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Annual Latin American and Caribbean UniDiversity Festival

Program on the Stage

Audio Production Services by Mike Caldwell

 

5:00 PM

  • Welcome to the UniDiversity/UniDiversidad/UniDiversidade Latin American & Caribbean Festival 
  • Address of the UniDiversity Program Emerald Anniversary by Miami University Vice-President, Office of Diversity and Inclusion Professor Cristina Alcalde.
  • The City of Oxford and the Hispanic Latino American Heritage Month Celebration by Mayor City of Oxford William Snavely 

5:15 PM   

5:45 PM

6:15 PM 

6:30 PM

  • Special Guest Nestor Torres, Latin Grammy Award Winning Flutist

7:00 PM 

  • International Peace Community Parade lead by Roxanne Ornelas, Professor Emerita, Miami University; and Oxford Citizens for Peace and Justice
  • Clavaito, Bachata - Performance by Miami University Ballroom Dancesport
  • Colombia Tierra Querida, Cumbia Colombiana - Performance by Miami University Latiné Student Alliance

7:30 PM 

  • CinciMovement, Dance workshop and performance conducted by Andre Delgado

8:00 PM 

  • Son Del Caribe, Latin Band conducted by Jaime Morales Matto, Music Director, and Associate Professor of Trombone, Miami University  

9:00 PM

  • Closing of the 20th Anniversary Celebration of the UniDiversity Program
Unidiversity festival student attendees

Information Fair

5:30 - 7:30 p.m.

Local community organizations and Miami University programs, departments and student organizations will share information about their programs and events, work and services related to Latin America, the Caribbean and Latino communities in the U.S.A.

Unidiversity festival league of women voters booth

Campaigns

The Oxford League of Women Voters will host a voter registration table at the UniDiversity Festival information fair. This is a great opportunity for you to join the festivities, and also register to vote!

Unidiversity festival attendee with animal

Entertainment at the Parks

  • Amazon John and Silly Safari, Live animal shows and booth
  • Honey Hill Farm, Petting Zoo
  • Oxford Lane Library's Book Bike (bilingual literature), scavenger hunt, paper marigold flowers activity, and more
  • Fairfield Lane Library
  • Strolling Balloon Artist, and Photo Booth
  • Traditional games sponsored by Oxford NAACP
Unidiversity festival food vendors

Food Vendors

A taste of traditional cuisines from Latin America and the Caribbean

  • El Cardenal Taqueria LLC
  • Sabor Alaniz, Mexican Street Corn
  • The Arepa Place LLC
  • Kona Ice, Shaved Ice

Volunteer

Are you a student or community member looking for volunteer opportunities?

Contact: Laura Desmond, desmondl@MiamiOH.edu), Program Manager, International Students and Scholar Services. Coordinator of UniDiversity Volunteers Team.

Information Fair

Are you interested in sharing information about your organization?

Contact: D. Ellis Rates, ratesde@MiamiOH.edu, Associate Director, Center for Student Diversity and Inclusion. Coordinator of the UniDiversity Information Fair.

Student Engagement

Are you a student interested in an engaging intercultural experience?

Contact: Nikki Rose Lescano, lescannr@MiamiOH.edu, Coordinator of UniDiversity Students Intercultural Engagement.

Give a Gift

Please consider contributing to the Latin American and Caribbean UniDiversity Festival Fund.

Gifts to Global Initiatives contribute to the comprehensive internationalization of Miami University and help provide diverse cultural and global learning experiences for students, faculty, and the community.

UniDiversity Scholarship

The UniDiversity Scholarship offers support for underrepresented students, with a preference for Latino/Latina students. Interested students are invited to submit a statement of need detailing the way in which you would choose to use the scholarship and how it would benefit your academic and personal journey.

UniDiversity Planning Committee

Student Organizations

Latiné Student Alliance (former UNIDOS Association)
Miami Activities and Programming
Sigma Lambda Gamma National Sorority Inc.

Campus Collaborators

Juan Carlos Albarran, Latin American, Latino & Caribbean Studies, GIC
Alicia Castillo Shresta, Association of Latinx Faculty and Staff
Laura Desmond, International Student Center, ISSS, Global Initiatives
Gwenmarie Ewing, Performing Arts Series, College of Creative Arts
Paula Gandara, Department of Spanish and Portuguese
Patti Liberatore, Performing Arts Series, College of Creative Arts
Karen O’Hara, Communications and Marketing, Global Initiatives
Christian Ponce, University Communications and Marketing
D.Ellis Rates, Center for Student Diversity and Inclusion
J. Ravancho, Farmer School of Business

Community Partners

Kim Daggy, Enjoy Oxford, Oxford Visitors Bureau
Rebecca Smith, Oxford Lane Library
Ann Wengler, NAACP Oxford Chapter

