On Wednesday, April 9, the Hispanic and Luso-Brazilian Studies section of the Department of Romance Languages and Literatures hosted a dinner for heritage speakers of Spanish at the Center for Identity and Inclusion. The event gathered more than 60 people, students and faculty, to meet each other, form mentoring relationships, and learn about the resources and opportunities for Latinx and Hispanic undergraduates on campus. Speakers included representatives from the Heritage Language Program, the Program in Hispanic and Luso-Brazilian Studies, the Center for Latin American Studies, and the student associations MECHA and OLAS. In their formal remarks pronounced during the dinner, faculty encouraged students in the heritage Spanish language track to take literature courses and consider the Department’s majors or minors. In the informal conversations that followed, students asked faculty about current and future course offerings, BA thesis ideas, summer language programs, and study abroad opportunities. Student group representatives also shared information about their events and community service initiatives. The faculty of Hispanic and Luso-Brazilian Studies looks forward to organizing more community building events of this nature in the future. We thank the Humanities Collegiate Division for its support.
After the event, students expressed gratitude to the faculty for the space provided for conversation with faculty and fellow students with similar life experiences and intellectual projects. They also mentioned appreciating the Latin American food served (Arepa George) and the “Universidad de Chicago” t-shirts (College Admissions) distributed at the event. Many noted that they hope that the dinner becomes a regular occurrence.
