Diversity & Multiculturalism
Luis Alberto Urrea, Devil's Highway
In May 2001, 26 Mexican men crossed the US-Mexico border and into an area of the Arizona desert known as the Devil's Highway. Only 12 made it safely across. American Book Award-winning writer and poet Loius Alberto Urrea tracks the paths those men took from their home state of Veracruz all the way norte. They had to contend with the U.S. Border Patrol ("La Migra"); gung-ho gringo vigilantes bent on taking the law into their own hands; the Mexican Federales; rattlesnakes; severe hypothermia and the remorseless sun. Urrea's tale is about the dozen men who walked to safety, and the 14 others whom the media labeled the "Yuma 14" who did not.
Introduction to the Summer Reading Program
The summer reading program is designed to help first-year students make the transition to college, where the reading and discussing of challenging, diverse texts is integral to the campus community. The reading program begins in the idea that becoming a more efficient, engaged, and productive reader can be among the most meaningful outcomes of a college education.
Before they move into their dormitories, all first-year students will have read Luis Alberto Urrea's Devil's Highway. We have asked members of the incoming class to take time to enjoy the book, and to read deliberately and thoughtfully. During the fall semester the faculty and staff of Keene State College will join with first-year students to discuss Devil's Highway. Discussions of Devil's Highway will be part of Integrative Studies courses, and may serve as a common point of reference in a wide range of courses at all of the levels. Students will also have the opportunity to discuss the book in small groups led by faculty, staff, and residence hall advisors.
A workshop on teaching Devil's Highway will take place during the week before classes begin in the fall, and a Multicultural Luncheon Seminar will most likely be offered for faculty and staff by the Campus Commission on the Status of Diversity and Multiculturalism.