Emma Sepulveda, Foundation Professor of foreign languages and literatures and director of the Latino Research Center, will receive the 2007 W. