Oberlin College honors Latino/a Heritage Month with a series of speakers, social events, screenings, and performances that showcase Oberlin’s Latino/a communities. Events take place from September 12 to October 10, 2009.

The Oberlin Latino/a Alumni Association will kick off the celebration with an alumni reception in Wilder Hall. In the weeks that follow, students and community members will have the chance to hear speakers on topics such as mixed-race youth and the formation of multiethnic identities, the subject of a lecture by Arizona State University professor Rudy Guevarra on September 17; participate in a roundtable discussion on the work of Pulitzer Prize-winning author Junot Díaz on September 22; watch a bilingual comedy directed and performed by Oberlin students on October 8, 9, and 10; y más.

There will be a performance by renowned tenor and Oberlin alumnus Marco Antonio Labastida ’95 on September 25. Labastida has performed as a soloist throughout the United States and México.

He has appeared in virtually every major venue in the Mexican states of Jalisco, Michoacán, and Baja California, and was featured in the world premiere of the Mexican opera Serafina y Archangela. In  2005, he was inducted into the Tijuana Walk of Fame. At Oberlin, Labastida will perform traditional Mexican opera in Spanish.

The month-long celebration will end with the Día de la Raza banquet on October 10. This event honors the Latino/a heritage of the Americas and serves as an alternative to Christopher Columbus Day.

Sponsors of Latino/a Heritage Month include the Multicultural Resource Center, the Office of Religious and Spiritual Life, the Oberlin Alumni Association, the Hispanic Studies Department, and La Alianza Latina de Oberlin.

For a complete listing of activities, visit the Oberlin Latino/a Heritage Month web site. Unless otherwise noted, all events are free and open to the public.