: Thriving and Surviving as a Mexican (and American) Professor | Octavio J. Esqueda
Chapter 2 | My Experience as a Non-White, Latina Single Mother in the Academy | Leticia I. Espinoza
Chapter 3 | Literature as Absolute Necessity | Michael Jimenez
Chapter 4 | Building Communidad: Succeeding in Academia as a First-Generation Latina Professor | Itzel Meduri Soto
Chapter 5 | Searching for Health: A Latino's Academic Journey | Nathan L. Cartagena
Chapter 6 | Undercover Mexicana: From Heritage Denier to Bilingual Profesora | Veronica A. Gutierrez
Chapter 7 | Igaulmente: Similar Struggle, Shared Success | Damon A. Horton
Chapter 8 | A Difficult Journey: From First-Generation Student to Two-Time President and Trustee | Pete C. Menjares
Conclusion | Our Stories Matter| Benjamin D. Espinoza
Contributors
“If you read one book this year, make it this one. Christian higher education is only excellent when the faculty who serve students looks like the students Christian universities are committed to admitting and graduating. Presidents, provosts, deans, and college trustees will find The Hispanic Faculty Experience a treasure. Read it today.”
—Shirley V. Hoogstra, president, Council for Christian Colleges & Universities
“Here is an essential work for all those ministering in Christian higher education to hear the voices of Hispanic professors in shaping our shared future.”
—Robert W. Pazmiño, Valeria Stone Professor of Christian Education, emeritus, Andover Newton Seminary at Yale Divinity School
“This anthology brings a seasoned, informed, and thoughtful group of Latina/o scholars and educators to share eloquently about their joys and pains, their struggles and achievements, and their sacrifices and victories in following a personal and Christian vocation in predominantly white schools within the orbit of Christian colleges and universities.”
—Luis R. Rivera-Rodríguez, vice president, Hispanic Association for Theological Education
“Mirroring the diversity of Latine in the United States, this collection of stories allows all readers to truly understand their Hispanic colleagues’ doubts, frustrations, commitments, and dreams. A must-read for senior administrators seeking to increase the number of students, faculty, and staff among their ranks.”
—Alvin Padilla, professor of New Testament; dean, Latino and Global Ministries at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary
“Latine people as well as non-Latine people will gather wisdom, grace, and love from the offering of the gifts of these lives. Read only if you are ready.”
—Elizabeth Conde-Frazier, director, Association for Hispanic Theological Education
“It is incumbent upon White culture to remember Hispanics not as a current trend in new enrollments but as a population overlooked and underserved for decades. The authors challenge us to mentor the next generation of young faculty, especially those from minority backgrounds, toward success, an opportunity too important to ignore.”
—James R. Moore, director of accreditation, Association of Theological Schools
“This book is the first to focus exclusively on the Hispanic faculty experience. I trust these voices to shepherd Christian colleges and universities into the increasingly diverse and hopeful future that God has in store.”
—Robert Chao Romero, author of Brown Church: Five Centuries of Latina/o Social Justice, Theology, and Identity
“Drs. Esqueda and Espinoza provide faculty and administrators with a clearer understanding of the Hispanic leaders’ narrative and how that narrative is to be heard in the border context.”
—Mark Maddix, dean, School of Theology and Christian Ministry, Point Loma Nazarene University
“Timely. Necessary. Affirming. Through the powerful use of stories, each essay in this volume creates a window to the various and often overlooked experiences of Latina/o faculty in Christian higher education. The Hispanic Faculty Experience is a critical resource for understanding the Latina/o faculty experience in the United States.”
—Norlan Hernández, director, Jesse Miranda Center, Vanguard University
“The Hispanic Faculty Experience is full of tears, frustrations, joys, and sincere moments of vocational questioning. All authors are valientes (courageous) and an example of a faithful testimonio (testimony) that the Holy Spirit sustains in each step of the journey.”
—Oscar Merlo, director, Center for the Study of the Work and Ministry of the Holy Spirit Today, Biola University
“This book is especially valuable to executive leadership in education, who are invested and committed to diversity, inclusion, and equity and are making them an integral component of their educational culture. The educational life journeys of the scholar’s stories represented in The Hispanic Faculty Experience will help the reader see many blind spots in our educational systems and in cultural understandings.”
—Joanne Rodríguez, executive director, Hispanic Theological Initiative
