Texas Tech Professor to Host Panel on Latinos in US Sports

Written by Kate Lepard

Texas Tech University Professor and Associate Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, Jorge Iber, will host a panel to discuss both the historical and current role of Latinos in U.S. sports at 7 p.m. May 4 in the Matador Room at the Student Union Building.

Iber, who recently co-authored the book, “Latinos in U.S. Sport: A History of Isolation, Cultural Identity, and Acceptance,” will be joined by three other experts for the panel discussion.

• Irma Garcia: athletic director at St. Francis College in Brooklyn, New York, and the first Latina to serve as an athletic director at a United States-based college or university
• Steve Wilson: adjunct instructor at Portland State University and author of “The Boys From Little Mexico,” a book about immigrants and high school soccer in Oregon
• Maria Buns-Ortiz: a writer for ESPN News and Fox News Latino who specializes in stories on Latinos in sports.

The panel will discuss the issues confronting Latinos who participate in U.S. sport as well as draw from some of the ideas in Iber’s book.

“For the longest time, many historians argued that there was no need to write about Mexican-Americans or other Hispanic groups because their story was not really important," Iber said. "That debate was settled by the late 1960s and early 1970s, and people came to realization that yes, this is a viable, vibrant and important field. It is time to add the story of sports to this historical tapestry."