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Bucks County Community College Marks Hispanic Heritage Month with Free Events
In celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month, Bucks County Community College invites the public to two free events designed to educate students and the community alike: Latino Business Roundtable on October 12, and Afro Brazilian Culture and Civil Rights October 17.
On Thursday, October 12, the Latino Business Roundtable takes place at the Gene and Marlene Epstein Campus at Lower Bucks.
Moderated by Rafael Collazo, executive director of UnidosUS Action Fund and founder of the BombaLive podcast, the panel discussion includes:
Joel Berrocal, executive director of the National Puerto Rican Chamber of Commerce and broker with the Radcliffe Insurance Group
Sara Gibson, J.D., loan officer with Advisors Mortgage Group
Jose Tilapa, owner of Keystone Boxing & MMA Gym
Lorena Escalera de Rivera, financial center manager with Penn Community Bank
Berrocal and Collazo took part in a similar event last year, when they were among five panelists discussing the Puerto Rican Experience in Bucks County and Beyond.
“I am honored to be part of this distinguished panel during Hispanic Heritage Month,” noted Berrocal. “Together, we will openly discuss our experiences as Hispanic business owners and community leaders, highlighting both the successes and challenges we have encountered along the way."
“Hispanics comprise 19% of the U.S. population and are the second-largest ethnic group after non-Hispanic whites,” added Kevin Antoine, J.D., Associate Vice President of Community and Government Relations and Chief Diversity Officer at the College. “The roundtable discussion will educate the public on the business successes and challenges of this second-largest ethnic population in the country.”
The Latino Business Roundtable takes place in-person at 12:30 p.m. Thursday, October 12, in the Student Commons area of the Epstein Campus, located at 1304 Veterans Highway, Bristol Pa., 19007.
Next, travel to South America to learn about Afro-Brazilian Culture and Civil Rights on Tuesday, October 17, in the Gallagher Room on the Newtown Campus.
Keynote speaker João Victor Nery Fiocchi Rodrigues is a sociology Ph.D. candidate at the University of Pennsylvania. His research focuses on the anti-colonial struggles of the Black diaspora across the Atlantic.
His dissertation work analyzes the relationship between race and citizenship in the process of state formation of Brazil, former Gran Colombia, and the U.S. during slavery and colonialism. Rodrigues earned his Bachelor of Laws and Master of Laws degrees from the University of Brasilia, Brazil. He also studied at the University of Porto, Portugal as a Santander Luso-Brazilian scholar.
The program aims to start a dialogue between the two largest African Diaspora populations, Antoine noted.
“There are more Afro Brazilians in Brazil than African Americans in the United States,” Antoine said. “The language barrier – Portuguese versus English – has prevented a dialogue between the two groups, but both have had similar civil rights movements to overcome discrimination.”
To that end, the public is invited to learn more through the African Diaspora collection at the Bucks County Community College Library. The collection boasts more than 200 curated items, from books to DVDs, donated by Diedre H. Crumbley, a sociocultural anthropologist and retired professor of Africana studies at North Carolina State University.
Afro-Brazilian Culture and Civil Rights takes place in-person at 12:30 p.m. Tuesday, October 17, in the Gallagher Room, located in the Rollins Center building on the campus at 275 Swamp Rd., Newtown, Pa., 18940. It will also be streamed live online. Register for the Zoom link.
The Hispanic Heritage Month events are among several educational forums at Bucks County Community College to encourage dialogue on issues surrounding diversity, equity, and inclusion. To learn more, visit Diversity, Equity + Inclusion or contact diversity@bucks.edu.
Bucks to Hold Fall Open House at Newtown Campus on Saturday, October 28
Bucks County Community College will hold a Fall Open House on Saturday, October 28, 2023, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on the Newtown Campus (275 Swamp Road, Newtown, Pa. 18940). Prospective students will receive valuable information whether they are looking to start their collegiate journey, return to school, pursue a skilled trade, advance their careers or take non-credit courses for personal enrichment.
Attendees will learn about all that Bucks has to offer and have the opportunity to speak with academic deans and faculty about the robust range of academic and occupational programs. Representatives from Admissions, Financial Aid, Advising, Transfer Planning, Workforce Development, Continuing Education and additional resources will be on hand. Attendees will discover a vibrant student life including athletics and various clubs and organizations. Plus, prospective students and their guests will take a tour of the beautiful Newtown Campus and its modern facilities to experience Bucks County Community College firsthand.
Register to attend the Fall Open House. For questions, please email admissionsevents@bucks.edu.
Bucks County Community College Announces Paralegal and Legal Studies Open House
Bucks County Community College will hold a Paralegal and Legal Studies Open House on Wednesday, October 18, 2023, 6:30-8:30 p.m. at the Upper Bucks Campus (One Hillendale Road, Perkasie, PA 18944).
Attendees will learn about the College’s American Bar Association-approved degree and certificate programs which prepare individuals to work as paralegals or transfer to pursue a pathway to law school. Paralegal graduates are qualified to work in law offices, governmental agencies, or other entities in capacities or functions that involve the performance, under the ultimate direction and supervision of attorneys, of specifically delegated substantive legal work. Paralegals may not provide legal services directly to the public except as permitted by law.
