UIC celebrates Hispanic Heritage Month, including department’s 50th year

Across campus this month and into mid-October, students, staff, alumni and Chicago's Latino community are celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month with art, music, dance, talks and more. There has been an exhibitof traditional Latino devotional prayer and memory quilts and a volunteer day to clean up a local park. And many more events are planned into October.

The nationally designated celebration is a time to highlight Latino heritage, history and culture. At UIC, it's also coinciding this year with the 50th anniversary of the university's Latin American and Latino Studies department, born out of student calls for more emphasis on Latin American studies and more recruitment of Latino students and faculty.

One alum who was a student in the department recently returned to campus for the 50th anniversary celebration. U.S. Rep. Jesus "Chuy" Garcia recalled his time as a University of Illinois Chicago student and credited the university with helping him get to where he is today.

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"We commemorate not just the department's creation but pay tribute to its journey and the profound impact it has had on students like myself, the campus and the community," Garcia said at the anniversary celebration Sept. 5. "I wouldn't be here today if I had not attended UIC."

He said as a first-generation college student, he found his home base in the department and the Latin American Recruitment and Educational Services program, or LARES. Both helped him find a community of other Latino students. The department is in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

"We are all here today to celebrate the program's inception due to the passion, the activism and the unwavering commitment, especially from Puerto Rican and Mexican communities," Garcia said. "This program was born out of the desire and determination of student activism for representation and inclusion, ensuring that Latino/Latina experiences and histories have a place in their academic journey."

Last year, Latin American and Latino Studies (LALS) graduated from a program to a full-fledged department, said Jonathan Inda, professor and the department's chair.

Inda said the department has 15 faculty members who are working on a wide range of topics critical to understanding Latino life and Latin American culture. The department offers undergraduate majors and minors and graduate-level degrees, he said. In addition, he pointed to its role leading the Crossing Latinidadesinitiative,which is comprised of Hispanic Serving Research Universities nationally.

"We have now graduated scores of justice-oriented students who have gone on to have successful careers and have worked to make the world a better place," Inda said. "We are really proud of where we are today and of what we have accomplished."

In addition to Garcia and Inda, a panel of UIC alums and activists spoke at the 50th-anniversary event about the program's formation. A second panel of former directors discussed its development and evolution over the years.

More Hispanic Heritage Month events

Hispanic Heritage Month ends Oct. 15, and there are still lots of activities on campus to celebrate, including events the Latin American and Latino Studies department has planned to mark its milestone anniversary.

The Center for Student Involvement will host a night of Loteria, a traditional Mexican board game, at Student Center East on Sept. 25. It's free and open to all UIC students, who can compete for prizes. On Sept. 24 will be a special Loteria game night and networking event for members of UIC's Association of Latino Professionals for America chapter.

On Sept. 30 at Pilsen Community Books will be a book launch for professor Barbara Sostaita's new book, "Sanctuary Everywhere: The Fugitive Sacred in the Sonoran Desert," about how migrants create their own sanctuaries on the move in the Sonoran Desert.

To close out Hispanic Heritage Month, the Center for Student Involvement will host a dance at Student Center East on Oct. 11, with live music, dance instruction and food. It's open to all UIC students, faculty, staff and families. It's also free.

The Center for Student Involvement has other events planned, too, including a flea marketat University Hall lawn on Oct. 2.

And at the Latino Cultural Center on Oct. 16, current and former UIC undocumented student activists will talk about their roles in local and national social movements.