The grand opening of the Wayne State University Hispanic Heritage Room, known as El Salón de Nuestra Cultura, takes place Wednesday, May 5, at 5-7 p.m. in room 150 of the General Lectures Building on the WSU campus. It will be immediately followed by a celebration of 2010 graduates who have been involved with the Center for Chicano-Boricua Studies (CBS) Scholars Program, marking the first official event to be held in the new Hispanic Heritage Room.

The inauguration of El Salón de Nuestra Cultura by Wayne State Interim Provost Phyllis Vroom culminates a three-year initiative led by students and including CBS alumni, WSU faculty and staff, and members of the community.
Alonso Steele, current chair of the project and 2010 WSU graduate in Spanish, said, "I am very impressed with our progress in advancing this initiative. An energetic team is now in place, representing several areas of the community and university."

Following the ribbon-cutting ceremony, CBS will host El Nuevo Comienzo 2010, a celebration honoring CBS Scholars graduating this spring.

The event will feature more than a dozen undergraduate and graduate students representing fields ranging from Fine Arts and Social Work to Mathematics and Engineering. Professional mentors and students participating in the new CBS College to Career (C2C) Program will also be recognized during the celebration, which will include a keynote address from State Rep. Rashida Tlaib, of Southwest Detroit's 12th district.

"I'm really excited about El Nuevo Comienzo," said Angela Gallegos, a CBS C2C peer mentor who chairs the planning committee and is graduating with a degree in Broadcast Journalism. "Our committee has been working hard to make this event truly memorable."

Wayne State University is a premier urban research university offering more than 350 academic programs through 13 schools and colleges to nearly 32,000 students.