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News Release

Last modified: Tuesday, September 15, 2009

IU Bloomington celebrates National Hispanic Heritage Month

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Sept. 15, 2009

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Indiana University Bloomington kicks off National Hispanic Heritage Month with a musical celebration featuring Alfredo Minetti, a musician and lecturer in the School of Public and Environmental Affairs.

Minetti, along with Yuriria Rodríguez, Guido Sánchez, Leo Mesquita and Rodrigo Pedrosa, will be playing popular songs from Latin America, including "Bésame Mucho," "Guantanamera," "Lamento Borincano," "Caballo Viejo" and many others. The free, open-to-the-public event will take place today, Sept. 15, from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. in the Federal Room of the Indiana Memorial Union.

In addition to today's celebrations, the 2009-10 academic year is the first year that IU students are enrolling with the new IU National Hispanic Scholarship, said Sarah Booher, director of scholarships at IU.

"This is a new scholarship that we have created to enhance the recognition and recruitment of high-achieving underrepresented student scholars," Booher said. "With the Hispanic population being the fastest growing population in the state of Indiana, and in the country, it is critical that we are offering appropriate resources to assist students and their families with the college and scholarship search process."

The $4,000 ($1,000 per year) scholarship can be combined with other scholarships. IU awards this scholarship to all students recognized through the National Hispanic Recognition Program. The eight National Hispanic Scholars who entered IU as part of the 2009 freshman class have an average GPA of 3.7 with average SAT scores of 1360 and ACT scores of 30. In addition to being IU National Hispanic Scholars, this group includes: National Merit Scholars; Hudson & Holland Scholars; IU Excellence, IU Distinction, and IU Recognition Scholarship Recipients and a Fry Scholar.

Learn more about the National Hispanic Recognition Program for outstanding Hispanic high school students at https://www.collegeboard.com/student/testing/psat/about/scholarships.html.

For more information about Latino Studies at IU Bloomington, see https://www.indiana.edu/~latino/.

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