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Share"An Amazing Speaker" Kicks Off Hispanic Heritage Month
How Students Responded to Michael Benitez, Jr.
09/22/09
Michael Benitez Jr. is an activist- scholar, lecturer, and spoken word artist integrating hip hop pedagogy, academic inquiry and personal experience.
Xavier University’s Office of Multicultural Affairs hosted Michael Benitez, Jr. on Tuesday, September 15, at 5:00 pm in a free and open presentation in the Gallagher Student Center Theatre, as part of Hispanic Heritage Month. Benitez spoke on “Identity, Politics & Whiteness in Latino/a Culture: Deconstructing Conditions of Race in ‘Pero Somos Latinos/as.’”
“I felt Mr. Benitez Jr. was an amazing speaker,” shared one student.
“He spoke with such passion, which really allowed me to open my mind and ears and take in the information he shared,”
Hispanic Heritage Month is September 15 – October 15 and honors and celebrates the independence of several Latin American countries and the contributions of their citizens in the Americas and beyond.
Of the more than 50 students who attended the event, 39 feel more confident in their ability to interact with people from a different background than their own as a result of attending the program.
For more information on upcoming cultural heritage months and programs, continue to check the Multicultural Affairs Web site and look for MyXU portal announcements.
Xavier University is a private university located in Cincinnati, Ohio, providing a liberal arts education in the Catholic, Jesuit tradition. Founded in 1831, the University is the sixth-oldest Catholic university in the nation. U.S. News & World Report ranks it No.3 among master’s-level universities in the Midwest, and The Princeton Review names it as one of the “Best 371 Colleges in America.”