Berry seeking to be ‘regional institution of choice’ for Hispanics.

Colleen Curlee, reporter

Sarah Yeakel, editor

MOUNT BERRY – The number of Hispanic students at Berry, now at 121, is exactly three times the number from five years ago (41). This is not an accident.

Berry admissions and enrollment personnel have been seeking to attract growing numbers of Hispanic students in part because of the growth of this demographic in the state, according to Noemi Sarrion, admissions counselor and multicultural recruitment coordinator.

(See main story on Berry student population a changing mix.)

Noemi Sarrion, admissions counselor and multicultural recruitment coordinator

“We decided that we want to position Berry as the regional institution of choice for the Hispanic population,” Sarrion said.

Hispanic population growth at Berry, last five years.

Berry hopes to bring in another 60 Hispanic students this fall, according to Brett Kennedy, assistant vice president for enrollment management. With these numeric targets, the college is trying to stay ahead of the curve in terms of state-wide demographics, he said.

“It’s definitely a multi-year goal that we will be working on,” Kennedy said.

Hispanics represent the demographic with the most growth in the Southeast, according to Andy Bressette, associate provost. Exciting to him is the fact that “many of these people are first generation college students. That’s a population we really think are well suited to serve Martha Berry’s historic mission to find students who may not have had a lot of opportunities.”

Because so many are first-generation college students, Sarrion said the College has to work harder in outreach and in providing information to parents, including information in Spanish.

The College has also made sure that its website can render in Spanish.

“So part of [this effort] is looking internally,” Bressette said.