Editor’s note: This is part of a monthly series of campus updates on diversity, equity and inclusion that will continue throughout the year.

CU Boulder marks National Hispanic Heritage Month; Human Resources offers inclusive training; and more.

Campus marks National Hispanic Heritage Month with resources, recognition, speakers

The CU Boulder community is reflecting on the cultures, contributions and histories of people whose family legacies trace back to Mexico and the U.S. Southwest, Central and South America, the Caribbean and Spain during National Hispanic Heritage Month.

Information and resources to mark the country’s pan-Latin American heritage month, which runs from Sept. 15 to Oct. 15, are available through University Libraries, the College of Engineering and Applied Science, and the History Department, which has compiled recommended readings about the people alternately known as Hispanics, Hispanos, Latins, Latinos, Latinas, Latinx, Chicanos, Chicanas, Chicanx and other diverse personal identifiers.

National Hispanic Heritage Month dates back to 1968. In recent years, the heritage month has also been referred to as National Hispanic and Latino Heritage Month and National Hispanic and Latinx Heritage Month to reflect the mestizo and Indigenous roots of many Latinos across the United States and Latin America and to provide a gender-neutral alternative to "Latino."

Upcoming events at CU Boulder include an Oct. 6 one-man show featuring Javier Ávila, called “The Trouble with My Name.” Hosted by the College of Arts and Sciences Office for Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion and the Latin American Studies Center, the event is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. at Old Main Chapel and is open to students, staff and faculty.

According to event organizers, Ávila’s show is a “tour-de-force that will make audiences laugh, cry, and embrace the autobiographical journey of a man who moves between cultures to provide a fascinating perspective of American Latinx” through poetry readings and an examination of language, race, ethnicity and social justice.

Related events earlier this month included a Sept. 12 campus talk by award-winning New York Times journalist, educator and CU Boulder graduate Linda Villarosa. Villarosa discussed her new book Under the Skin: The Hidden Toll of Racism on American Lives and on the Health of Our Nation in celebration of a century of journalism at CU Boulder, hosted by the College of Media, Communications and Information. 

Villarosa’s reportage touches on the longstanding and disparate treatment of Black Americans and other people of color by the American health-care system. During her Colorado visit, she fielded questions from students, staff and faculty at the Renée Crown Wellness Institute and gave a presentation of her findings at the CU Anschutz Medical Campus. 

On Sept. 20, iconic actress Rita Moreno, one of only 17 artists to earn an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar and a Tony, spoke to the campus and Boulder communities during a talk in the Glenn Miller Ballroom, sponsored by the student-funded Cultural Events Board.

Moreno shared insights about the 2021 Netflix documentary Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided to Go for It and shared stories about her Hollywood career, including acting performances in the original and updated versions of the film West Side Story, as well as her new projects, her culturally diverse family and the discrimination she faced as a Spanish-speaking Puerto Rican girl while growing up in New York City.

Human Resources offers inclusive training

A session created to help CU Boulder managers become more inclusive leaders and another developed to guide new fathers as they navigate the work-life balance after the birth of children are among the fall courses offered by Human Resources.

Campus managers who enroll in the Becoming an Inclusive Leader series will receive the knowledge and skills they need to lead their teams on a more inclusive and equitable path while fostering a sense of belonging among employees. The series provides leaders with actionable diversity, equity and inclusion strategies to move their organizations forward.

The next session of this free training will take place on Oct. 5 from 9:30 a.m. to noon.

Human Resources is also offering CU Boulder employees a New Fathers Group, a four-week Zoom series for current and fathers-to-be to network and discuss topics such as being a working parent, maintaining a connection with a partner, engaging with a newborn, and coming to terms with impacts to personal independence, self-doubt and other themes shared within the group.

The sessions will take place Oct. 7, Oct. 14, Oct. 21 and Oct. 28 from noon to 1 p.m. Though not a requirement, Human Resources encourages participants to attend all four sessions.

Sustaining our practice of inclusion

Campus efforts and investments to address pressing and painful inequities at CU Boulder are only a beginning. Creating a culture of belonging will take each member of our community practicing sustained personal work to truly embrace and support diverse perspectives and intersectional identities in our community.

During the 2022–23 academic year, Chancellor Philip DiStefano and other campus leaders urge every member of our community to join in learning more about diversity, equity, inclusion and anti-racism and to work continuously together to address these challenges more actively and in ways that can help authentically transform our campus culture in the coming year.