Heritage Months

Students on the Green Space

Heritage months are celebrations of identities that occur over a period of a month when events, speakers, and mixers are organized around this cultural identity. The IC provides funding for several of these month-long celebrations, with information about their national histories below. Other offices on campus, which celebrate their respective cultural months, are also linked below. We hope you will join us for our Heritage Month programming!

  • Latine Heritage Month (September 15 - October 15)

    At Swarthmore College, we celebrate this month whose title includes "Latine" with intention. Historically, this month has been called "Hispanic," "Latino," and "Latinx" Heritage Month. We choose to use "Latine" because it honors those with ancestral roots in Latin America and/or the Caribbean, rather than in Spain, which has a colonial and imperialist history with the peoples centered in this month; we also use the letter "e" at the end of the word to be inclusive of gender and language. In the United States, the month of celebration started as a week in 1968 and then was elongated to a month in 1988. The time period of mid-September to mid-October was chosen because many countries in Central America celebrate their independence days in that time frame. (Source)

  • Pride Month (October) - Visit the Gender & Sexuality Center's website to learn more!

  • Indigenous Heritage Month (November)

    Although commonly referred to as "Native American" Heritage Month, we choose to use the term "Indigenous" for our celebratory purposes at Swarthmore College. This is to be inclusive of those who have identities and experiences as indigenous peoples from areas outside what is commonly considered "America." The first national celebration of this culture occurred as a single day in 1916, which turned into a week in 1976, and then was declared as an official month of celebration in 1990. (Source)

  • Black History Month (February) - Visit the Black Cultural Center's website to learn more!
  • Women's History Month (March) - Visit the Gender & Sexuality Center's website to learn more!

  • Asian Pacific Islander Desi American (APIDA) Month (March - April)

    Similar to the other months represented in the IC's Heritage Month programming, this month is named "APIDA" on Swarthmore's campus for several reasons that intend to include more identities, beyond "Asian." Although there can be disagreement within the communities represented in the acronym, we agree that including Pacific Islanders, those who identify as Desi, and those who feel connected to including "American" in their identity are important to encapsulating the rich diversity celebrated in this time period. This month of cultural celebration started off as a week in 1977 and was officially declared a month of recognition in 1990. Although nationally, the month is celebrated in May, we prefer to move the programming to March and April so as to be mindful of the end-of-the-semester nature of May. (Source)