About

Diana S. Sen, president-elect of the Hispanic National Bar Association, will give the keynote address for Latino Heritage Month 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 22, in room 104 of Kirby Hall of Civil Rights. She will discuss “Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor: Reflections on Latinos and the Law Then and Now.” Her talk is free and open to the public.

Other events in Lafayette’s celebration of Latino Heritage Month include an art exhibition and a night of Latin culture. Award-winning photojournalist Marguerite Nicosia Torres will present the talk “The Audacity of Faith” 4:15 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 1, in the Gendebien Room of Skillman Library. She will discuss her exhibit Madona Del Maiz The Virgin of Guadalupe in Iowa, which runs through Dec. 31 in the library’s Lass Gallery. The celebration will culminate with Latino food and entertainment during the Noche de Cultura 6-9 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 17, in the Landis Atrium of Farinon College Center.

A former Wall Street lawyer and civil rights attorney, Sen is associate counsel for LatinoJustice PRLDEF, formerly the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund in New York, and heads its southeastern U.S. practice. She primarily works to safeguard the civil rights of Latinos in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, and Washington, D.C. Previously she was a litigation associate specializing in general commercial and white collar litigation for six years with the international law firm of Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson in New York. She also was a staff attorney for the Mexican American Legal Defense & Educational Fund in Atlanta, Ga., for two years.

Sen received a Mujeres Destacadas (Outstanding Woman) award from El Diario/La Prensa for her service to the Latino community in April 2008.  She serves on the House of Delegates for the New York State Bar Association and is on the board of Legal Services NYC, the largest legal services program in the country.