FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Gwen O’Brien
Director of Media Relations
Saint Mary's College
Notre Dame, IN 46556
(574) 284-4579
October 7, 2009 (Notre Dame, Ind.)—Saint Mary’s College students will host a Day of the Dead celebration at Warren Primary Center in South Bend on Oct. 27 from 6-7 p.m. Day of the Dead, or Dia de los Muertos, is a traditional Mexican holiday that celebrates life after death and the memory of loved ones. The holiday is widely observed on Nov. 1 and 2 in connection with the Catholic holy days of All Saints Day (Nov. 1) and All Souls Day (Nov. 2).
La Fuerza, a Latina heritage club at Saint Mary’s, and the College Academy of Tutoring (CAT) program will co-host the event at Warren. “La Fuerza strives to introduce Latino culture to the Saint Mary’s campus through rich cultural events, and we are happy to do the same at Warren. Dia de los Muertos has a special significance to our culture and it represents the ideas and beliefs about life and death,” said Cristina Posadas 11’, president of La Fuerza.
The celebration will start with a brief history of the holiday. Activities will include Warren Primary Center students reading essays and there will be an educational display of a Day of the Dead altar. The event will conclude with dinner and carnival-like booths run by the volunteers.
“Our Day of the Dead event provides fun and educational activities for the children and offers an opportunity to reach out to the school’s growing number of Latino students. We hope the celebration makes them feel welcomed and integrated into the school community. It’s also a way to introduce students who are not Latino to the culture,” said Olivia Critchlow, CAT director. Through the CAT program, Saint Mary’s students serve as tutors and teacher assistants at Warren. Many of the teacher assistants work in the school’s English as a New Language (ENL) classes.
This will be the third year Saint Mary’s has hosted the Day of the Dead celebration. Last year over 150 people participated in the event, and the planners expect even more this year. “La Fuerza wants to be connected to the South Bend community. Warren has been making efforts to celebrate and integrate the cultures of all of their students and we are happy to support that,” said Posadas.
The media is invited to cover this event. Warren Primary Center is located at 55400 Quince Road, South Bend, 46619.
Note: The contents of this press release were developed under a grant from the Department of Education. However, those contents do not necessarily represent the policy of the Department of Education, and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government.
About Saint Mary’s College: Saint Mary’s College, Notre Dame, Ind., is a four-year, Catholic, women’s institution offering five bachelor’s degrees and more than 30 major areas of study. Saint Mary’s College has six nationally accredited academic programs: social work, art, music, teacher education, chemistry and nursing. Saint Mary's College ranks among the nation's top 100 liberal arts colleges in U.S. News & World Report's 2010 annual survey. Founded in 1844, Saint Mary’s is a pioneer in the education of women, and is sponsored by the Sisters of the Holy Cross.
