History

The Hispanic Scholars Program began in 1989 as an effort by the Association of Theological Schools (ATS). This effort hired Dr. Cecilio Arrastía, a Cuban-born Presbyterian preacher and theological educator, to help ATS “find ways for theological schools of the mainline Protestant denominations to respond to and to integrate the ever growing number of Hispanic Americans into mainline theological education.”

Dr. Arrastía worked across Protestant denominations as well as with Roman Catholics to explore how these groups would best assist one another. Dr. Arrastía’s work was followed by that of Dr. Justo González who, funded by the Pew Charitable Trusts, conducted a national study on Latine/Hispanic theological education which made clear that beyond financial assistance to attend seminaries, Latine/Hispanic students “also needed an educational context that took seriously into account the challenges and questions that derive from their context of ministry and religious experiences.” So in the “absence of a full-fledged Hispanic seminary or Hispanic program of ministerial education and training, it was decided to have a two-week summer program whose character would be such that it would serve as a Latino seminary for that short period of time.” And so on June 25, 1989 the first HSP session took place in Andover Newton Theological School with Dr. Justo González as the Director assisted by Dr. Benjamín Alicea, who shortly after became the program manager of the Fund for Theological Education (now the Forum for Theological Exploration).

Since that first session in 1989, the HSP has remained true to the vision that led to its creation as stated in these six principles:

1. To provide theological education for all who are committed to Latine/Hispanic community, culture and history.
2. To provide an academic context that affirms the leadership of women in education, religious institutions, and society.
3. To provide an ecumenical theological learning experience that creates an ethos that will help students discover “the joy, richness, and faithfulness to God, of doing theology and pastoral work en conjunto.”
4. To create spaces that gather Latine/Hispanic students, faculty, administrators, and clergy to different regions of the country so as to cultivate awareness of the distinct realities of Latinidad/Hispanidad.
5. To create a program that values worship and understands that worship in the HSP context is an opportunity for participants to “experience and honor each religious tradition as well as [have] an occasion to practice the values of respect, inclusiveness, and recognition of the diversity of Latine/Hispanic worship experiences.
6. To provide the “growing number of non-Latine/Hispanic students who are committed to serve the Latine/Hispanic church and community” opportunities to engage in programs of religious studies and theological education offered from Latine/Hispanic perspectives.

The HSP has continued to grow and move forward under the leadership of these directors:

• Dr. Justo González (1989-1999)
• Dr. Ismael García (1999-2002)
• Sally Gómez (Interim, 2002-2003)
• Dr. José Irizarry (2003-2006)
• Dr. Otto Maduro (2006-2012)
• Dr. Daisy L. Machado (2012-present)

The first Governing Board of the HSP – one representative from each of the institutions that had already become HSP sponsors – met at Princeton Theological Seminary during the summer of 1995. From then on, nearly 40 other university departments of theology, seminaries, divinity and theological schools, Protestant, Catholic, Evangelical, Pentecostal, and Inter-religious have joined the roster of HSP sponsors.

Thus, since 1989, over 2,000 students have studied at the HSP with over 100 Latine/Hispanic faculty, and many have gone on to join the faculty and administrators of many institutions across the Americas, to become ministers in a variety of religious institutions throughout the continental U.S. and Puerto Rico; and/or become organizers, activists, political leaders in their communities.

Since 2017, the HSP—under the leadership of Dr. Daisy L. Machado—has been awarded a series of grants (including from the Forum for Theological Exploration and the Lilly Endowment) to establish new programming and infrastructure that builds upon the historic vision and mission of the organization. With these new funds, the HSP has been able to meet the challenges of an ever-evolving Latine/Hispanic community—one that is more religiously and linguistically diverse—while ensuring we continue the work we were entrusted to do by our founders: to shape the next generation of theological and academic leaders and tangibly pour into our Latine/Hispanic community. 

In 2024—during its 35th Anniversary Celebration—the HSP announced a name change. Reflecting the ways the organization grew from a two-week summer program to a thriving non-profit with year-round programming, the organization rebranded as the “Hispanic Scholars Program.” This name speaks to the scholarly tradition that grounds all that the HSP does: a tradition that begins by examining the “signs of the times” and the systems affecting the quotidian realities of our people, moves into discernment by engaging historical, theological, sociological, and economic analysis, and returns to the community to create new systems that promote the flourishing of all living beings including the earth. 

Truly, our history is just beginning.