The month-long cel­e­bra­tion will kick off on Sept. 15, the anniver­sary of five Latin American coun­tries’ Independence Day—Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua.

“Hispanic Heritage Month is an oppor­tu­nity for indi­vid­u­als from all back­grounds to learn, par­tic­i­pate and cel­e­brate the cul­ture,” said Michael Wade, assis­tant direc­tor of the Office of Multicultural Student Services. “Our uni­ver­sity sup­ports Hispanic Heritage Month because it is an excel­lent plat­form for stu­dent learning.”

“We cel­e­brate this event at Ferris because we have a rea­son­able num­ber of Hispanic stu­dents, and we believe that it is very impor­tant to cel­e­brate all cul­tures that have con­tributed and are a very impor­tant part of what this coun­try is,” said Ana Davila-Howard, asso­ciate pro­fes­sor of Spanish. “We all learn from each other, and through this type of event we try to embrace, respect, and under­stand those dif­fer­ences. I am from Puerto Rico, mar­ried to a Caucasian, and we have a son, Michael, who has been born and raised in this country.”

The first event of the cel­e­bra­tory month will be a panel dis­cus­sion on the topic “Hispanics Role in Michigan’s Rebirth” co-sponsored by the Political Engagement Project at 11 a.m. on Sept. 15 in IRC 120. On Sept. 17, Arts and Lectures will present Ballet Folklorico Mexico; the first 200 stu­dents to attend will receive free admis­sion – tick­ets are $3 for all other students.

“We have many stu­dents who come from dif­fer­ent back­grounds and learn­ing about other cul­tures will help us under­stand our fel­low stu­dents,” said Coordinator of the Music Area and Chair of the Arts and Lectures Committee Cate Arroe.

The cel­e­bra­tion will con­tinue with Latin dance lessons, arts and crafts, and authen­tic Hispanic foods on Sept. 21 from 7 to 9 p.m. in the Rankin Student Center Dome Room. The nationally-acclaimed spo­ken word artist Michael Reyes will present his piece enti­tled “Multiculturalism as a Culture” on Sept. 29 from 7 to 9 p.m. in Quiznos.

In addi­tion, the Rock Cafe will be fea­tur­ing authen­tic dishes for lunch on Sept. 15 and for din­ner on Sept. 29. Regular din­ing cen­ter charges apply for all Hispanic Heritage Month Celebration meals, but the other events are free and open to the public.

Wade and the staff at the OMSS work toward help­ing stu­dents become more aware of other cultures.

“I feel that the more an indi­vid­ual learns about diver­sity in the class­room, work­force and soci­ety, the more they will be able to suc­ceed,” said Wade. “Every day is an oppor­tu­nity for one to broaden their under­stand­ing and accep­tance of diversity. Diversity includes every per­son, and that per­spec­tive is essen­tial for growth and par­tic­i­pa­tion at events such as Hispanic Heritage Month.”

“We here at Ferris, as pro­fes­sors, try to pro­mote tol­er­ance, accep­tance, and respect for all cul­tures, and the class­room is not the only place to do it; we have to extend it to out­side the class­room set­ting,” said Davila-Howard.

For more infor­ma­tion about Hispanic Heritage Month, con­tact Wade at michaelwade@ferris.edu or ext. 2617.