Take a seat, pour a drink, and enjoy a “Long Island Iced Latina,” from keynote speaker Marga Gomez for Hispanic Heritage Month.

The free event is at 7 p.m. Wednesday in Warriner Hall’s Plachta Auditorium.

The event sponsored by Minority Student Services and the Office of Gay and Lesbian Programs is for those interested in knowing about life in Gomez’s eyes as the only brown girl in a white high school, what it means to be Latino and can’t speak Spanish and everything in between.

MSS Interim Assistant Director Lester Booker said MSS selected Gomez to speak at Central Michigan University because of her comedic personality and life experience.

“She brings comedy and a non-traditional format of education,” Booker said. “I wanted to change up the traditional format and incorporate some education plus entertainment. That is how true thought and social change will take place.”

Shannon Jolliff, director of the Office of Gay and Lesbian Programs, said Gomez will bring excitement and humor to Plachta.

“Marga Gomez is a talented comedian and speaker and Minority Student Services made an excellent choice for a speaker for Hispanic Heritage month,” Jolliff said.

This would be Gomez’s first time at CMU, but she is not new to the stage or spotlight. Gomez’s new play “Long Island Iced Latina” was presented to full houses at Miami’s South Beach Comedy Festival, New York’s Teatro Stage fest and The National Hispanic Cultural Center in New Mexico, Booker said.

Muskegon sophomore Lisa Townsel said she would like to go to this event because she can relate to some of Gomez’s challenges.

“I feel like I can relate to her simply for being a brown girl in a white school, and I want to learn how a minority should cope with being the only minority in those situations,” she said.

Townsel would also invite her friends because they would like to have a good time and laugh.

Booker hopes students leave from this event with a new insight on the personal struggles of the Latina community.

“(Students should leave) understanding that it’s everyone’s responsibility to promote diversity, empathy and acceptance on campus,” he said.

E-mail the author: Sherri Keaton