To launch TCU’s new Comparative Race and Ethnic Studies program, the AddRan College of Liberal Arts will host a speech by pioneering Mexican-American history scholar Albert Camarillo on Tuesday, Jan. 31.

Camarillo, founding director of the Center for Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity at Stanford University, said the goal of his talk is to is to share ideas about an undergraduate curriculum and to suggest ways to build a diverse and inclusive university community.

“Any effort to diversify a student body must begin with a commitment to do so by the faculty and administrative leadership of a college or university,” he said.

Max Krochmal, assistant professor of history at TCU, was a key contributor to building the Comparative Race and Ethnic Studies program. As of Spring 2017, the university now offers the program as a major and a minor.

Manochehr Dorraj, professor of political science at TCU, said the program is launching at an opportune time, given the tension happening around the United States.

“This major will enrich the college,” said Dorraj. “It is also important for non-minorities to understand other cultures and ethnicities.”

Krochmal said the purpose of inviting Camarillo to campus is to foster discussion on why diversity matters in the 21st century, and he hopes the new ethnic studies program helps TCU recruit more students and faculty of color.

Camarillo’s free talk will talk place Tuesday, January 31, at 6:00 p.m. in the Brown-Lupton University Union.