Hispanic Heritage Month celebration is Thursday

A Hispanic Heritage Month celebration, with authentic Hispanic food and activities that celebrate the cultures in America that stretch from the Caribbean to California, will be held from 11:45 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 24, in Room 304 (third-floor lounge) of Murray Herrick Campus Center.

The Multicultural Student Services event is free to all University of St. Thomas students, staff and faculty. 

The event is one of 10 events in the fall semester CommUNITY Series organized by St. Thomas' Office of Institutional Diversity.

Remaining events on the schedule are:

• Documentary filmmaker Gerald Straub will show and discuss his film, "Poverty and Prayer," at 11:30 a.m. Tuesday, Sept. 29, in Room 304 (third-floor lounge) Murray-Herrick Campus Center, St. Paul campus.

• A panel of judges will discuss "I Too Sing America: Justice Sotomayor's Influence on the Future of Diversity in Law and Higher Education" at 4 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 7, in the Frey Moot Court Room, School of Law Building, Minneapolis campus.

• Michael Patrick MacDonald, author of All Souls, the common text being read and studied at St. Thomas this semester, will speak at 11:45 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 15, in the auditorium of O'Shaughnessy Educational Center, St. Paul campus.

• A panel of experts will discuss "What's the Real Story? Racial Profiling in America" at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 20, in the auditorium of O'Shaughnessy Educational Center, St. Paul campus.

• Melisa Rivière, a Latina hip-hop scholar and doctoral candidate at the University of Minnesota, will discuss her research at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 5, in Room 100 of McNeely Hall, St. Paul campus.

• A panel will discuss the challenges of veterans coming home after military service at 1 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 10, in a location to be announced on the St. Paul campus.

• Mixed Blood Theater will stage "Theory of Mind," a play about a young man with Asperger's Syndrome, at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 10, in the auditorium of O'Shaughnessy Educational Center, St. Paul campus.

• A celebration for Native American Heritage Month will be held from 12:15 to 1:15 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 12, in the auditorium of O'Shaughnessy Educational Center, St. Paul campus.

For more information go to the CommUNITY Series Web site.