Haydil Henriquez '14, and Brianna Serrano, Intercultural Center Program Administrator, attended the Pan American Day celebration on April 14, 2014 sponsored by the Pan American Association of Philadelphia.

The luncheon and Pan American Scholarship Award ceremony for eight Philadelphia-area student award recipients was held at the Union League of Philadelphia. 

The students who received an award, and guests,  were welcomed by Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett, and Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter.  The students were honored by His Excellency Eduardo Medina-Mora, Mexico's Ambassador to the United Kingdom, who served as the awards presenter and keynote speaker.

Haydil Henriquez was nominated by a Swarthmore faculty member and received the award for her outstanding excellence in Latin American Studies.

Haydil's academic and non-academic work includes well-rounded and interesting experiences at home and abroad.  Her work and experience with Latinos in the United States is complemented with her experience in Latin America, specifically in Colombia and Brazil.

In Colombia, Haydil has served as a board member, teacher, and program coordinator for Taller de Paz for four years. Taller de Paz works with displaced families in Bogota, Colombia, teaching empowerment workshops and organizing a Comité de Padres (Committee of Parents).  Haydil has also helped to found and establish the first spoken word collective at Swarthmore College, Our Art Spoken In Soul (OASIS), where students compete nationally in a spoken word slam against universities from all over the U.S.

Additionally, Haydil served as a board member of ENLACE, Swarthmore's Latino Student organization, and helped to organize Latino Heritage Month in 2011.  For the past two summers Haydil has interned at the DreamYard Project, a non-profit providing art programming in public schools in the Bronx, and the Children's Aid Society, a non-profit providing summer programming for the middle school division across New York City.