ACCD News & Events

Essayist, Author Richard Rodriguez Kicks Off 2005-2006 SPC President's Lecture Series on Oct. 11

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 8, 2005
CONTACT: Roland Ruiz, Director of Public Relations, St. Philip's College
210/531-4851
rruiz@accd.edu

Award-winning journalist and author Richard Rodriguez, widely regarded as one of America’s most important essayists and a master of the “personal essay,” will kick off the 2005-2006 St. Philip’s College President’s Lecture Series on Tuesday, Oct. 11, with a guest lecture on the college’s main campus (1801 Martin Luther King Drive). In observance of Hispanic Heritage Month, Rodriguez will address the topic, “On Being Brown: Mixture in America,” in a talk scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. in the theatre of the Watson Fine Arts Center. A book signing will immediately follow. Admission is free and open to the public and more information is available by calling 210-531-3260.

Rodriguez, known for his insightful and sometimes controversial commentary on cultural, educational and social issues concerning Hispanic Americans, has worked for over two decades as a journalist for the Pacific News Service in San Francisco. He has been a contributing editor to Harper’s Magazine and the Sunday opinion section of the Los Angeles Times and appears as an essayist on PBS television on “The News Hour with Jim Lehrer.” The George Peabody Award winner will be the first of three speakers to be presented in the 2005-2006 academic year as part of the annual St. Philip’s College President’s Lecture Series. Each year, the college sponsors the series as a forum for the community to hear noted speakers’ perspectives on a broad range of local, regional, national and international issues.

Rodriguez, the son of Mexican immigrants, grew up in Sacramento, California, and writes about the intersection of his personal life with some of the great vexing issues of America. His work includes the 1982 autobiography, “Hunger of Memory: the Education of Richard Rodriguez.” This memoir has remained controversial for its skepticism regarding bilingual education and affirmative action. In 1992, Rodriguez published “Days of Obligation: An Argument with My Mexican Father,” which focused on the moral landscape separating “Protestant America” and “Catholic Mexico.” More recently, in 2002, Rodriguez published a series of essays titled “Brown: The Last Discovery of America.”

St. Philip’s College, one of the Alamo Community Colleges serving the greater Bexar County region, is a comprehensive community college designated as both a Historically Black College and a Hispanic Serving Institution. St. Philip’s College is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.