By Michelle Roberts
Arizona Daily Wildcat
The provost of the new four-year campus was elected to the vice chairmanship of a national humanities federation for the 1995 term.
Celestino Fernandez began a four-year term on the Federation of State Humanities Councils' Board of Directors last year. His one-year term as the vice chairman started at the beginning of this year. The position is not salaried.
The federation represents all state humanities councils to the federal government, including Congress and the National Endowment for the Humanities. The non-profit group began in 1977. Every state and U.S. territory has a humanities council.
Fernandez said the state councils help distribute funds for any issue of importance to the community. He said the Arizona council has sponsored reading, literacy and cultural programs, as well as programs for teachers. The council has also funded a variety of discussions and museum programs.
Local organizations can apply for grants through state councils. Fernandez said some of the grants go up to $10,000.
Fernandez said the funding distributed by the state councils is provided by the National Endowment for the Humanities, private donations and sometimes individual state governments.
John Kissler, a special assistant in the New Campus office, said, "(Fernandez' election) will certainly be an opportunity for the federation to learn about the new campus. It'll offer the opportunity for other institutions to become aware of what we're doing in Arizona."
Before being elected to the federation, Fernandez served on the Arizona Council of Humanities' Board of Directors for about six years. He said he originally became involved with the Arizona council after it funded several of his projects during the early 1980s.
In addition to being the executive vice president and provost of the new campus, Fernandez is also a University of Arizona sociology professor. He has been a member of the faculty since 1976.