SEMO observes Hispanic heritage with month-long celebration

In honor of Hispanic Heritage Month, Southeast Missouri State University established a new scholarship and will host a month-long celebration.

A variety of events will take place around campus, including a Tamales and Tortillas Fundraiser, a movie screening of "Coco," Food Truck Friday, an evening of Tapas and Sangria at the River Ridge Winery.

Hispanic Heritage Month dates to 1968, and begins each year Sept. 15, the anniversary of independence of five Latin American countries: Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua. The celebration at Southeast and across the country lasts until Oct. 15.

Assistant to the president for equity and diversity Sonia Rucker said a committee came up with ideas for events that will encourage students to participate in activities and fundraise while highlighting Hispanic culture.

Southeast developed a scholarship that will coincide with the various events taking place.

During each event, donations will be accepted to help support the scholarship endowment for which the university foundation hopes to raise $10,000.

The number of recipients of the scholarship depends largely on the level of interest, number of applicants and endowment size, according to Spanish professor Debbie Lee-DiStefano.

Lee-DiStefano created the scholarship and helped fund it from her own pocket. The Spanish professor said the scholarship was created to help Hispanic students access a college education at Southeast.

"Our idea was that we have a lot of Latino students in the area that we would like to attract to the university," Lee-DiStefano said.

She said she created the scholarship to help Southeast increase diversity on campus.

"We understand that, like African American students, Latino students tend not to go into college," Lee-DiStefano said. "Our goal is to increase that rate of students that are entering into the university."

Students who are of Hispanic heritage and have graduated from a high school in the U.S. are eligible for the scholarship.

At the heart of Lee-DiStefano's hopes for the scholarship is a desire to emphasize identity for students of Hispanic heritage.

"Although Latinos can be any color, given that this is a very Anglo and White campus, the idea of identity is coming into question, what it means to be American," Lee-DiStefano said. "We want them to know it's OK to be who they are and there's no reason to lose their identity in the process."

The Believing Everyone Can Achieve Hispanic/Latino Scholarship was established through the Southeast Missouri University Foundation. The events commemorating Hispanic Heritage Month are sponsored by the Office of Institutional Equity and Diversity.

The events will run through Oct. 15.

For more information, visit the university website at www.semo.edu/hispanic-latino.