Arizona State University joins over a dozen corporate and non-profit organizations in sponsoring the 2017 National Council of La Raza annual conference to be held in the Phoenix Convention Center July 8 – 11.

ASU is sending 25 students to the “Lideres Summit” and will co-sponsor with the Si Se Puede Foundation a K - 12 robotics exhibition that will be on display during the conference’s three-day National Latino Family Expo, which is free and open to the public.

As a top national producer of Latino graduates and number one in the Pac-12 conference, ASU has focused intently on the state of Latino education.  Educating Latinos, the fastest growing ethnic group in the U.S., is an economic imperative for Arizona and the nation.

ASU’s conference highlight will be the formal announcement of its establishment of the Raul Yzaguirre Chair in the School of Politics and Global Studies within the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.  Academic chairs signify one of the highest honors given to a faculty member and are appointed to conduct designated scholarly work.

Yzaguirre, former president of NCLR, served as a Presidential Professor of Practice at ASU before being nominated by the White House in 2009 to serve as U.S. ambassador to the Dominican Republic.  Widely respected as a veteran civil rights activist for the Hispanic community, Yzaguirre implemented a number of outreach initiatives at ASU including the American Dream Academy, a program that provides low-income families with the knowledge and tools to make college education a reality.

Dr. Rodney Hero will be the first to serve in the Yzaguirre chair.  Hero is the former president of the American Political Science Association and a leader in the field of racial and ethnic diversity in U.S. politics.  The Yzaguirre chair will be announced during the conference’s opening evening reception on Saturday, July 8, in the Sheraton Grand Phoenix Hotel.