Spring Break
UA campus celebrates Hispanic Heritage Month
Taniah Tudor
Issue date: 9/15/08 Section: Life & Style
National Hispanic Heritage Month begins today and events celebrating Latino culture are scheduled for students and nonstudents alike.
The celebration coincides with the commemoration of Independence Day in many Latin American countries. It was first authorized in 1968, when the U.S. Congress adopted a resolution which calls "on the people of the United States, especially the educational community, to observe National Hispanic Heritage Month with appropriate ceremonies and activities," according to the Encyclopedia Britannica online edition.
This year is the 20th anniversary of the holiday being extended for an entire month by former president Ronald Reagan, according to the UA Multicultural Center Web site.
Veronikha Salazar is the associate director for the Multicultural Center and chair of the Hispanic Heritage Month Committee, which plans the events for HHM.
The committee is made up of faculty, staff and students from the UA, and members of the community from outside of the university. This year the HHMC asked donors for the event to join the committee, and it has been meeting since May, Salazar said.
The theme this year for HHM is "Getting involved: Our families, Our community, Our nation," and Salazar said this influenced the committee to target the whole community when it began planning the events.
The members discussed what non-Hispanics would want to learn about Latino culture, and what Hispanics wanted to teach, Salazar said.
"Not everyone on the committee is Hispanic," she said.
Events ranging from a panel discussion entitled "Challenges of Latinos in the U.S. and in Northwest Arkansas" to a photo display by Brazilian photographer Jean Paul Nacsimiento will be available to the community, Salazar said.
The HHMC is highlighting certain events, she said, such as the panel discussion today, Campus Day for high school students on Sept. 23, a conversation on Mexican cinema with actor Damian Alcazar on Sept. 25, Friday Night Live: Latin Soul, which will be on Oct. 3 and Plaza de las Americas on Oct. 7.
The celebration coincides with the commemoration of Independence Day in many Latin American countries. It was first authorized in 1968, when the U.S. Congress adopted a resolution which calls "on the people of the United States, especially the educational community, to observe National Hispanic Heritage Month with appropriate ceremonies and activities," according to the Encyclopedia Britannica online edition.
This year is the 20th anniversary of the holiday being extended for an entire month by former president Ronald Reagan, according to the UA Multicultural Center Web site.
Veronikha Salazar is the associate director for the Multicultural Center and chair of the Hispanic Heritage Month Committee, which plans the events for HHM.
The committee is made up of faculty, staff and students from the UA, and members of the community from outside of the university. This year the HHMC asked donors for the event to join the committee, and it has been meeting since May, Salazar said.
The theme this year for HHM is "Getting involved: Our families, Our community, Our nation," and Salazar said this influenced the committee to target the whole community when it began planning the events.
The members discussed what non-Hispanics would want to learn about Latino culture, and what Hispanics wanted to teach, Salazar said.
"Not everyone on the committee is Hispanic," she said.
Events ranging from a panel discussion entitled "Challenges of Latinos in the U.S. and in Northwest Arkansas" to a photo display by Brazilian photographer Jean Paul Nacsimiento will be available to the community, Salazar said.
The HHMC is highlighting certain events, she said, such as the panel discussion today, Campus Day for high school students on Sept. 23, a conversation on Mexican cinema with actor Damian Alcazar on Sept. 25, Friday Night Live: Latin Soul, which will be on Oct. 3 and Plaza de las Americas on Oct. 7.
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Philip Alan Thompson
posted 9/15/08 @ 12:34 AM CST
How exciting--Hispanic Heritage Month... If there's sufficient time during one of the many panel discussions that will be convened during the celebration, perhaps someone can explain why, if Hispanic culture and traditions are so wonderful, then why virtually NO Hispanic nation in history has EVER provided either democracy or prosperity to its citizens? If Hispanic culture is so great, then why will literally millions of Hispanics risk their very lives in voyages of leaky boats or crossings of desert infernos--just to reach ANY nation founded by white, English-speaking, Anglo-Saxon men? If the United States is so enriched by Hispanic culture, then you'd better explain that to the law-abiding citizens of once-quiet and idyllic towns now plagued by the violent gangs that INVARIABLY accompany Hispanic immigration. (Continued…)
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