Hispanic Organization Plans Outreach Forum

Aiming to unite Hispanic students on campus with the wider Hispanic community, a group of undergraduate activists have created a new organization to invite speakers to debate ethnic issues at the College.

The 23-member Harvard Forum on Hispanic Affairs (HFHA), which formed late last year, draws on the membership of existing student organizations and intends to host its first event in April, spokesperson Joey I. Zumpano '91 said yesterday.

"Sometimes we forget what it's like for many of us who were left behind and didn't get to come to this university, whether [they] be political prisoners in Cuba or Chile or migrant workers living in spider holes in Southern California," he said.

Zumpano, one of five co-founders, said the forum will host its first congress in April, on worldwide abuse of Hispanic rights. Speakers will include Armando Valladares, U.S. ambassador to the U.N. Human Rights Commission, and Joshua Rubenstein, regional director of Amnesty International, he said.

Future forums will discuss the role of the media in Hispanic society and similarities between different Hispanic groups, he said.

"I think it's a very good idea that Latino students get together independently from the organizations that are in existence now," said Wendell C. Ocasio '90, former president of La Organisacion (La O), the Puerto Rican students' association.

Current Hispanic groups, like La O and the Mexican-American students' association RAZA, emphasize social programs, political activity and support services, said Ocasio. "We sometimes don't have the resources or the time to bring speakers all the time," Ocasio said.

HFHA congresses can fill that gap and break stereotypes through education, he said.

Targeting the Mainstream

"We hope that they will be attended not only by Latino students but also by students from other minority backgrounds and by students in the mainstream."

HFHA, which was officially recognized by the Committee on the College Life on Friday, includes a 23-student general committee, which will plan the congresses, and a 95-member committee of representatives, formed of delegates from groups participating in the congress.

Groups backing the April session include La O, Raza, the Harvard-Radcliffe Democrats, the Harvard Republican Club and the Harvard Radcliffe Carribean Club.