Northeastern University to Host 6th Annual New England Latino Student Leadership Conference

Northeastern to welcome hundreds for annual Latino leadership event

Northeastern University’s Latino/a Student Cultural Center will host the 2008 New England Latino Student Leadership Conference. From March 28-29, students, faculty, staff and administrators from the New England region will gather together to discuss the empowerment of Latino leaders of tomorrow in an increasingly global environment.

“The conference is an opportunity to network and initiate lifelong connections amongst some of the most talented and inspired student leaders in the Northeast,” said Rosa Rodriguez Williams, Director of the Northeastern University Latino/a Student Cultural Center. “We will be hearing from some of the most accomplished speakers in the discipline of leadership which will provide attendees with a high-energy and inspirational weekend.”

The plenary lecture will be given by Alan West-Duran, Associate Professor of Modern Languages at Northeastern University. Titled, “Latinos/as as Global Citizens: Resisting Empire by Creating a World without Superpowers,” West-Duran will inspire students to take on greater roles of leadership.

Workshop sessions and panel discussions will showcase practical and progressive approaches to the development of leadership. The conference will feature over 20 interactive workshops enabling participants to explore innovative concepts, ideas and projects. Topics will explore all aspects of Latinos in higher education including student organizations, leadership, global capacity building, social activism and community engagement, and life after college.

The two-day event will feature presentations and panel discussions including:

• Hispanic Activism:  Why other Immigrant Groups Must Not Forget
• Effective Communication: Getting Investment and Buy in a Culture of Change
• Graduate Education & Social Activism:  Careers in Community Development
• Media and the Arts: Engaging the Community and Sparking Social Activism
• Changing Demographics, Changing Leadership: What the Growing Latino Population Means for American Racial Politics
• Latino Health Issues: Food, Health, Culture and Lifestyles                         

2008 also marks the 10 year anniversary of Northeastern’s Latino/a Student Cultural Center. In 1998, a group of visionary Latino/a students, faculty, staff and administrators with a dream of creating a Center in which people could come together and share their academic struggles and achievements, as well as their culture, established what is now known as the Latino/a Student Cultural Center.

For the past decade, the center has promoted Latino culture and explored Latino identity and self-awareness within the Northeastern community through integrating existing organizations and services that offer Latino/a, Latin American, and Caribbean oriented programs and activities.

For more information about the 2008 New England Latino Student Leadership Conference, please visit http://www.northeastern.edu/latino/6th_Annual_Conferenc.html or contact Samantha Fodrowski at 617-373-5427 or at s.fodrowski@neu.edu.

About Northeastern

Founded in 1898, Northeastern University is a private research university located in the heart of Boston.  Northeastern is a leader in interdisciplinary research, urban engagement, and the integration of classroom learning with real-world experience. The university’s distinctive cooperative education program, where students alternate semesters of full-time study with semesters of paid work in fields relevant to their professional interests and major, is one of the largest and most innovative in the world.  The University offers a comprehensive range of undergraduate and graduate programs leading to degrees through the doctorate in six undergraduate colleges, eight graduate schools, and two part-time divisions.  For more information, please visit www.northeastern.edu.

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