Amber Esparza
Managing Editor
The Office of First-Year Experience will host a Common Experience Speaker Series event featuring 2022 Texas Poet Laureate Lupe Mendez.
This will be Mendez’s second appearance at Texas A&M University-San Antonio, after first visiting in April for a poetry reading and Q&A of his book “Why I Am Like Tequila.”
The event will take place 5:30-7:30 p.m. Oct. 4 in the auditorium. The event can also be accessed virtually on Zoom.
Mendez will read some of his poetry, discuss his journey as a poet and activist and talk about his experiences working in education.
“Students will get a chance to learn about his work as a poet, but also really learn about his own life and what got him here and what pushes him to continue his roles as a poet, educator and activist,” said Myrna Garza, a coordinator for the Office of First-Year Experience.
While Mendez’s first visit was heavily focused on his poetry, students can expect to learn more about him in the upcoming event.
“There will be a poetry reading component, but we also wanted to dive deeper into his identity and his other work outside of his (poetry),” Garza said.
A peer leader and student worker from the Office of First-Year Experience will also lead a Q&A with Mendez about racial literacy, how that involves his roles as a poet, activist and educator, and how it’s influenced his positions today.
Garza said the event will include a reading of the university’s land acknowledgement statement, which is a recognition of the land’s ethnic ancestry and historic relevance.
Garza said the university’s land acknowledgment has not yet been part of events held by the Office of First-Year Experience, but she is excited to be able to include it in this event and possibly others in the future.
“Our goal will be to start incorporating it into other events that we have within our program,” Garza said.
Students can RSVP to attend in person or on Zoom on JagSync.
