Celebrate Hispanic culture at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point with events marking Hispanic Heritage Month.
A Drag Queen Loteria bingo game will kick off the month on Friday, Sept. 15, from 6-8 p.m. with free food and prizes and host Kawaii Canary. Tickets are $10 for the community and $2 for university students, staff and faculty. Kids are free with an adult ticket. The event is sponsored by the Queer Resource Center and Multicultural Resource Center within the Diversity and College Access (DCA) office at UW-Stevens Point.
Salsa and bachata dance lessons will be offered Saturday, Sept. 16, from 6-9 p.m. in Laird Room of the Dreyfus University Center (DUC), 1015 Reserve St., Stevens Point. No prior dance experience is needed. Tickets are $15 per person or $20 per couple. UW-Stevens Point alumni Kyle Thao and Annabelle Xiong will teach the basics of Latinx dances followed by a dance social. The event is sponsored by the Latino Student Alliance, Wausau Bachata and the Multicultural Resource Center.
Celebración Hispana will be held Saturday, Sept. 23, from 5:30-10:30 p.m. in the Laird Room of the DUC. The event will offer performances, drag queens, vendors and food. Sponsored by the Latino Student Alliance, the event admission is $10 for the general public, $5 for students and free for children 12 and under. Learn more by contacting lsa@uwsp.edu.
Keynote speaker Oscar Mireles, an educator, writer and arts advocate from Madison, will give a presentation, “Becoming a Leader and Building on Your Strength,” on Wednesday, Sept. 27, from 4:30-5:30 p.m. in Room 221 in the Noel Fine Arts Center. A meet and greet will be held afterwards in the NFAC Courtyard until 6:30 p.m.
Mireles’ keynote concludes the celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month and is the kickoff of the DCA Diversity and Inclusion Signature Events, which are free and open to the public. His keynote is co-sponsored by campus partners, including the Office of Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs and Chief Diversity Officer, MBA Sentry School of Business and Economics, UWSP Foundation and Division of University Advancement and the Office of the Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs. For more information, please contact dca@uwsp.edu.
Mireles is the executive director of Omega School in Madison, where he has helped provide GED preparation and adult basic education services to young adults for the past 29 years. A published poet, he served as Poet Laureate for the City of Madison.
He also is the founder of LOUD, Latinos Organizing for Understanding and Development, a statewide Latino arts organization, and co-founder of Art Party, an arts networking group. He is a board member of several Madison area organizations, and has won numerous awards for his service, including the Dane County Martin Luther King Jr. Community Service Award.