Grand Valley events celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month

The importance of voting, study abroad experiences, and women and minorities in the political arena are among topics of events planned to celebrate Hispanic heritage at Grand Valley.

Sponsored by the Office of Multicultural Affairs and supported by many other campus departments, Hispanic Heritage Month will run September 17-October 13. All events are free, open to the public and take place on the Allendale Campus.

The celebration will kick off Monday, September 17, from noon-1 p.m. with presentations by two faculty and staff members who led student groups on study abroad trips to Peru and El Salvador. Geography students conducted forest surveys in the Amazon rainforest and social work students visited and interacted with communities in El Salvador. The event will take place in room 2215 of the Kirkhof Center.

Other events include:

• A New Home in Michigan: the Mexican-American Experience in Muskegon, September 19, 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m., Kirkhof Center, room 2204. Connie Navarro will discuss Latinos Working for the Future, an information clearinghouse for Hispanic culture and education she and her husband founded. Navarro has been an on-air host for a number of Hispanic radio show spanning 20 years.

• Making Latino Votes Count, September 26, noon-1 p.m., Kirkhof Center, room 2270. Lupe Ramos-Montigny, chair of the West Michigan Cesar Chavez Celebration Committee, will lead a discussion about the importance of the Latino vote.

• Women and Minorities in the Political Arena, October 3, 4-5:30 p.m., Cook-DeWitt Center. Patti Solis Doyle, campaign manager for Hillary Clinton in 2008, was the first Hispanic woman to lead a presidential campaign. She will discuss her experiences promoting Clinton administration policies on children, health care and women’s issues. She has received many recognitions, including being named one of America’s 100 Most Influential Hispanics by Hispanic Business Magazine.

• Precious Knowledge, October 8, 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m., Kirkhof Center, room 2215. Participants will watch a documentary about student leaders from Tuscon High School in Arizona as they fight to save the Mexican American Studies program. A panel discussion featuring faculty will follow.

For more information about Hispanic Heritage Month at Grand Valley, visit www.gvsu.edu/oma or call (616) 331-2177.