Date:
9/14/2006
Contact: Wendel Sloan at 505.562.2253
Reporter: Roma Vivas
PORTALES—Eastern New Mexico University will host the second annual Latino Leadership Summit on Friday, Sept. 22 in the Ballroom in the Campus Union Building on the Portales campus. Diego Espinoza, ENMU student regent and coordinator of the event, describes the purpose of the summit as "to open the door of opportunities for high school kids."
The day's events will include three highly recognized and powerful speakers, a lunch, and a live performance from Las Florecitas, a Tex-Mex group.
Lieutenant Colonel Consuelo Castillo Kickbusch will speak to participants about the importance of higher education. She was recently one of the recipients of the 2006 Hispanic Heritage Awards, winning for Leadership. Other honorees included: Antonio Banderas, Arts, internationally known actor; Dr. Juliet Villarreal Garcia, Education, first Latina president of a college or university; Juan Marichal, Sports, Hall-of-Fame baseball legend; James A. Johnson, Vision, Chairman Emeritus of the Kennedy Center; and José Feliciano, Lifetime Achievement, internationally renowned recording artist.
Castillo was also named Woman of the Month by Telemundo and is the highest ranked Hispanic woman in the U. S. military. Currently, she is retired and travels around the country motivating young Hispanic kids.
The second speaker will be Rebecca Vigil Giron, New Mexico Secretary of State. She will talk about Latino leadership issues.
Dr. Carlos Vargas Aburto, former assistant director in the office of the undersecretary for higher education in Mexico and currently provost for academic affairs at Kutztown University in Pennsylvania, will speak on science in education.
The summit will also include a cultural presentation displaying traditional Latino culture, allowing both students and guests to be educated and entertained. The day will also include a financial aid workshop conducted in both Spanish and English to help students prepare for college admittance.
Lambda Theta Phi Latin Fraternity and Eastern New Mexico University invites anyone interested to attend the summit. For more information go to www.latinoleadershipsummit.com, or call Diego Espinoza at 505.980.7510.