by Martha I. Fernandez
Features Editor
A series of racially insensitive acts directed at Latinos occurred after the University of La Verne’s Cinco de Mayo celebration had come to a close.
The celebration, which consisted of a week full of festivities, was sponsored by the Latino Student Forum (LSF).
The first act of vandalism noted was on flyers publicizing the Cinco de Mayo celebration. On various flyers, LSF was crossed out replaced by the word Chicanos.
“As quick as they would put one of those flyers up, someone would erase it and write Chicanos,” said Harvel Lewis, coordinator of minority student affairs.
On Monday, May 8, posters, photographs and articles featuring famous and influential Latino leaders displayed in cubicles behind the Minority Resource Center were found defaced with black spray paint.
In the same area, literature and art displaying other minority groups are exhibited. However, the Latino subjects were the only ones damaged.
“It was obviously, as far as I’m concerned, a slur or something directed at Latino students,” said Lewis.
Lewis said she has had this display for a few years, but this is the first time any destruction had been done.
“Things happen subtly and they may not seem like big things, but I do believe they can escalate,” she said. “It just seems like such a coincidence that it would happen during the time that Latino students are celebrating.”
The guest speaker for the week, Dr. Mary Prieto-Bayard, assistant professor of behavioral sciences, received a letter on May 10 concerning her lecture.
“It pretended to be from the Mexican government, which it obviously wasn’t,” she said. “It was a crank letter.”
Dr. Prieto-Bayard said the letter stated that Latinos should not be ethnically proud, but should send Mexico money.
“It wasn’t very coherent,” she said.
She said there was an anti-Latina theme throughout the letter. “I think basically at some level, they were questioning my role as a Latina professor.”
There was no return address, but a Mexican flag was embossed on the stationary.
Dr. Prieto-Bayard said she is concerned about the letter, but it will not affect her future presentations.
“I don’t avoid any topics I think are relevant to what I’m trying to teach,” she said.
On May 4, Dr. Prieto-Bayard gave a lecture on the Latino family in the 1990s. In her presentation she discussed how Latino families living in different time periods adapt to the American culture in different ways.
