“Who Killed Marcelo Lucero?” A Play About Immigration and Hate Convenes Activists at Adelphi University.

Garden City, NY, April 09, 2010 --(PR.com)-- Adelphi University’s Center for Social Innovation and Levermore Global Scholars Program are co-sponsoring the interactive theater piece, “What Killed Marcelo Lucero?,” by the Brentwood-based theater group Teatro Experimental Yerbabruja, directed by Margarita Espada. The play will be performed on Friday, April 9, 2010, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. in the Ruth S. Harley University Center, Room 313. After attracting the attention of national media last fall, such as the New York Times, a new dimension was added to include audience participation. After the performance, there will be a panel discussion to focus on the issue of immigration and hate on Long Island and alternative strategies that can be implemented to address immigration tensions in communities. The panelists: Margarita Espada, artistic director, Teatro Experimnental Yerbabruja; Dr. Deborah Little, associate professor, Adelphi Department of Sociology and Long Island Wins Delegate to Mexico; Maryann Slutsky, executive director, Long Island Wins; and Dr. Luis Valenzuela, executive director, Long Island Immigrant Alliance. This event is free and open to the public.

The play is based on the November 2008 murder of Ecuadorian immigrant Marcelo Lucero in Patchogue, NY. Lucero was attacked and stabbed to death by a gang of teenagers who were targeting Hispanic immigrants for violence.

The murder, along with the tepid response by some local government officials, triggered outrage that spread well beyond the Long Island village where the crime occurred. While that outrage spurred political action, it also stirred local artists like Teatro Experimnental Yerbabruja to engage the community in search of solutions. To learn more about the group, visit http://www.teatroyerbabruja.org.

To R.S.V.P., contact Yana Kusayeva, at (516) 877-4183 or kusayeva@adelphi.edu, or Dr. Sarah Eichberg, at (516) 877-4418 or eichberg@adelphi.edu.

Center for Social Innovation: The Center for Social Innovation serves as an incubator of serious study and community dialogue to develop new ways of understanding and addressing critical social issues on Long Island. Inaugurated in 2007, the Center advances Adelphi University’s role as an “engaged university” by hosting exhibits, conferences, forums, and workshops on critical issues facing Long Island, often in partnership with other area universities, associations, and organizations. Center events are focused in the areas of thought leadership, community involvement, and student engagement.

Levermore Global Scholars Program: The Levermore Global Scholars Program (LGS) is a program of distinction that brings together students interested in global studies and civic engagement and committed to improving and understanding the world they live in. This innovative program emphasizes global learning, civic engagement, community service in the local organizations, study and service abroad and scholars’ involvement in designing and leading their own initiatives with a social or global cause.

About Adelphi University: Adelphi University, chartered in 1896, was the first institution of higher education for the liberal arts and sciences on Long Island. Through its schools and programs—The College of Arts and Sciences, Derner Institute of Advanced Psychological Studies, Honors College, Ruth S. Ammon School of Education, University College, and the Schools of Business, Nursing, and Social Work—the co-educational university offers undergraduate and graduate degrees as well as professional and educational programs for adults. Adelphi University currently enrolls nearly 8,500 students from 41 states and 63 foreign countries. With its main campus in Garden City and centers in Manhattan, Hauppauge, and Poughkeepsie, the University maintains a commitment to liberal studies in tandem with rigorous professional preparation and active citizenship.

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