Mortensen Library DEI: Home

Welcome to the Mortensen library's guide to celebrating Heritage Months. Throughout the year, the Mortensen Library commemorates national heritage months and identity acknowledgements in Conjunction with the DEIJ office. These recognitions are an opportunity for all members of the campus community to continue learning and engaging, while raising visibility for communities across campus and beyond. The library recognizes each monthly observance with creative book displays highlighting our varied and rich collection.

Below are some program highlights from previous years.

2023 MLK Observance  
Rosa Alicia Clemente is an award-winning activist, cultural commentator, independent journalist, and 2008 vice-presidential candidate of the United States on the Green Party ticket. According to Clemente’s website, “Rosa has been a constant on-the-ground presence through the many political struggles facing Black and Latinx people in the 21st century.” Clemente will focus on the next generation doing its part to be engaged in ongoing social activism and change. Clemente holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Albany and a master’s degree from Cornell University. She is a current PhD candidate at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She is the 2022 recipient of the UAlbany Alumni Association’s Excellence in Diversity and Inclusion Award.

2021 Native American Heritage Month Observance  
Join us on Tuesday, Nov. 9, 2021 at 11:30 a.m. for “Being Indigenous in CT,” co-sponsored by the University of Hartford UIS Program and Office of Diversity & Community Engagement, and the Noah Webster House and West Hartford Historical Society. Speakers Sage Phillips and Lee Mixashawn Rozie will share their experiences of being Indigenous in the state of Connecticut.

2020 Hispanic Heritage Month Observance
Dr. Anthony De Jesús will examine contemporary Latino/a/x identity through a historical analysis of three Afro-Puerto Ricans (Pedro Albizu Campos, Felicita Mendez, and Antonia Pantoja) who made significant contributions by advancing political independence, civil rights, and bilingual education as strategies for full social, cultural, and linguistic inclusion.