Celebrating Latine Heritage Month | ClarkNet, the Clark School of Engineering Administrative Web Portal

Celebrating Latine Heritage Month

Welcome once again to a new academic year and, with it, a renewed opportunity to celebrate the history and heritage among us, part of what makes the Clark School family unique and our community so strong. I am proud that we have this opportunity to celebrate and learn more about the various constituencies within our school.

Inside and outside the classroom, some of our most important work is building community—seeding and growing the connections that will help us succeed here in College Park and throughout our lives. We take that privilege and responsibility seriously in the Clark School, and we hope you will, too.

We begin the year by marking Latine Heritage Month (September 15–October 15). Beginning on September 15 in celebration of the Independence Day of many Central American countries, Latine Heritage Month honors the strength and determination of Latine people in the U.S.—more than 65 million individuals as of 2023. Representing over 19 percent of the U.S. labor force, their contributions are crucial to our nation’s history, culture, and economy. In Maryland, Latine individuals represent 9.8 percent of the labor force and 9.2 percent of business owners, contributing significantly to our state’s growth and vitality.

Here at UMD, the campus-wide theme for the month is “Juntos Bajo el Sol y la Luna,” Spanish for “Together Beneath the Sun and the Moon,” which calls our university community to honor the personal histories that make our campus vibrant. At the Clark School, we are proud to celebrate Latine engineers who are developing fearless ideas for a better future.

Coming to the U.S. from Chile in fourth grade, mechanical engineering senior and Clark Scholar Camille Israel-Espinoza wants to inspire the next generation of engineering students the way she was inspired. She and her cohort of Clark Scholars are creating a children’s picture book series, which introduces the engineering fields, to donate to young people on Maryland Day.
At first, college felt like a culture shock for Aralia Ramirez, assistant director for the Clark School’s Office of Global Engineering Leadership; as a second-generation Mexican-American—her mother emigrated from Mexico to Chico, California, in the 60s—Ramirez came to understand the great importance of community. Today, she develops programs, including the ClarkLEAD Welcome initiative, that create a culture of community where students feel they belong.

Our school and university are strengthened by the ongoing contributions made by all our Latine community members. We encourage you to share these and other stories, and join in the campus-wide events for Latine Heritage Month, open to all.

This year, the university’s Office of Multicultural Involvement and Community Advocacy and the Coalition of Latinx Student Organizations coordinated a calendar of events to commemorate National Latine Heritage Month.

Other dedicated resources include UMD’s Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers and the Society for the Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science at UMD, which welcomes all students, faculty, and staff to join in fostering broad success in attaining advanced degrees, careers, and positions of leadership in STEM.

Thank you in advance for joining in our Fall 2025 history and heritage month celebrations, and for the opportunity to showcase our collective excellence.

Sincerely,

Samuel Graham

Dean and Nariman Farvardin Professor