UniDiversity Student Intercultural Engagement

Nikki Rose Lescano, Alpha Sigma Chapter of Alpha Psi Lambda National, Inc.
Elizabeth Frank, Latiné Student Alliance

Chair, UniDiversity Program, Planning Committee

Jacqueline Rioja Velarde, Center for American and World Cultures, Global Initiatives

Sponsors

The UniDiversity Festival is sponsored by the Center for American and World Cultures -Global Initiatives; Barahona Latino Resource Fund; El Corazon de Mexico, Ballet Folkloric; Enjoy Oxford! - Oxford Visitors Bureau; Miami University Alumni Association; Miami Activities and Programming; Miami University Office for Diversity and Inclusion; Miami Performing Arts Series; Silly Safaris, Live Animal Shows; and organized in collaboration with Miami University: Alpha Sigma Chapter of Alpha Psi Lambda National, Inc.; Latiné Student Alliance; Association of Latin American Students, ALAS- MU Regionals; Association of Latinx Faculty and Staff; Center for International Students; Center for Student Diversity and Inclusion; Department of Spanish and Portuguese; Latin American, Latino/a and Caribbean Studies, GIC and in partnership with the City of Oxford; the Center for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, Miami University Regionals; NAACP Oxford Chapter; the Ohio Commission on Hispanic Latino Affairs; Oxford Lane Libraries; and Oxford Multicultural Family Alliance.

Media Partners

Mujer Latina Today, LLC; La Mega Media; La Vanguardia
Miami University Communications and Marketing

Previous Festivals

2022

5:30 p.m.

6:45 p.m.

  • Welcome to the UniDiversity Festival Celebration by Elizabeth Mullenix, Interim Provost, Miami University
  • Address of the National Hispanic Heritage Month by Lilleana Cavanaugh, Executive Director, Ohio Hispanic Latino Affairs Commission

Performances featured on the stage

5:45 p.m. | Silly Safaris, live animal shows starring RYAN the LION

6:15 p.m. Qué Lindo es Panamá! dance troupe

7 p.m. | Cincy Brazil Samba Dance

7:40 p.m. | Strolling by Alpha Psi Lambda National, Inc. and Flags Parade

7:50 p.m. | Intermission

8 p.m. | Charanga LF, Latin band; and dancing demo by Chevere FL

9 p.m. | Closing of the festival

2021

Proclamation of the National Hispanic-Latino American Heritage Month by the City of Oxford (Tuesday, September 7, 2021)

5:30 pm

  • Proclamation of the National Hispanic Heritage Month by Mike Smith, Mayor, City of Oxford
  • Opening remarks by Marianna Gay, president, UNIDOS, Miami University; and Judge Marilyn Zayas, Ohio's First Appellate District

7:00 pm

  • Welcome to the 18th celebration of the UniDiversity Festival by Professor Cristina Alcalde, vice president of Miami University’s President’s Office for Institutional Diversity & Inclusion, and Manuel Lopez Ramirez, Chairperson of the Ohio Latino Affairs Commission.
  • The Monarch Butterfly Program by McGuffey Montessori School

Performances Featured Onstage

  • 5:45 pm | Amazon John and Silly Safari, live animal show
  • 6:30 pm | Duo Rocha Gândara, Brazilian music
  • 7:15 pm | Maribel Andrade, Criollisima con sentimiento, Peruvian music group featuring AfroPeruvian dances
  • 8:00 pm | Jaime Morales-Matos and Son del Caribe, Latin band
  • 9:00 pm | Closing of the festival

2020

Vulnerable Dreamers (Soñadores Vulnerables) Photography Exhibit

By Ligia Cuevas Johnson, photographer and curator

October 5 - November 30, 2020

Ligia Cuevas Johnson's photographs of Latino children capture the essence of a bright and beautiful generation which could—should—become a tangible asset to America's future.

Business hours | MacMillan Hall, Ground Level
International Student Center | MMH 017 | Global Initiatives

Sponsored by the Center for American and World Cultures

About Ligia Cuevas Johnson

Mexican-born photographer Ligia Cuevas Johnson encapsulates the dignity, honesty and optimism of America’s Latino children in her collection of 25 black-and-white photographs that record the children in their yards, neighborhoods, tiendas and churches. The photographer hopes the exhibit will help viewers gain a higher sense of the young peoples’ normalcy, humor, intelligence and place.

Ligia (“Li”) Cuevas Johnson, a highly trained, creative photographer, has photographed on assignment in Paris, London, Milan, Dubai, Mexico City, Merida, Vancouver, Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, New York, Chicago, Las Vegas and Key West. She’s worked with her husband, a business journalist and Ansel Adams trained photographer, for more than 20 years and has also worked with Kurt Marcus, Joe McNally and numerous other extraordinary photographers.

