Sonia Sotomayor staff recommended her to him, they said "Have we got a judge for you!" Moynihan identified with her socio-economic and academic background and became convinced she would become the first Hispanic Supreme Court justice. D'Amato became an enthusiastic backer of Sotomayor, who was seen as politically centrist at the time. Of the impending drop in salary from private practice, Sotomayor said: "I've never wanted to get adjusted to my income because I knew I wanted to go back to public service. And in comparison to what my mother earns and how I was raised, it's not modest at all." Sotomayor
Hispanic-serving institution Hispanic-serving institution A Hispanic-Serving Institution, or HSI, is defined in federal law (the Higher Education Opportunity Act, Title V, 2008) as an accredited, degree-granting, public or private nonprofit institution of higher education with 25% or more total undergraduate Hispanic full-time equivalent (FTE) student enrollment. The federal definition can be found here. In the 2016-17 academic year, 492 institutions met the federal enrollment criterion. According to Title III of the Higher Education Act of 1965, in order for an HSI to receive federal funding it must satisfy the following criteria: The Department of Education offers grants to institutions defined as HSIs