September 14, 2004
Purdue's Latino Cultural Center celebrates Hispanic Heritage Month
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Purdue University's Latino Cultural Center will honor National Hispanic Heritage Month with "Latinos Sin Fronteras" (Latins Without Borders), a series of events from Wednesday (Sept. 15) to Friday (Oct. 5) at Purdue and in the community.
"The Latino Cultural Center is a leading force in the local celebration of National Hispanic Heritage Month," said Maricela Alvarado, director of the center. "This monthlong celebration combines the efforts of the center, the university and a number of community organizations in planning and sponsoring a variety of cultural and academic events."
The celebration will begin Wednesday (Sept. 15) with an opening ceremony highlighted by a talk by President Martin C. Jischke. The festivity, which will include Latin music and dance, takes place from 5:30-9 p.m. in Purdue Memorial Union's North Ballroom.
Arturo Elias, a Purdue alumnus and president of the General Motors Mexican Division, also will speak at the ceremony. Purdue Musical Organizations and the Tango Club will perform a variety of Latin numbers.
The Black Cultural Center is sponsoring several events that include the combined Latin and African cultures.
The following events also are scheduled in honor of Hispanic Heritage Month:
• Sept. 22, 7 p.m. Stewart Center, Room 218A. Felipe Luciano, "The Magical Journey from Mambo to Hip Hop and Salsa." Luciano, a reporter, poet and activist, is founder and chairman of the Young Lords party.
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• Sept. 23-25. Stewart Center Rooms 218 A-D. African-American Studies 20th Symposium, "Meeting the Challenge of Today: Learning from the Past – Envisioning the Future." Charles Ogletree, Jesse Climenko Professor of Law at Harvard Law School, will present the keynote address at 7 p.m. on Sept. 24 in Stewart Center, Room 218. The symposium, which is free and open to the public, marks the 50th anniversary of the Brown v. Board of Education decision, 30th anniversary of Purdue's African American Studies and Research Center's establishment and 20th anniversary of the center's symposia series. A complete schedule is available online.
• Sept. 23, 7:30 p.m. Krannert Building, Room G16. Purdue Student Union Board will sponsor an event with Latin food, discussion and the movie "Intacto." Cost is $4 for Purdue students, $8 for others. More information about the movie is available online at https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0220580/plotsummary.
• Sept. 24, 6-9 p.m. Latino Cultural Center, South Campus Courts, Bldg. B, 503 Harrison St. "Maya of the Yucatan Gallery." A photography exhibit featuring Purdue staff member Becky Watson's documentation of Mayan Indian life based on her work with the Mayan Research Program and anthropologist Grace Bascope at Texas University. Donations for photo sponsorship are being accepted in advance. Proceeds will benefit the Latino Cultural Center and the Texas Christian University Yaxunah Anthropology Program. RSVP required at (765) 494-2530.
• Sept. 25, 10 a.m. Latino Cultural Center. Bilingual Book Club, a program by the Tippecanoe County Public Library, encourages reading of books in English and Spanish that emphasize Latino cultures. This segment features "The Alchemist" by Brazilian author Paulo Coelho.
• Sept. 29, 7 p.m. Beering Hall, Room 2290. In support of Voter Awareness Week, "Farmingville," a PBS documentary that reveals the underlying forces and impact of the largest influx of Mexican worked in United States history, will be shown.
• Sept. 30, 7 p.m. Krannert Building, Room G16. In collaboration with the Purdue Latino Cultural Center, the CARe: Communities Against Rape Initiative will show "Senorita Extraviada" (Missing Young Woman), a new documentary by Lourdes Portillo. The movie examines the kidnapping, rape and murder of more than 230 young women in Juárez, Mexico. The film includes the testimonies of the victims' families. An open discussion will follow the film. Participants will have the opportunity to review the position statement of the Latina Alliance Against Sexual Aggression, "Eliminating Barriers to Services for Latin Survivors of Sexual and Intimate Partner Violence."
• Oct. 1, 1 p.m., Krannert Auditorium, and 7 p.m., Purdue Memorial Union's East Faculty Lounge. Luis Alberto Urrea, born in Tijuana, Mexico, author of several critically acclaimed books of fiction, non-fiction and poetry, will speak. Urrea is a professor of creative writing at the University of Illinois in Chicago and has taught at Harvard, the University of Colorado and the University of Louisiana. Information about Urrea is available online.
• Oct. 1, 10 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. International Center, 523 Russell St. Latin Dance Party, $3 at the door. Public is welcome. Latin dancing also will be available the first Friday of every month during the academic year.
• Oct. 2, 6 p.m. Matthews Hall, Room 210. Delta Phi Mu Sixth Annual Hispanic Heritage Talent Show, including salsa dancing, poetry reading and more. Free and open to the public.
• Oct. 4, 6 p.m. Grissom Hall, Room 180. Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures sponsors "Brazil: Between Cultures," a talk by Floyd Merrell, professor of Spanish. There also will be a performance by Purdue's Capoeira Club.
• Oct. 6, 6-9 p.m. Latino Cultural Center. "Show Us Your Guayabera Night." Faculty/staff appreciation event. Men are encouraged to wear guayaberas (Latin embroidered dress shirts).
• Oct. 7, 7 p.m. Stewart Center, Fowler Hall. Showing of "City of God," a non-fiction film about a young man who grew up in the streets of Rio de Janeiro's "City of God," known as the world's most notorious slum. Information about the film is available online.
• Oct. 14, 7 p.m. Fowler Hall, Stewart Center. "English Only," a one-act play by James Chapmyn. Assimilation, acceptance, denial and consensus in a multicultural family are explored when two brothers see their Hispanic culture in different ways. One brother refuses to acknowledge anything that has to do with his Latin heritage, while the other brother is not only proud of his culture and history, but is an advocate for diversity and acceptance. The brothers struggle to come to terms with each other and their relationship with racism and identity in America.
• October 14, 8 p.m. Civic Theatre, 313 N. Fifth St., Lafayette. "Latin Soul Seductions: Two Poets – Two Worlds – United by their Culture." Mayda del Valle and Guillermo Rebollo-Gil perform their poetry. Mayda del Valle is a Tony Award-winning Def Poet for Def Poetry Jam on HBO. She also is the reigning National Poetry Slam champion and first Latina woman to win the title. Rebollo-gil is a Puerto Rican native. He is working on his doctorate at the University of Florida and has published two books of poetry.
• Oct. 15, 7 p.m. Purdue Memorial Union's East Faculty Lounge. The Latino Cultural Center welcomes alumni during Homecoming weekend and presents awards to those who made a contribution to Hispanic Heritage Month.
Throughout the month, the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers will sponsor a soccer tournament at the Recreational Sports Center's North Gym. Anyone is welcome to participate. Information is available online.
Information on any of the events is available from the Latino Cultural Center at (765) 494-2530, latinocc@purdue.edu. The Latino Cultural Center is open Monday through Thursday from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Friday from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Writer: Reni Winter, Purdue News Service, (765) 496-3133, rwinter@purdue.edu
Source: Maricela Alvarado, (765) 494-2530, alvaradm@purdue.edu
Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu
Related releases:
Black Cultural Center sponsors talk by Felipe Luciano
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