Sampson Community College received the first Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) designation in North Carolina in 2020. Since then, the college has expanded its offerings for its Hispanic/Latinx students due to the funding and legitimization that comes with the designation.

In order to receive the HSI designation, a college must have at least 25% full-time enrollment of Hispanic students, according to the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities. In the 2023-4 academic year, 27% of Sampson Community College’s total headcount was Hispanic.

The Hispanic/Latinx population in Sampson County has grown significantly over the past 30 years. In 1990, there were only 727 Hispanic/Latinx residents in the county, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. By 2020, that population had grown to 12,249 Hispanic/Latinx residents out of 59,036 total residents in Sampson County.

Anticipating this growth, the college began a concerted effort to better serve the Hispanic/Latinx community in 2002, according to the Viking Voice. They hired bilingual staff and faculty, as well as people with Hispanic/Latinx heritage to help build a culturally knowledgeable and inclusive campus. This forward thinking helped the college prepare to meet the needs of these students and their evolving culture on campus.

Dr. Bill Starling, president of Sampson Community College, describes the historical context of the demographic growth like this:

“If you will, let’s travel back to 1960 in Sampson County. Overwhelmingly, the economy was tobacco. We had textiles, we had furniture. They actually had a few fairly large manufacturing facilities… In the mid 1960s, integration occurred. There was a significant change in our school systems, in our society. Small towns were still vibrant. Then the textile plants closed, and then the furniture manufacturing plants closed.

Sampson County went through a significant period of economic decline, and then we had the beginning of the swine industry. …The industry grew, grew, and grew, and it needed workers, and so you began to see the first influx of the Hispanic community moving into the county as the industry grew. The Hispanic population grew, and finally, what happened is all the migratory workers, a lot of them stayed, and they stayed to work in the animal industry. So today, those numbers that we express to you are really a continuum of the economic history of our service area.”

Dr. Bill Starling, president of Sampson Community College

Seeing differences as strengths

Sampson Community College serves its Hispanic/Latinx students in many ways, including through the Juntos program and the Dominion Energy Promesa Scholarship.

The Juntos program, which has existed in Sampson County for the last 12 years, has created a supportive environment for their Hispanic/Latinx students to excel. Originally started at North Carolina State University in 2007, the goal of the program is to provide eighth through twelfth grade Hispanic/Latinx students and their families with the information, opportunities, and resources they need to ensure they graduate from high school. The program also includes planning for postsecondary attainment and other post-high school plans.

“Juntos means together,” said Genevieve Merlos-Pulley, a Juntos program coordinator. “We’re all in it together.”

Merlos-Pulley oversees the Juntos program at Sampson Early College High School. For her, the mission is personal.

“I consider the students in our Juntos program to be part of mi familia, my family. What many don’t realize is that I was just like them when I was kid, living in between two cultures, two different worlds and everything that comes with it. Many times still, I feel different, and I wonder where my place is. It is them who remind me that it is our differences that are our strengths.” 

Genevieve Merlos-Pulley, Juntos program coordinator at Sampson Early College High School

Merlos-Pulley is committed to meeting students where they are and making sure they know the paths available to them after graduation, in addition to encouraging and supporting them while they are in high school. For some of her students, taking a gap year after high school is a popular choice due to the need to go straight to work.

“It’s a very real thing. Some of these kids do have to go to work and can’t go to school right away. They can’t do it. I mean, sometimes that’s a reality, and they do have to have that gap year. Well, how do we create a place where you can come back and still do what you got to do, you know?” she said. 

A Sampson Community College graduate herself, it’s Merlos-Pulley’s mission to make sure students feel a sense of belonging on campus and are equipped with the tools they need to succeed. 

The Juntos program is popular among students with 60+ students in the program currently. Merlos-Pulley has actually had to stop recruiting students because they are pretty much at capacity.

For the past few years, Merlos-Pulley has hosted a culture fest for Juntos students and families where participants can share food and other aspects of their culture. This year, she said the participants just about doubled.

“People think you’re just from Mexico, like everybody’s saying, ‘No, you know, there’s different places than Mexico, right?’” she said. “You learn about all these traditions. …It’s such a time for everybody to learn.”

Another offering that Sampson Community College has for its Hispanic/Latinx students is the Promesa Scholarship. The scholarship was made possible by Dominion Energy and is for students of Hispanic/Latinx heritage. A Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) completion is not required. Students must complete at least 12 credit hours each semester and maintain a cumulative GPA of 2.5 or higher. You can read more about the Promesa Scholarship here.

Back to school as an adult learner

Sampson Community College is also working on how it can better serve its adult learners, many of whom are Hispanic/Latinx. In 2023-2024, 53% of students at Sampson Community College were above the age of 25, according to the North Carolina Community College System.

Maria Contreras, born and raised in Sampson County, is one of those adult learners. Contreras is a single mother of four and is working to get her associate degree in nursing at Sampson Community College.

Contreras worked at a pharmacy for two decades but was let go due to financial constraints that the business was experiencing from the pandemic. She knew she needed to start over but wasn’t immediately sure which direction to take. After reflection, she realized that she enjoyed the health care field where she could see herself having a successful career.

“I always liked the medical field. I started doing pharmacy, because that’s kind of how it happened, becoming a young mom and having to go straight into the workforce… I’m just a people’s person, and I just have this passion to serve others, that’s where my reward comes from.”

Maria Contreras

Sampson Community College offers a variety of options for adults interested in going back to school. Students like Contreras can enroll in degree programs, some of which have distance learning options to allow for schedule flexibility.

For adults who want to finish high school, they offer the Adult High School Diploma program and the High School Equivalency Diploma program. They also offer workforce development and continuing education courses that allow students to train and retrain for employment opportunities, both locally and across the state.