Philadelphia University Celebrates

"Embracing The Fierce Urgency of Now!"

Si, Se Puede!  ...  Yes, We Can!

National Hispanic/Latino Heritage Month begins September 15 -- the anniversary of independence for five Latin American countries:  Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua.  The month also includes the independence days of Mexico on September 16, Chile on September 18, and Belize on September 21, and continues with El Día de la Raza on October 12. 

"Embracing The Fierce Urgency of Now!" is this year's theme for National Hispanic Heritage Month September 15th through October 15th. 

Mexican Independence Day Festival at Penn’s Landing
Sun., Sept. 13
Sponsored by Campus Activities Board, $5 bus tickets available in the Office of STudent Activities (KCC 301); Bus will depart 2 p.m. from ram statue and depart Penn's Landing around 6 p.m. 


Mexican Independence Day is organized by Philadelphia’s Mexican Cultural Center. Mexican Independence Day celebrates Mexican culture with food, music, dancing and crafts. Entertainment includes mariachi favorites and latino sounds.  Visitors can also explore the various tents featuring traditional Mexican crafts, clothing, and jewelry.  Mexican Independence Day is significant for all Mexicans because it represents the birth of a free country, proud of its own ancestry and its own identity. According to the Mexican Cultural Center, this day has become a traditional reunion of all Latino communities: Mexicans, Columbians, Venezuelans, Cubans etc, all celebrating the richness of their culture. 



Hispanic Heritage Month Service Project
Tues., Sept. 15
The university-wide Day of Service coincides with the start of Hispanic Heritage Month.  Join the Latin American Student Organization by serving a Latino/a oriented service project.  Sign-up at Day of Service website.


• LASO Kick-off Meeting and Pot-Luck Lunch
• Tues., Sept. 22, 11am-1pm
• Downs Hall, Room 2
• The Latin American Student Organization's first meeting and pot-luck lunch will highlight the various backgrounds of the leadership and membership of the organization.
  
  Justice Sotomayor and the Roberts Court
  Wed., Sept. 23, 5:30pm
• Tuttleman Auditorium
  Dr. Robert Koulish from Philadelphia University's Law and Society program hosts Professor Joel Grossman, a constitutional law scholar, from Johns Hopkins University to talk about Sotomayor’s likely impact on the Supreme Court.
  
  Argentine Nuevo Tango Lessons with Prof. Niny Rao
  Thurs., Sept. 24, 12pm
  Exercise Room, Gallagher Center
  
  Film For Thought screening of Sugar for Hispanic Heritage Month
  Wed., Oct. 7, 6pm
  Kanbar Performance Space
• Facilitated by Dr. Rick Shain
• Miguel Santos, a.k.a Azucar, a Dominican pitcher from San Pedro de Macoris, struggles to make it to the big leagues and pull himself and his family out of poverty. Playing professionally at the Kansas City Knights baseball academy, Miguel finally gets his break at age 19 when he advances to the United States' minor league system. Miguel travels from his tight knit community in the Dominican Republic to a small town in Iowa, corn country, where he and a couple other Latin American teammates are the only Spanish-speaking people in the vicinity. As Miguel struggles with the new language and culture, despite the welcoming efforts of his host family, he is faced with an isolation he never before experienced. When his play on the mound falters, he begins examining more closely the world around him and his place within it, and ultimately questions the single-mindedness of his life's ambition.
  
  Latin Food Luncheon & Dinner Series:

  Long before Europeans "discovered" South America, the native populations knew how to cultivate and harvest an incredible array of foods. They developed elaborate irrigation systems, and terraced the steep Andean mountain slopes to make them more suitable for growing food. They grew corn, lima beans, potatoes, sweet potatoes, chile peppers, avocados, peanuts, chocolate, and raised llamas and guinea pigs. Each region developed its own traditional dishes.  To this day, many latin foods, a central focus of many cultural traditions, have roots in pre-colonial dishes.

• Enjoy soul food on the following dates:

  Oct. 6, 2009 - Common Thread (lunch)

  Oct. 7 , 2009 - Ravehill Dining Hall (dinner)

  Oct. 13, 2009 - Common Thread (lunch)

  Oct. 14, 2009 - Ravehill Dining Hall (dinner)

• Oct. 20, 2009 - Common Thread (lunch)

  Oct. 21, 2009 - Ravehill Dining Hall (dinner)

• Oct. 27, 2009 - Common Thread (lunch)

  Oct. 28, 2009 - Ravehill Dining Hall (dinner)

  
  Latin Food Lunch Series is coordinated with the support of Dining Services.

**

Office of Student Development Programs
Community Service  | First Year Experience  | Spiritual Development

The Kanbar Campus Center, Suite 311
phone (215) 951-2634

fax (215) 951-2644

email: studentdevelopment@philau.edu