Spring 2010 Update!

Apologies for the extended delay in updating the website!

DB kept busy in the spring semester, welcoming a new executive board for Spring ’10-Fall ’10 and carrying out several projects/events!

WELCOME NEW DB BOARD!

Co-Presidents: Cristina Ruiz and Luis Gonzalez

Vice President: Jorge Castillo

Treasurer: Adrian Godoy

Publicity Chair/Historian: Machiste Quintana

Senior Advisor: Nicole de Paz

Senior Advisor: Bianca Rolon

Spring 2010 Events!

Friday, February 12th: Cena a las Seis! DB co-hosted a dinner with Ballet Folklorico at La Casa for the Yale community, which included a game of DB/BF jeopardy and of course Mexican and Puerto Rican food.

Friday, Feb. 26th: Screening and Talk with Hamza Perez, Director of “New Muslim Cool,” a documentary about his experiences as a Muslim Puerto Rican rapper.  Co-sponsored with the Muslim Students Association.

Friday, April 9th: Public Health Lunch with Dr. Oxiris Barbot, Director of the New York City Bureau of School Health, AND a Yale and DB alum! A collaboration with the Yale Public Health Coalition.

Thursday, April 15th: Cooking with Profesora Lillian Guerra! As part of Caribbean Week, DB and CAUSA collaborated with Profesora Lillian Guerra for an evening of delicious Cuban & Puerto Rican food-making mixed in with some informal lessons in Caribbean history from this exceptional scholar!

Saturday, April 17th: Caribbean Week Reception! DB co-sponsored a reception with DSA, CAUSA, Y-WISO, and Klib Kreyol to close Caribbean Week. This included Caribbean food and a keynote speech by Professor Lillian Guerra.

Monday, April 19th: Bulldog Days Caribbean Desserts Night! The third annual Caribbean Desserts Night brought together students from DB, DSA, CAUSA, Y-WISO, and Klib Kreyol to cook and serve delicious desserts for admitted high school seniors. We figured that flan de guayaba, flancocho, coquito (sin ron!), and queso blanco con pasta de guayaba might entice some prefrosh to choose Yale

Wednesday, April 28th: DB Social! True to DB tradition, spring reading week included a DB Social for DBers to step away from their papers and textbooks to enjoy some bonding time with fellow boricuas (&friends!)

And, most recently (May 2010), DB put together a press release expressing solidarity with students involved in the UPR strike on the island. A mention of the press release can be found in Primera Hora, here. Below is the text (apologies for those who do not read Spanish). A separate post will be made with the press release itself. Special thanks to Adrian Godoy, Luis E. Gonzalez, and Jorge Castillo for their work on this.

“ Estudiantes del grupo estudiantil Despierta Borciua, de la Universidad de Yale, repudian mediante un comunicado de prensa el trato de sus compañeros estudiantes de la Universidad de Puerto Rico.“Repudiamos ciertas posturas y acciones tomadas por la administración universitaria en el pasado, por ejemplo, el prohibir la entrada de agua y comida a los predios universitarios para el sustento de los estudiantes que ahí se encuentran. Exhortamos que haya un diálogo constante y abierto entre la administración y los estudiantes. Exigimos que la Fuerza de Choque de la Policía respete los derechos de los estudiantes eliminando la presencia de ellos en el campus; de igual modo, que el Gobierno de Puerto Rico tome la iniciativa de promover el diálogo y no la violencia. ¡Exigimos que se respete el derecho a la educación! “, lee la misiva del grupo, compuesto por entre 15 y 20 alumnos puertorriqueños que estudian en la Universidad de Yale.’”

That’s all for now! Until the fall, when we welcome DB class of 2014!

The Latest October News

This weekend, a very special Puerto Rican came to Yale University—the newest (and first Latina) Supreme Court Justice, Sonia Sotomayor–and we had the privilege to hear her speak!

While this caused us to postpone our DB NYC Trip until early next semester, the consensus among the DB Board was, in the words of an unspecified board member, “That was so worth it.”

The Latest October Events!

Wed, Oct 21, 6 PM: DB Dinner Meeting, DPort Fellows Lounge

Fri, Oct 23, 3 PM, LC 105: Second talk in the Perspectives on Puerto Rico Lecture Series: Literature and Poetry—“Legacy of Two Poets: Luis Palés Matos & Julia de Burgos,” with Professor Aníbal González-Pérez, see below for more information!

Sat, Oct 24, 9 PM-? DB Social, location TBA

Wed, Oct 28, 6 PM: DB Dinner Meeting

Tues, Nov 3, 5 PM, location TBA: Third talk in the Perspectives on Puerto Rico Lecture Series: Environmental Issues—with Dr. Arturo Massol, Professor of Biology with interests in bioremediation and biodegradation, who has done research and activism related to the environmental effects of the US Navy’s occupation and bombing of Vieques, a small island off the coast of Puerto Rico. Title TBA.

