Support APSU Hispanic Alumni Club while celebrating Homecoming 2017

CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – At Austin Peay State University’s Hispanic Cultural Center, visitors often hear the phrase, “Where strangers become amigos and amigos become familia.”

“That’s our motto,” Louise Mitchell, HCC coordinator, said. “That’s what we’re all about, and we want to continue that theme after our students graduate.”

For years, Austin Peay’s Hispanic graduates continued to feel they were part of a “familia” thanks to the University’s Hispanic Alumni Chapter, but recently that chapter’s membership began to drop. When Dr. Osvaldo Di Paolo Harrison, APSU associate professor of languages and literature, took over the chapter earlier this summer, he decided it was time to revive the organization. The chapter was recently reorganized as the Hispanic Alumni Club, and members are now working aggressively to reestablish its presence in the community and become an official alumni chapter again.

“This club is a way of being connected with the University and the community, but it is also a way to build scholarships for students,” Di Paolo Harrison said. “We need 201 members to become a chapter again. You don’t just become a member when you graduate. You have to sign up.”

Membership in the club is free, and individuals do not have to be Hispanic to join. To sign up for the club, visit /student-life/hcc/hispanicapsualumni.php.

In an effort to reestablish its presence in the community, the club will host a couple of events during Austin Peay’s Homecoming celebration. At 10: 30 a.m. on Saturday, Oct. 21, the club is partnering with the APSU Hispanic Cultural Center for a networking brunch, “Meet and Greet with the HCC/HAC,” in the HCC’s Morgan University Center location. The event is free, but the club and the center will be selling special shirts to raise funds to endow the APSU Hispanic Alumni Scholarship.

“For the past few years, we have been working to endow a Hispanic Alumni Scholarship,” Di Paolo Harrison said. “The proceeds from the shirts will go to make possible that endowment.”

The club will also host a tailgate before Saturday’s homecoming game, beginning at 2 p.m. in Tailgate Alley, outside Fortera Stadium.

The club is planning several events for the rest of the year, and that information will be available on the APSU Hispanic Alumni Club Facebook page. For additional information or to purchase a shirt, visit the club’s webpage or the HCC’s page at /student-life/hcc/ or contact Di Paolo Harrison at dipaoloo@apsu.edu.