Her photo work has appeared in Latino magazine and other publications; further, she has won four awards at the Kentucky Professional Photographers Association.

Did You Know?
Ligia Cuevas Johnson was the first donor of the UniDiversity Scholarship Fund. She donated $500.00. This is the first multicultural scholarship of this nature with preference for Latino Hispanic students.

Related sources

About Ligia Cuevas Johnson and the exhibit

Vulnerable Dreamers

Ligia Cuevas Johnson: Colección Fotográfica Soñadores Vulnerables (en Español)


Celebrating the Day of the Dead Traditions

Making Meaning of Loss and Resilience in the Time of Pandemic

Friday, October 30, 5 - 7p.m.
MacMillan Hall, Ground Level, Lounge

This year the traditional altar for the Day of the Dead will honor people affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The display of the altar portrays the broad impact of the pandemic on the overall wellbeing of Black and Latino Ohioans.

Hosted by Unidos -Latinx Student organization, the Center for American and World Cultures, and the International Student Center

The Day of the Dead, or Día de los Muertos, is an ancient tradition dating before the conquest of Mexico by Europeans. Just as it was reinvented to be syncretic with the Catholic tradition of All Saint's Day, so it continues to be continually reinvented as a contemporary living tradition, often with political overtones. ~Giovanni Batz, former assistant professor of Anthropology, Miami University.

Read more and sign up to visit: Celebrating the Day of the Dead Traditions


Miami University Art Museum Events

Broadsides & Calaveras: José Guadalupe Posada

Fall 2020 - Online Exhibition and Related Events
Miami University Art Museum


Other Related Events

Encuentro en el Smithsonian: Rubén Rada y Pedrito Martinez

Thursday, September 17– Streaming online

Heritage and History Month Series - Smithsonian Folklife Festival
RSVP on Facebook site

LULAC 15th Annual Scholarship Celebration

Thursday, October 1– Streaming online

LULAC, League of United Latin American Citizens, Cincinnati OH.
6:00 - 6:40 PM via LULAC Facebook Live and from 6:45 - 7:15 PM via Zoom.

Your Story Matters Cafecito

Thursday, October 8– Livestream online

2:00 pm. Hosted by Chairman, Latino Leaders Network, Mickey Ibarra. The event will include a panel of Latino and Afro-Latinx youth with special guest remarks by Anika Alexa and an interactive Q&A. The event will be livestreamed on Facebook, Periscope, and YouTube.

RSVP - Free and open to the public.

Hispanic Chamber Cincinnati Virtual Annual Gala and Scholarships 2020

Thursday, October 15– Streaming online

5:00 pm. Guest speaker: Dr. O'dell Moreno Owens, President and Chief Executive Officer, Interact for Health and InterAct for Change. For more information visit Cincinnati Hispanic Heritage Month.

Beyond the Day of the Dead: José Guadalupe Posada (1852-1913) as a Revolutionary Artist

Wednesday, October 21, 2020

1:15 - 2:35 PM

Robert Wicks, Director, Miami University Art Museum

Posada’s dramatic visual language struck a deep chord in the Mexican popular consciousness during a time of revolution and has inspired generations of artists and printmakers, even influencing Hollywood films like Coco (2017). This presentation explores the indigenous Mexican origins of Posada’s art of social satire and what makes his art so engaging.

In conjunction with the current Miami University Art Museum Exhibition - Broadsides & Calaveras: José Guadalupe Posada - see virtual exhibition here.

2019

The Center for American and World Cultures, Global Initiatives appreciates the generous contributions of the Barahona Latino Fund; the Office of Diversity and Multicultural Services; the Oxford Community Art Center; and Silly Safaris; and the committed support of our partners: Unidos, Miami University Hispanic/Latinx Student Organization; Lex Latinx Society; Sigma Lambda Gamma; Alpha Phi Omega; the City of Oxford; the Department of Spanish and Portuguese; the Latin American, Latino/a, and Caribbean Studies Program; the McGuffey Montessori School; Miami University Center for Student Diversity and Inclusion; Miami University Association of Latino/a Faculty and Staff; Miami University Performing Arts Series; NAACP Oxford Chapter; Oxford Lane Library; Oxford Visitors Bureau; and Talawanda School District.

Our great gratitude to the volunteers for their enthusiasm, dedication and hard work; to Oxford local businesses for their generous prize donations and support; to the local Latinx food vendors and performer groups that allowed us to enjoy the diverse cuisines and traditional music and dances of Latin American and the Caribbean cultures; and to the community organizations that participated in the information fair, sharing resources related to community services, advocacy and/or civic action opportunities available.

Center for American and World Cultures

109 MacMillan Hall
531 E Spring St.
Oxford, OH 45056