Early Bird

Mary Sauceda to lead statewide advocacy group

AVP of Enrollment Management takes the helm as president-elect for Latinx higher-ed leadership organization CoCEAL.

By Cory Phare

July 8, 2020

In addition to associate vice president of Enrollment Management at Metropolitan State University of Denver, Mary Sauceda is taking on the title of president-elect of the Colorado Coalition for the Educational Advancement of Latinxs (CoCEAL).

From 2018-20, she served as CoCEAL treasurer and helped the group achieve financial independence by attaining federal nonprofit (501c3) status; her president-elect role officially began July 1.

“CoCEAL is the state’s premier higher-education organization for the Latinx community,” Sauceda said. “As we are a Hispanic-Serving Institution, it’s particularly meaningful to have leadership from MSU Denver.”

The organization grew out of a larger statewide Latinx group of college and university professionals in 2008 and has a mission to “influence, challenge and lead higher-education systems that advance equitable Latinx student access, success and graduation in Colorado,” according to its website.

MSU Denver President Emeritus Stephen Jordan, Ph.D., and retired Deputy Provost of Academic and Student Affairs Luis Torres, Ph.D., were among the founding members of CoCEAL.

Sauceda is a three-time alumna of HSIs and is doing her doctoral dissertation on the federal HSI designation.

“It’s a special honor to lead this key organization for the Latinx higher-education community,” she said.