Celebrating National Hispanic Heritage Month at Yale SOM

From September 15 to October 15, Yale joins the rest of the United States in celebrating National Hispanic Heritage Month, which recognizes the achievements and contributions of Hispanic Americans who have inspired others to achieve success. The timing of Hispanic Heritage Month coincides with the Independence Day celebrations of several Latin American nations, including Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua.

The national theme for this year’s celebration—“Latinos: Driving Prosperity, Power, and Progress in America”—pays tribute to the immense economic and political strides Hispanics have made in the United States.

Yale SOM is proud to celebrate and elevate Hispanic and Latino voices, this month and throughout the year, within our community and beyond. The Belonging at Yale initiative drives Yale’s celebrations of Latinx and Hispanic heritage. Here at SOM, the Office of Inclusion and Diversity (OID) kicked off the festivities on September 14 with a vibrant back-to-school mixer featuring food and prizes from local Hispanic-owned businesses and a curated Spotify playlist highlighting the rich array of music born from Hispanic/Latinx communities.

Later this month, the community will hear from PhD candidate Ana Calderón, whose studies involve the relationship between empire, development, and welfare through the lens of Puerto Rico during the War on Poverty and the Great Society. She is September’s featured guest for OID’s PhD Mondays, which highlights PhD candidates around the Yale community to expose SOM students, staff, and faculty to various research topics outside of SOM’s walls, as well as the experience of being a PhD student in the Yale community.

In October, members of the community are invited to stop by a book table full of titles by Hispanic/Latinx authors, and will be encouraged to explore new works and take them home. Meanwhile, Charley’s Place, SOM’s dining hall, will feature a food takeover with traditional Hispanic cuisine for the entire SOM Community. And throughout National Hispanic Heritage Month, the large digital walls inside Evans Hall showcase outstanding members of the Hispanic/Latinx community, including artists, activists, scientists, and other influential figures.

OID hosts multiple cultural immersions throughout the academic year to encourage the SOM community to deeply engage with and experience different cultures through sound, taste, touch, and thought in support of our mission to foster understanding, empathy, and inclusivity.

Happy National Hispanic Heritage Month!

—The Office of Inclusion and Diversity