America Ferrera at Latino Cultural Dinner

America Ferrera, star of the ABC television comedy Ugly Betty, will discuss her personal experiences with education, diversity and changing lives at Illinois State University’s 2011 Latino Cultural Dinner on Monday, Oct. 3, at 6 p.m. in the Bone Student Center Brown Ballroom. 

Tickets will be on sale through Monday, Sept. 26, and will be available for purchase in campus dining centers. Tickets are $16.75 plus tax for the general public, and $13.50 for faculty, staff and students without a meal plan. For University meal plan participants, the cost is one meal swipe. 

Ferrera, best known for her portrayal of Betty Suarez on ABC’s Ugly Betty, has starred in films such as Real Women Have Curves, How the Garcia Girls Spent Their Summer, How to Train Your Dragon, Under the Same Moon and both parts of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. She has also served as an artist ambassador for the global humanitarian organization Save the Children, was the 2010 recipient of the Hispanic Heritage Foundation's Inspira Award and the recipient of the 2011 Global Action Award for Childhood Development and Education.

The evening will include a dinner prepared by Illinois State University Catering, which will feature Honduran specialties in honor of Ferrera’s Honduran heritage. There will also be a special performance by three-time Grammy nominee and legendary Cuban pianist Chuchito Valdez and his trio.

The event is sponsored by University Housing Services along with the Association of Residence Halls, Campus Dining Services, Latin American and Latino/a Studies Program, Watterson Area Government and Watterson Unity.

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