For her part, Kay K. Shelemay, chair of Harvard’s Standing Committee on Ethnicity, Migration, Rights, called the new observatory a “terrific initiative.”
“It should enhance so many things that we’re doing,” she said. “It's very exciting.... I must say, I'm sure everyone will welcome the [Instituto] Cervantes Observatory to campus.”
The Department of Romance Languages and Cultures, the David Rockefeller Center, and the Committee on Ethnicity, Migration, Rights will play a role in advising the observatory, according to Moreno-Fernández. The Division of Arts and Humanities will manage the observatory, which will also collaborate with the Polinsky Language Sciences Lab.
—Staff writer Madeline R. Conway can be reached at mconway@college.harvard.edu. Follow her on Twitter @MadelineRConway.