Save the Date
The Richard T. Castro Distinguished Visiting Professorship Committee
cordially invites you to save the date, Monday, April 21, 2008 for the 2008 Richard T. Castro Visiting Professorship Community Event at Metro State.
This event features Davíd Carrasco, Ph.D.— professor of the study of Latin America and director of the Moses Mesoamerican Archive at Harvard University.
Castro Professorship Community Event
Monday, April 21, 2008
2:30-7:30 p.m.
Tivoli Turnhalle • Auraria Campus
900 Auraria Parkway • Denver, Colorado
Please check back for more information.
The Castro Professorship
The Richard T. Castro Distinguished Visiting Professorship was initiated in 1997 to foster multiculturalism, diversity and academic excellence at Metropolitan State College of Denver. The professorship brings renowned Latina and Latino scholars, artists and leaders of distinction to Metro State to conduct classes, seminars, performances and lectures for students, faculty and the larger Denver community. Richard T. Castro Distinguished Professors have included the following luminaries:
• Cherrie Moraga, playwright, poet, essayist and educator
• Carlos Fuentes, novelist and diplomat
• Carmen Lomas Garza, artist and author
• Anna Castillo, novelist and poet
• Dolores Huerta, United Farm Workers vice president
• Richard “Cheech” Marin, actor and art collector
About Richard T. Castro
A Champion of the Disenfranchised
Richard T. Castro (1946-1991), educational and civil rights activist, was one of Colorado’s true champions of disenfranchised communities. From a young street social worker in the early 1970s to executive director of Denver’s civil rights agency, Castro was known as a fighter for human justice and dignity. At 25, Castro became one of the youngest lawmakers ever elected to the House of Representatives, a post he held for five terms. Castro led many struggles for social justice, including opposition to English-only legislation. He was a leading spokesperson in the debate on Mexican immigration. A bust commemorating Castro, sculpted by noted Denver artist Emanuel Martinez, sits in the rotunda of the state capitol.
An Activist at Metro State
Castro was an early instructor in what would become the Chicana and Chicano Studies Department at Metro State. He was an outspoken leader on the importance of education to meet the needs of a culturally diverse population.
A Denver native, Castro received his bachelor’s degree from Metro State and his master’s degree in community organization from the University of Denver. While working his way through DU, he taught part-time at Metro State and was a youth counselor. He was a student activist with such organizations as the Displaced Aurarians and the United Farm Workers. During that time, Castro was arrested after intervening when police allegedly beat a Latino youth. The incident sparked an intense awareness of relations between the police and the Latino population. Throughout this incident and others like it, Castro advocated change through education and politics, rather than violence.
Castro once said, “Education’s role in our society cannot be minimized...It is quite probably the most critical investment a people can make.”
The Richard T. Castro Professorship illustrates how Metro State continues to build on its multicultural heritage and commitment to diversity. Metro State enrolls the highest number of students of color of all the four-year colleges and universities in the state.
The College has set a goal of becoming a Hispanic Serving Institution, with 25 percent of its enrollment Hispanic. Metro State’s leadership team mirrors the diversity of the Denver community and the College is on its way to meeting its goal of recruiting more minority faculty and staff.
For information please contact Lillian Rendon 303-556-4619 or rendonl@mscd.edu.
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