On December 1995, Central Connecticut State University opened a Center for Caribbean Studies with the expectation of attracting more students of Caribbean heritage to the University and helping it attain an increasingly diverse student population. CCSU Professor Ronald Fernandez was the center’s founder and Director.
The Center, supported by a $75,000 start-up grant from the state of CT., promoted student and faculty exchanges with Puerto Rico, Jamaica and other Caribbean islands; sponsored cultural activities; and strengthened ties between students of Caribbean heritage and community groups until 2004.
In 2009, The Center’s Advisory Board began a comprehensive review of the Center’s name and mission, and decided to develop new ones that more closely reflect what the Center has become. The Center evolved from an academic center to a student resource center and was renamed as the Latin American, Latino, and Caribbean Center to more completely encompass the various regions represented by the University’s Hispanic and Latino/a student population.
The Center, housed in Elihu Burritt Library, Suite 408, has a growing collection of materials on Latin America, the Caribbean, and U.S. Latinos.