A r c h i v e d I n f o r m a t i o n

   FOR RELEASE                                Contact:  Jim Bradshaw    July 25, 1994                                      (202) 401-2310

RAMIREZ TO HEAD WHITE HOUSE HISPANIC EDUCATION INITIATIVE

Alfred R. Ramirez is leaving the Corporation for National Service to serve at the request of President Clinton as director of the White House Initiative for Hispanic Education, U.S. Secretary of Education Richard W. Riley announced today.

Ramirez and the new White House Commission on Educational Excellence for Hispanic Americans will serve as the administration's primary advocates for Hispanic educational issues.

"Alfred Ramirez has been involved in education, and public, private and non-profit organizations across the United States," Riley said. "He has first-hand experience working on the major problems facing Hispanics in education. His executive skills, grassroots experience and ability to match resources, programs and people will be crucial in finding solutions and assuring educational excellence for all Hispanics."

The White House Hispanic Initiative and Commission were created by President Clinton through an executive order signed in February. The order is the centerpiece of the president's efforts to increase educational opportunities, access and equity for Hispanics.

Government statistics report the dropout rate for Hispanics is almost triple the national rate, while Hispanics complete college at less than half the rate of non-Hispanics.

The White House Hispanic Initiative and Commission will work with Secretary Riley to advise the president on ways to:

eliminate educational inequities and disadvantages faced by Hispanic Americans;
increase Hispanic American participation in federal education programs;
eliminate unintended regulatory barriers to Hispanic American participation in federal education programs;
promote and publicize educational opportunities and programs of interest to Hispanic Americans;
recruit private sector, state and community involvement in improving Hispanic American education.

The initiative and commission also will monitor progress of Hispanic Americans toward meeting the National Education Goals, established by the new Goals 2000: Educate America Act.

A native of East Los Angeles, Ramirez attended New York's Columbia University, where he received a bachelor's degree in political science and urban studies. He later became a faculty advisor and assistant director of admissions and minority recruitment for Columbia University.

Ramirez formerly was a special assistant to former San Antonio Mayor Henry Cisneros, now U.S. secretary of housing and urban development. He also has been a human resources specialist, corporate recruiter and managing director for Inroads/Los Angeles, where he trained and developed young minority leaders. He later became president of the 2000 Regional Partnership, a non-profit coalition focusing on public safety, housing, environmental growth and government accountability.

Ramirez was chosen in 1984 as a National Urban Fellow, where he worked with senior urban administrators in city government. He also completed graduate studies in public administration at Bernard M. Baruch University in New York.

In 1989, Ramirez was one of 45 people chosen for the Kellogg National Leadership Fellowship Program, where he examined multicultural diversity, leadership and grassroots organizing.

In the summer of 1993, he was named special assistant to the president and associate director in the White House Office of Presidential Personnel, where he directed national Hispanic recruitment and placed presidential appointees in the administration. In October 1993, he was appointed to the Corporation for National Service, where he helped increase diverse representation in programs and employment.