In 2019, Sheila Bock, Claudia Chiang-López, Nicole Cristina Espinosa, Brenda Carolina Cruz Gomez curated a digital exhibit on the art and stories of the decorated mortarboards worn by Latinx graduates at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. The exhibit was on display in the Lied Library at UNLV during the Spring 2019 graduation season. Drawing on photographs and interviews documenting the tradition between 2016 and 2018, this exhibit highlights the perspectives and experiences of individual graduates, as well as the ways in which the mortarboard displays offer insight into the larger social and political factors shaping Latinx graduates’ experiences with higher education.
