MEDIA ALERT
April
9, 2015
College Hosts “Beyond Multiculturalism: Empowering
Latino Students and the Community” Conference
(Delaware and Chester Counties, PA)—As part of Delaware County Community College’s
commitment to providing access and quality education to Latino students, the College
will hold the “Beyond Multiculturalism: Empowering Latino Students and the
Community” conference from 8:30 a.m.
to 4:30 p.m., Friday, April 24th on the
College’s Marple Campus (901 S. Media Line Road, Media, PA, 19063).
This will be the first conference held
at the College specifically focused on Latino issues in education and Latino
youth leadership and advocacy. It is sponsored by the College’s faculty-led
Latino Initiatives and Outreach Network (LION) in collaboration with the College’s
student-led Latin Flavor Club. The conference is free and open to the public.
Registration is not required, but is requested.
Register online at
www.dccc.edu/latino-conference.
Two keynote presentations will
occur during the conference. The first keynote presentation, “The Path to
College Graduation: Latino Student Success and Concerns” by Dr. Idna Corbett,
dean of Undergraduate Student Support Services at West Chester University of
Pennsylvania, will focus on the factors influencing the Latino achievement gap
in college. The second keynote presentation, “A Conversation with Hernán
Guaracao,” publisher of AL DÍA, a Philadelphia-based,
Hispanic-owned news media organization, will be during lunch.
In addition, two panels of experts
will discuss the effects and factors influencing the Latino achievement gap in
college and the importance of youth leadership and institutional support at
college campuses. There also will be a panel of Delaware County Community
College Latino student leaders who will discuss their experiences at the
College and the role of student involvement and leadership in their academic
success.
Additional conference participants
include: Dr. Jose Cabrales—program manager for the national, multi-site Lumina
Latino Student Success effort of Excelencia
in Education, a nonprofit group that advocates for Latino students; Gilberto
Gonzalez, senior designer creative services at Community College of Philadelphia
and host of “Entre Nosotros,” a weekly current affairs cable TV show; Dr. Marisa
Pereyra, associate professor of Spanish at Immaculata University and chair of
the Global Languages and Cultures Department; and Edna Vidal, a peer mentor at
Montgomery County Community College and founder/president of Drops of Love
International, a nonprofit group that educates and advocates for people in and
from Cali, Colombia.
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The conference also will feature a
screening of the 2014 award-winning documentary “Underwater Dreams,” which
explores the true story of a team of undocumented Mexican high school students,
who, under the guidance of two dedicated science teachers, enter the Marine
Advanced Technology Education (MATE) Center’s International Remotely Operated
Vehicles competition, which is sponsored by the National Science Foundation, National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Office of Ocean Exploration, and NASA.
The four students from Carl Hayden High School in Phoenix, Arizona compete
against college teams, including a team from the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology, and win first place.
After the screening,
students featured in the documentary will participate in a Q & A session via
Skype.
About the Latino Initiatives and Outreach
Network (LION)
The Latino Initiatives and Outreach
Network (LION) is a new organization made up of professors, College
administrators and students, who seek to recruit, retain, empower, graduate and
advance Latino/Hispanic students at Delaware County Community College. LION is
interested in creating volunteer and outreach opportunities in the community
and leadership and career development programs, as well as academic support
programs at the College. In addition, LION is interested in collaborating with
state and local organizations in the community to develop partnerships focused
on college accessibility and student learning that complement the academic,
personal, career, social and cultural development of Latino/Hispanic students.
About the Latin Flavor Club
The Latin Flavor Club is a
student-led group at Delaware County Community College that has been
instrumental in building strong connections between students of all racial,
ethnic and cultural backgrounds at the College. The Latin Flavor Club provides student
mentorship opportunities, as well as organizes social events and fundraisers to
raise money for scholarships and to assist College and community organizations.
For more information, contact:
LION Coordinator Fernando
Benavidez, Assistant Professor of English, at (610) 723-1231, or fbenavidez@dccc.edu; or LION
Coordinator Dr. Jose Francisco Mazenett, Associate Professor of Spanish and
French, at (610) 359-5228, or jmazenett@dccc.edu.
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