The Department of Romance Languages hosted a talk yesterday evening by Alberto Vasallo III, the President and CEO of Boston-based newspaper El Mundo. The discussion, which took place in Barnum 008, addressed Vasallos activism for the local Latino community.
The event began with an introduction from Lecturer in Spanish Nancy Levy-Konesky, who described the importance of Vasallos close relationship with the Boston Red Sox to promote outreach toward Latino students in the city.
He has done such wonderful work to maintain creative and original programs, and has incredible future plans for these communities, Levy-Konesky said.
Vasallo then spoke about his various outreach programs and events, including Latino Youth Recognition Day and Latino Family Festival, which take place annually in Bostons Fenway Park.
Weve been hosting Latino Youth Recognition Day since 1995 as a response to a high dropout rate in local schools, he said. These events have meaningful social value, but they are a lot of fun.
Vasallo described Latino Family Festival as the largest event put on by El Mundo, one that takes approximately eight months to plan each year.
It took 10 years for me to get the Red Sox to agree to a family celebration where we completely take over Fenway Park, he said. It was going to be a one shot deal, but it was such a success that the mayor wanted to do it again and make it bigger and better.
The festivals aim is to create a welcoming environment to celebrate Latin American culture in a setting integral to the Boston area, according to Vasallo, who explained that all of these events are open to the entire community.
We want to identify the culture, but anyone can come, he said. Its a very diverse event and very different from a Red Sox game. We want it to be a true reflection of Boston.
Vasallo showed the audience a series of videos in which students, children, parents and vendors spoke about their participation in the events at Fenway Park. The segments, which alternated between English and Spanish, also featured diverse speakers including a Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital doctor and Carlos Casanova from Project Runway (2004-present). All expressed gratitude for El Mundos promotion of community health, education and unity.
In addition to the annual festivals, El Mundo launched the Latino Career Expo Series, which Levy-Konesky described as the largest and most diverse Latino job fair in New England. Vasallo said this is part of the newspapers ongoing effort to connect big American businesses directly to Latino populations.
Weve been able to pierce that wall of corporate America, Vasallo said. El Mundo will visit CEOs around the country to break down barriers and show the significance of the shifting population demographic.
He referenced the increasing proportion of youth in America that is of Hispanic heritage while the mean age of a person living in Boston is 41 years old, the mean age of a Latino in Boston is 28, according to Vasallo.
I consider myself in the new generation of bicultural Latinos, Vasallo said. For [El Mundo], this is a niche to reach out to by large-scale event marketing and putting clients together with the market.
Vasallo also fielded questions from the audience, welcoming them in either language. One student asked about how El Mundo will adapt to an increasingly digitized media landscape.
Our smaller community niche still looks for the newspaper, and our business model is to deliver news to the entire Latino community in the next five years, he said. We use more English in our digital mediums, because it appeals to our younger readers. We will also be using more social media to reach out.
Vasallo also explained that learning Spanish will give students a competitive edge in todays market, despite Englishs prominence.
English will always be the number one language here, but jobs are based on skills, he said. Why cant we be like Europe, and learn to speak and accept more than one?
Vasallo ended the talk by addressing discrimination and prejudice towards Latinos in the workplace.
Often, you have to work twice as hard for half the credit, Vasallo said. Thats why these events are bigger and better, and, in the end, having to raise the bar has served us well.
The discussion was followed by a Cuban dinner reception, during which students were invited to enjoy Cuban cuisine and continue a dialogue with Vasallo.
