September 2022 DEIJ Newsletter

• Ongoing Drake community response to Welcome Week experience
• New pronoun policy, community conversation Sept. 6
• LFL sponsored events during Hispanic Heritage Month
• Monthly Barbershop Talk
• Support our neighbors

Greetings Bulldogs! I’m excited to invite you to celebrate National Hispanic Heritage Month Sept. 15–Oct. 15. The month celebrates the independence days of several Latin American countries, along with Mexico and Chile, and it is a time to collectively bring our added focus to Latino communities.

I encourage you to come out and support the various activities sponsored by La Fuerza Latina this month and take advantage of the opportunity to participate in Iowa’s very own Latino Heritage Festival in downtown Des Moines. For almost 20 years, the festival has provided a chance to celebrate the nearly 200,000 Latinos who are also Iowans. 

Drake students who are Latinx should check out the scholarships provided through the Latino Heritage Festival. Applications are due Sept. 6.

Last year, I shared a resource exploring the complexities of the identity “Hispanic” and its relationship “Latino/a/x.” It continues to be important that we learn about the different ways people identify so we can live into curiosity and respect. So, I share that resource again, because learning about ourselves and one another is one of the primary ways we grow a truly inclusive environment.

I encourage all of us to continue to find ways to acknowledge and appreciate the nearly 300 members of this campus community—students, faculty, and staff—who identify as Latino/a/x/ and who are central in who we are as a vibrant and diverse Bulldog community.