Spanish professor shares his love of language

by Kassidee Wozniak News Editor

Enrique Herrera is one of the two full-time Spanish professors at Lock Haven University. He has been teaching at LHU for 23 years.

Herrera describes his educational background as unique due to having a master’s degree in Economics and a doctorate in Spanish. While he was in the process of finishing his Ph.D. at Florida State University, Herrera decided to switch his major. “Another side of me was gravitating toward literature in Spanish,” he said.

One of Herrera’s favorite memories at LHU was being able to work with the Latin American Studies Program to form the Hispanic Film Series in 2000. They hosted movie events that showed hispanic films several times a semester. The goal of these events was to make the LHU community feel more connected with latino culture, according to Herrera.

later received his master’s degree and doctorate from Ohio State University. While he was in the pool of candidates for the presidential position at Lock Haven, he was the provost at Concord College, now named Concord University, located in West Virginia.

Since his retirement, Willis has served two interim presidencies, one at Eastern Michigan University and one at Kansas Wesleyan University.

One of the biggest personal motivators for Willis to accept the position with Lock Haven was the beautiful Susquehanna river and the

From a statistical viewpoint, Willis is keeping a watchful eye on the decreasing enrollment numbers. He hopes that the integration will lead to an improvement and increase in enrollment and student involvement. “It certainly makes sense for universities to cooperate,” he said. “If this is the best way, I don’t know.” recreational soccer in State College. Another one of his favorite pastimes is cooking hispanic cuisine. “I started cooking as a result of missing some of the flavors of Peru,” he said. Herrera encourages his students to embrace the Spanish language even outside of the classroom. He advises them to enhance their comprehension by watching their favorite movies with Spanish captions alongside listening to audiobooks in the native language. The best way to get in contact with Herrera is by visiting him in his office located in Raub 420 or through email at eherrera@ commonwealth.edu.

Willis remains involved with LHU through his interests, community connections, and donations to the LHU Foundation.

LHU would not be The Haven students know and love today without the leadership and guidance received by Willis during his two-decade tenure. Even now in his retirement, he gives his continued support and hopes to see LHU continue to thrive.

Herrera teaches six levels of Spanish courses at LHU. Other classes taught by Herrera include Latin American Culture, Spanish American Regionalist Novel, and Spanish Drama I and II. Spanish Drama II is his favorite class to teach because of the skit performances and discussions of hispanic literature.

According to Herrera, the best part of his job is being able to watch his students’ progression of skills from their first Spanish course to their last. “It’s fascinating to see my students dive deep into Spanish culture for their presentations, skits, or discussions about hispanic films,” he said.

From 2015 to 2019, Herrera also coordinated LHU’s Celebration of Scholarship. The event showcased the work made by students and faculty from all departments and included art exhibits, poster galleries, presentations about academic research, and theatrical performances.

In Herrera’s freetime, he enjoys playing