September 15, 2008

Purdue forum to present, promote scholarship among Latinos

The forum, which will take place from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. in Stewart Center, rooms 214 and 218, also will feature a keynote address from J.D. Garcia, professor emeritus of physics at the University of Arizona and president of the Society for the Advancement of Chicano and Native Americans in Science. The forum is sponsored by the Purdue Latino Faculty and Staff Association and the Purdue Chapter of the Society for the Advancement of Chicano and Native Americans in Science.

The event is part of the university's Latino Heritage Month celebration that is sponsored by Purdue's Latino Cultural Center.

"The Latino Faculty and Staff Association created the Latino Scholars Forum to honor and celebrate the diverse efforts of Latinos and Latino organizations on campus and to encourage Latino scholarship," said Kimber Nicoletti, president of the association and outreach director for the Communities Against Rape Initiative at Purdue's Youth Development and Agricultural Education department. "Because the association believes in the importance of building the Latino campus community and on fostering Latino-centered values such as cooperation, we feel it is important to make this event a community effort."

The forum's co-sponsors include the Office of the Provost; Office of the Vice President for Information Technology; the colleges of Science, Engineering, Consumer and Family Services, and Liberal Arts; College of Technology's diversity office; the departments of History and Horticulture and Landscape Architecture; Communities Against Rape Initiative; the College of Engineering's education and interdisciplinary programs; African American Studies and Research Center; Latino Graduate Student Organization; and the Office of Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation and Midwest Crossroads Alliance for Graduate Education for the Professorate.

Nicoletti said during the forum's closing session, students will participate in a roundtable discussion with faculty and graduate students on how to succeed in graduate school. She said the forum drew 115 participants last year and featured 36 poster presentations from which seven graduate students won travel scholarship awards.

The Latino Faculty and Staff Association, founded in 2003, is an educational organization whose purpose is to be an advocate for Latino issues in higher education, including the educational welfare and advancement of the Latino community. The organization's goal is to promote the social and cultural dimensions of Latino history, heritage and culture as it relates to education.

Writer: Clyde Hughes, (765) 494-2073, jchughes@purdue.edu

Source: Kimber Nicoletti, (765) 496-6871, knicolet@purdue.edu

Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu

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