During the open house, attendees will hear from Paralegal/Legal Studies faculty and Bucks alumni currently working as attorneys and paralegals. The will be on hand to provide information and tours of the campus.
Registration is not required for this event. For further information, contact the Department of Business + Innovation at business@bucks.edu or call 215-968-8227.
Explore “The Right to Read” with Documentary, Panel Discussion at BCCC
Free film screening at 7 p.m. September 21 will be followed by a Q&A panel with experts on the reading crisis in America as a civil rights issue. More than one-third of fourth graders in the United States read at a “below basic” level, according to a recent report by the National Assessment of Educational Progress. Even more alarming, more than half of Black, Hispanic, and Native American fourth graders score “below basic” on reading tests, the report found.
“What good is winning the right to vote if we can’t even read the ballot?” asks NAACP activist Kareem Weaver in the “The Right to Read.” The 2023 documentary by Jenny Mackenzie and executive produced by “Reading Rainbow” host LeVar Burton addresses the literacy crisis as the greatest civil rights issue of our time.
Bucks County Community College invites the public to a free screening of “The Right to Read” at 7 p.m. Thursday, September 21, at the Newtown Campus. The documentary will be followed by a panel discussion featuring three educators and activists.
The following panelists will share their expertise on the topic after the screening.
Brooks Imel, Ph.D., is an independent educational consultant who works with neurodiverse students as an admissions counselor and executive function coach. His doctoral research focused on the cognitive processes involved in reading, and how comprehension differs when students read from screens versus paper.
Kevin E. Leven is co-leader of the Bucks County Anti-Racism Coalition, a nonprofit charity organization dedicated to educating, informing, and taking action on matters of racial justice. He is also a columnist for the Bucks County Beacon online publication, where he regularly contributes to the “Race Matters” monthly op-ed column.
Lynne B. Millard is Principal Leadership Coach and Special Advisor of School Impact with the School District of Philadelphia. In this dual role, the veteran educator develops and coaches new school leaders, and serves as a liaison between department leaders, key stakeholders, and the Deputy Superintendent.
“The Right to Read” documentary and discussion is sponsored by the College’s Office of the Provost, Bucks Wellness, DEI Programs, Library, and Social & Behavioral Science Department. Learn more about the film on The Right to Read website.
The free event takes place in the Zlock Performing Arts Center, located in the Gateway Center building on the Newtown campus at 275 Swamp Rd., Newtown, Pa., 18940. There is ample free parking.
“The Right to Read” is among several educational forums at Bucks County Community College to encourage dialog on issues surrounding diversity, equity, and inclusion. To learn more, visit the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion page or contact diversity@bucks.edu.
BCCC’s Wordsmiths Reading Series Continues September 22
The Wordsmiths Reading Series, one of the longest-running cultural events at Newtown-based Bucks County Community College, continues its proud tradition of live readings with three exciting gatherings for the fall 2023 season.
On Friday, September 22, at 7:30 p.m., poets Joanna Fuhrman and Lynn Levin will read selected poems in room 142 of the historic Tyler Hall on the Newtown campus.
Fuhrman, an assistant teaching professor in creative writing at Rutgers University, is the author of six books of poetry, most recently To a New Era (Hanging Loose Press, 2021). Fuhrman’s next book Data Mind, a collection of prose poems about the internet, is forthcoming from Curbstone/ Northwestern University Press in 2024. Her poems have appeared or are forthcoming on The Slowdown podcast and in The Pushcart Prize Anthology and Best American Poetry 2023. Last year, Fuhrman became a co-editor of Hanging Loose Press after publishing with them since she was a teenager.
Levin, a poet and writer, is the author of nine books, most recently House Parties (Spuyten Duyvil), her debut collection of short fiction. Philadelphia Magazine calls the stories “vivid, funny, and quietly powerful” and says, “House Parties may break your heart, but it’ll never do it the same way twice.”
A Bucks County poet laureate and winner of the Bucks County Short Fiction Contest, Levin has published stories, poems, essays, and translations in Valparaiso Fiction Review, Elm Leaves Journal, Cleaver, Boulevard, Southwest Review, Michigan Quarterly Review, Mandorla, and other places. She lives in Southampton, Pennsylvania and teaches at Drexel University.
The next reading in the fall series, at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, October 20, will feature poets Patricia Smith and Hayden Saunier.
The final reading for the fall comes on Sunday, November 12, at 1 p.m. when poet Courtney Bambrick and the still-to-be-chosen 2023 Bucks County Poet Laureate will read selected works.
Dr. Ethel Rackin, a Language and Literature professor at the College, is the director of the Wordsmiths Reading Series and Poet Laureate Program. Dr. Rackin has been organizing these public collaborations since 2010, shortly after she began her teaching career at Bucks.
The first Wordsmiths reading was in the 1960s, and featured Allen Ginsburg strumming on his guitar, and chanting verses to the audience as they swayed sitting on top of cushions on the floor. Since then, the series has featured dozens of outstanding and respected poets over the years. In recent years, the series has also featured renowned fiction writers. Poets featured in the series have won a host of awards, including the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book award, and the PEN Literary Award.
For more information on the Wordsmiths Reading Series, contact Dr. Rackin at Ethel.Rackin@bucks.edu.
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