This endowment campaign will let us build LAS into a institute for communication and collaboration between the university and all its different units, and with the national and international Latino and Latin American community, said Professor and LAS Director Cliff Welch.
The increased funding an endowment would provide would also allow LAS to expand its collaborations with various GVSU units, including the Seidman School of Business, the Padnos International Center, and the Van Andel Global Trade Center.
This campaign will lead to enhanced diversity and internationalization within the university, and will allow more opportunities for students to apply their knowledge of Latin American Studies through internships, conferences, and seminars, Welch said.
Welch and civic leader Francisco M. Vega have worked for the past two years on ways to help LAS reach out to the West Michigan Latino Community to meet with the needs of its people.
Vega will serve as honorary chairman of the endowment campaign, with a steering committee that includes Welch, D & W Food Centers Chairman Robert Woodrick, Jacqueline Villegas, human resources manager for Cintas Corp., and Eduardo Sanchez-Rojas of GVSU's Minority Affairs office.
Vega has advised governments on the local, state, and federal levels on issues of concern to Latinos. He is the historian and one of the five founders, in 1967, of the Republican National Hispanic Assembly. This year he served as Michigan Hispanic State Chairman for U.S. Senator John McCain's presidential campaign.
A longtime community activist, Vega is co-founder of the Hispanic Center of Western Michigan, and the Latin American Council. He is the President/CEO of the League of United Latin American Citizens. He was appointed by Bishop Rose to the Board of Directors of Catholic Social Services, and serves as a commissioner on the Secchia Millennium Commission. A decorated veteran of World War II, he saw action in five campaigns, including the June 6, 1944, D-Day Landing at Omaha Beach, and in the Battle of the Bulge.
I am pleased to be involved in this project at Grand Valley, Vega said. Through this institute we will facilitate communication with the exchange of ideas in education, in business, and in community leadership. We will make an impact locally and throughout the hemisphere, he added.
