A month-long celebration of Hispanic Heritage was launched at Howard Payne on Saturday, September 17, by the Hispanic Alumni Fellowship. The Fellowship hosted a breakfast attended by nearly 100 alumni, scholarship recipients, other students, prospects, and family members. University President, Dr. Cory Hines was the featured speaker.

Twenty-one students were awarded scholarships from seven separate scholarship funds established by Hispanic alums over the years. The first was the Deborah Renee Memorial Scholarship, established in 1974 by Rudy and Dr. Micaela Camacho.

Introduced at the breakfast were the Reverend Roland Johnson, who will receive the Dr. Jose Rivas Distinguished Service Award at Homecoming, and Elizabeth Santos Garcia (’72), the Coming Home Queen for 2022 Homecoming.

Reverend Ruben Hernandez, spokesman for the Hispanic Alumni Fellowship, said “It’s an honor to help launch Hispanic Heritage Month by awarding scholarships to some very deserving students at our alma mater. Our Fellowship has always been all about giving back, sharing God’s blessings with those whom He has led to this exceptional Christ-centered university, now a federally certified Hispanic Serving Institution. We expect to continue seeing more great things coming from Howard Payne.”