Hispanic celebration will feature YSU alumnus

The event highlights the history and talents of the Valley’s Hispanic community.

YOUNGSTOWN — The Valley’s key event for Hispanic Heritage Month, which is Sept. 15 through Oct. 15, will take place at Youngstown State University with a Hispanic Heritage Celebration on Sept. 19.

Registration will begin at 5:30 p.m. for the celebration, which will take place in the Chestnut Room of YSU’s Kilcawley Center. This event is free and open to the public. Free parking will be available in the M-1 parking deck on Wick Avenue.

The celebration theme is “The Legacy of Hispanics in the Mahoning Valley.” The event will highlight the history and talents of the Valley’s Hispanic community.

Atty. Edwin Romero, of Manchester, Bennett, Powers Ullman Co., will serve as master of ceremonies, and giving the keynote address will be Dr. Ålvaro Ram rez, a YSU alumnus from the department of modern languages at Saint Mary’s College of California.

A flag ceremony in which local Hispanic college students will display heritage flags from 22 Hispanic countries will take place, and the festivities will also include display tables, a dance presentation featuring Flamenco Fuerte from Pittsburgh, recognition of student achievements in the local community, refreshments, and dancing to the music of a disc jockey from Kenny Reyes Productions.

Professor’s background

Ram rez is from Michoac °n, Mexico. He received his bachelor’s degree from YSU in 1982 and continued on to graduate school at the University of Southern California, where he earned a master’s in 1985 and a doctorate in Spanish Golden Age and 20th Century Latin American Literature in 1993.

Ram rez has taught at various West Coast schools, including USC, Occidental College and California State University, Long Beach.

Since 1993, he has been a member of the department of modern languages at Saint Mary’s. There he teaches courses on Spanish Golden Age and Latin American Literature, as well as Mexican and Latino cultural studies. He also serves as resident director for the Saint Mary’s College Semester Program in Cuernavaca, Mexico.

Ram rez has published creative writing and articles on Don Quixote, Mexican film and Chicano studies in several academic journals. He is working on a book about Mexican culture.