“As part of Hispanic Heritage Month, West Texas A&M University’s Distinguished Lecture Series and the Office for Diversity and Inclusion will present a documentary by Dr. Enrique Alemán Jr. titled, “Stolen Education,” at 7 p.m., Tuesday, Oct. 9 at the Jack B. Kelly Student Center, Legacy Hall. The event is free and open to the public.
Alemán will introduce the documentary he co-wrote and produced before the 70-minute film plays. Afterward, the floor will open for a Q&A discussion with Alemán, followed by a reception.
“Our mission is to educate our students academically, but also through co-curricular activities,” Angela Allen, WTAMU’s chief diversity and inclusion officer, said. “When employers interview candidates, they now ask about students’ experience working with diverse populations and study abroad. Our job is to prepare them academically but also how to be able to work with diverse populations. It’s more than academics in the classroom. It’s getting along with other people.”
“Stolen Education” is a retelling of the federal desegregation court case Hernandez et al. v. Driscoll Consolidated School District. The documentary is about the landmark court case in 1958 where eight elementary students faced prejudice and unjust treatment in a small school in Driscoll, Texas and sued the district for discrimination.
“Our students are very fortunate to get to hear from this man who found out his mother was one of the eight, and he didn’t find out until she was dying,” Allen said. “For him to screen this at WT is outstanding. I think our students will get a lot out of it.”
Alemán, professor and chair in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies at the University of Texas at San Antonio, studies historically underserved students, with an emphasis in Latino students and communities. He is the co-author of “Transforming Educational Pathways for Chicana/o Students,” has published articles in Harvard Educational Review, Race Ethnicityand Education, Educational Administration Quarterly and Equity, Excellence and Education, as well as numerous chapters in edited books.
“It’s poignant right now with all the things going on in the news about immigration,” Allen said. “Hispanic and Latino people are part of American culture, and we have to recognize that. As an educational institution, we need to provide the opportunity for our students to learn about different cultures. I think it’s a wonderful opportunity for our students. Sometimes you don’t think about people other than yourself. There are probably many stories about discrimination that we have never heard about, so to be able to get this information first-hand is excellent.”
For more information about the presentation, contact Allen at 806-651-8482 or aallen@wtamu.edu.”
-West Texas A&M University
