Contact: Kenneth Billings
STARKVILLE, Miss.--A former adviser to Bill Clinton and one of the highest-ranking Latinas to serve in a presidential administration is helping Mississippi State observe Nov. 16-20 as International Education Week.
Maria Echaveste of Washington, D.C., a former White House deputy chief of staff in the second Clinton administration, speaks at a 7 p.m. public program Tuesday [the 17th] in the second-floor Taylor Auditorium of McCool Hall. "The Face of America: Transcending National and International Borders" will her topic.
International Education Week was launched in 2000 by the U.S. Education and State departments. Taking place the week prior to the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday, it now is observed in more than 100 countries.
Sponsored by the university's Richard Holmes Cultural Diversity Center, the campus events are designed to help campus and community populations develop a broader understanding and appreciation of world cultures and languages, among other goals.
Echaveste currently is a Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress and a co-founder of the Nueva Vista Group, a policy, legislative strategy and advocacy group working with non-profit and corporate clients. [A complete biography may be viewed at www.allamericanspeakers.com/speakers/Maria-Echaveste/4693.]
Her visit and other IEW activities are co-sponsored by the Campus Activities Board, Office of Study Abroad and International Student Organizations, along with the Northeast Bottling Co. of Starkville.
Other events include:
--Monday [the 16th], a display of world flags, along with an 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Study Abroad information display in the Colvard Student Union's first-floor Gaddis Hunt Food Court area. Also, at 5 p.m., a "Study Abroad 101" program will be held in the union's Dawg House lounge, also on the first floor.
--Wednesday [the 18th], a 2-4 p.m. panel discussion on world religions in the union's third-floor Fowlkes Auditorium and a 7 p.m. screening of the movie "Persepolis" in McCool Hall's first-floor Rogers Auditorium. [For more on the 2007 award-winning animated film, visit www.imdb.com/title/tt0808417/.]
--Thursday [the 19th], 11 a.m.-1 p.m. "Taste of International Cuisine." Samplings of Iranian, Indian, Chinese, Pakistani, Thai, Turkish, and other Middle Eastern and African foods will be provided on the Drill Field by International Student Organizations.
For more information, telephone the Holmes Cultural Diversity center at 325-2033.
For more information about Mississippi State University, see http://www.msstate.edu/.