For more information about Dr. Massol, click here.

Fri, Nov 6, 3 PM, location TBA: Fourth talk in the Perspectives on Puerto Rico Lecture Series: Constitution and Politics–
with Professor Charles Venator, PhD, from the University of Connecticut’s Institute for Puerto Rican and Latino Studies, who is “currently completing a book-length manuscript on constitutional interpretation and the creation of spaces that belong to the U.S. but are not a part of the nation for constitutional purposes,” a category that includes Puerto Rico. Title TBA.

For more information on Dr. Venator, click here.

Nov 6, 6 PM, La Casa Cultural: “Cena a las Seis,” a collaboration between Despierta Boricua and Ballet Folklórico de Yale, to bring you delicious food and great company.

———————————————————————————————————–

The “Perspectives on Puerto Rico” Lecture Series presents…

“Legacy of Two Poets:  Luis Palés Matos and Julia de Burgos”

with Yale Professor Aníbal González-Pérez

Friday, Oct. 23rd, 3 PM, in LC 105

Professor González-Pérez will present a brief overview of the lives and major works of these two poets–arguably, the greatest Puerto Rican poets of the 20th century–and talk about how their work has continued to influence contemporary authors in Puerto Rico and beyond–not just  poets, such as Angelamaría Dávila and others, but also narrators like Luis Rafael Sánchez, Ana Lydia Vega, Edgardo Rodríguez Juliá, and Mayra Santos Febres.

An Exciting October with DB!

September proved to be a busy and successful month for DB, with our annual DB Welcome Dinner, elections for the new 2009-2010 executive board, our participation in the 45th annual Connecticut State Puerto Rican Parade (and Banquet!) and a great Latino Heritage Month event with Yale alum Pablo Delano, a documentary photographer and current professor of fine arts at Trinity College in Hartford.

Pictures will be up soon, but until then, here’s the scoop for October!

DB Dinner Meeting: Thursday, Oct. 8th, 6 PM, Dport Fellow’s Lounge
Now DB Dinners will be weekly!

DB Dinner Meeting: Wednesday, Oct.  14th, 6 PM, Saybrook Dining Hall

[postponed due to Justice Sonia Sotomayor's Lecture]
DB New York Trip: Saturday, Oct. 17th, time TBD

El Museo del Barrio is re-opening with an events-packed Open House! And it’s free! Unfortunately, we cannot cover transportation to/from NYC. Check back for details on this educational (and most definitely fun) trip!
http://www.elmuseo.org/

DB Social: Saturday, Oct 24th, time & location TBD

Other upcoming events in-the-works:

Our Columbus School tutoring program will be starting up by the end of October!

We’re planning a series with speakers on different topics related to Puerto Rico–from history to literature to gender/sexuality to science!

There’s talk of planning a Puerto Rico Spring Break trip!

If you would like more information on any of these events or ideas, come to our meetings or email the board!

Upcoming September Events

We’re just getting started with the year, so check back often to see what’s going on with DB!

Friday, Sept. 11th, 5:30 to 7 PM: Despierta Boricua Welcome Dinner @ La Casa

(RSVP here by Wednesday, Sept. 9th)

Wednesday, Sept. 16th, 7:30 PM: First General Meeting PLUS ELECTIONS!

Sunday, Sept. 20th, 1 PM-onward: CT State Puerto Rican Parade! In Downtown New Haven
(If you want to march in the parade with us, click here by Friday, Sept. 11th)

Early October: Latino Heritage Month event, TBD

Also coming up:

Painting the DB Room in La Casa!

A screening of The Borinqueneers, an award-winning documentary on the all-Puerto-Rican 65th Infantry Regiment.

Our mentoring program with Columbus High School

Career Workshops with DB Alums

And much more!

Welcome, Class of 2013!

Class of 2013, welcome to Yale!

You’re currently looking at the website for Yale’s Despierta Boricua group, the Puerto Rican student organization on campus, which is open to any student–Puerto Rican or not, from the mainland or from la isla, undergraduate or graduate–anyone interested in celebrating and learning more about Puerto Rican culture and history!

Click on the tabs above to explore the website, and be sure to catch us at the FRESHMAN BAZAAR, Sunday, August 30th, from 12 to 3 PM out on Beinecke Plaza. We’ll be there with a big ol’ board, current DB members, and answers to any questions you may have! Come out and meet us, and add your email to our panlist so you can stay up to date with all upcoming DB events!

If you happen to miss us at the Bazaar, or just want to add your email to the panlist right now, click here.

See you soon!

Love,
The DB Board

New DB Website Under Construction!

Hello!

This new DB Website is currently under construction.
Check back soon for information about DB’s history, DB board members, past events, pictures, and more!

*If you have suggestions for content you’d like to see on our website, please comment below!