Dr. Delia Fern谩ndez-Jones will present a lecture, 鈥淒on鈥檛 leave it to Chance: Inclusive Placemaking for Belonging and Access,鈥� during 换妻社区鈥檚 2026 Hispanic Heritage Month Lecture on Tuesday, Sept. 15, at 3:30 p.m. in the concert hall of the Jack H. Miller Center for Musical Arts. The public is invited and admission is free. Doors will open at 3:15 p.m. and there will also be an audience Q&A session and panel discussion following the presentation.
Dr. Fern谩ndez-Jones is the associate dean for inclusive access and faculty affairs
in the College of Arts and Letters at Michigan State University. She鈥檚 also an associate
professor of history and a core faculty member of Chicano/Latino Studies at MSU.
Her lecture will reflect on her personal and professional journey as a first-generation Latina college graduate who later became a professor of Latinx history and a higher education administrator. Dr. Fern谩ndez-Jones will present on how we can create inclusive spaces through placemaking. In understanding how Latinxs have done this in the past in West Michigan, we can learn how to intentionally make places where people can both access necessary resources for their survival and thriving and feel belonging. Invoking women of color feminism, Dr. Fern谩ndez-Jones asks us to consider our role in intentionally creating space for one another while not leaving it to chance.
About Dr. Delia Fern谩ndez-Jones
鈥� position on the dean鈥檚 senior leadership team centers on creating and sustaining equitable relationships and policies within the college. As a historian and scholar of Latinx studies, she draws on her lived experiences as a Latina in Michigan. She鈥檚 also engaged in extensive primary source research to document and theorize Latinx placemaking and belonging in the Midwest. She is the author of the award-winning book, 鈥淢aking the MexiRican City: Mexican and Puerto Rican Migration, Activism and Placemaking in Grand Rapids, Michigan鈥� (University of Illinois Press, 2023). She is currently a part of two community-engaged historical projects: 鈥淭he Grandville Avenue Marker Project鈥� and 鈥淧reserving Nuestra Herencia.鈥� Both are centered on helping communities preserve their histories through oral histories, digital scanning and the creation of open access archives. She is proud to be one of the first 100 Chicanas to be awarded a Ph.D. in history.
National Hispanic Heritage Month runs from Sept. 15 鈥� Oct. 15. The college鈥檚 Center for Diversity and Inclusion is presenting the Sept. 15 lecture in collaboration with the Latino Student Organization, the history department, the First Generation Student Union, the Office of Culture and Inclusive Excellence, and the Latin Americans United for Progress (LAUP).
To inquire about accessibility or accommodations to fully participate in the event, please email accommodations@hope.edu. Event updates are posted when available at in the individual listings.
The Jack H. Miller Center for Musical Arts is located at 221 Columbia Ave., between Ninth and 10th streets.