CROEM graduates to participate in Puerto Rican Parade activities
By The Star Staff
The Graduate Student Association of the Mayagüez Residential Center for Educational Opportunities, known as CROEM ALUMNI, will be represented by a group of CROEM graduate students who will travel to New York to participate in the 66th edition of what was the Puerto Rican Day Parade and now is to be known as the National Puerto Rican Parade.
“There is a lot of excitement among the group of CROEM graduate students, who have reorganized to participate in the largest Hispanic cultural event in the nation, which brings together nearly two million people on Sunday, June 11 on Fifth Avenue in New York,” said Wilson Nazario, executive director of CROEM ALUMNI. “We have appointed environmental scientist Nydia Yanira Reyes as our presidential delegate and Silvia Ramírez, who will be in charge of coordinating our participation in the activities of Puerto Rican Week in New York City and the 2023 National Puerto Rican Parade.”
Puerto Rican Week in New York will begin on Sunday, June 4 with the celebration of the Annual Mass of the National Puerto Rican Parade at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, located on Fifth Avenue, New York. The calendar of activities of Puerto Rican Week highlights the celebration of the reception at the home of Mayor Eric Adams, known as “Gracie Mansion,” scheduled for the afternoon of Thursday, June 8.
The National Puerto Rican Parade will take place on Sunday, June 11 starting at 11 a.m.
“Our organization CROEM ALUMNI reports that on Friday, June 9, the delegation from Puerto Rico that includes mayors, legislators and public officials will participate in a conversation aimed at the empowerment of communities whose theme this year will be the important theme of ‘Health: Needs and Opportunities for Puerto Rico,’” Nazario said. “We can anticipate that Major General Dr. Lester Martínez López, a son of Maricao and current assistant secretary for health Affairs of the United States Department of Defense … will be with us. Likewise, Dr. Carlos Mellado López (secretary of the Department of Health), Dr. Carlos Rodríguez Mateo (administrator of ASSMCA), Luis Rodríguez Díaz (director of the Traffic Safety Commission), attorney Luis Javier Hernández Ortiz (president of the Puerto Rico Mayors Association), businesswoman Sheila Otero Rivera and ambulance industry specialist Asiris Rodríguez, Cameron McKenzie (president of the Puerto Rico Chamber of Commerce), Sen. José Luis Dalmau Santiago (president of the Puerto Rico Senate), Rep. Rafael Hernández Montañez (speaker of the Puerto Rico House of Representatives) and the scientist assigned to the Atlanta CDC, Dr. Francisco ‘Paco’ Tomei Torres.”
The CROEM ALUMNI director added that while it was previously reported that the event is free of charge, for reasons of space, those wishing to participate must submit a request and be granted confirmation of their seat by calling 787-409-8376.