As part of The Center for Diversity and Inclusion’s Hispanic Heritage Month event calendar, they will put on ‘An Evening with Richard Blanco’, an influential Hispanic and openly gay poet who spoke at President Barack Obama’s second inaugural address.
The free event will be Monday at 6 p.m. in the Houston Room of the Student Center South.
Director of CDI Ninya Blair booked him as the centerpiece for their Hispanic Heritage Month studies. Blair believes that Blanco’s presence will compliment the overall theme of the month.
“The speaker goes in with our mission to provide programs that engage, empower and educated our student body,” Blair said. “Mr. Blanco has an inclusion perspective, and it is a viewpoint we really want to have.”
Blair believes that each student can relate in some way to Blanco’s story and connect their own unique tales.
“He has a background in engineering and poetry, is very diverse and can reach a large range of the population,” Blair said. “He will be telling his story. Stories affect us in different ways. He will be inspiring hope. Everyone here has something to contribute to society, and we are diverse, so it is important to keep perspective. You never know what everyone’s stories are.”
Chinese senior Lauren Gong is one of many going to see Blanco at the event. She eagerly awaits witnessing his unique style in person.
“I think he is a really influential poet,” Gong said. “He crosses a lot of cultural and race boundaries and is really interesting.”
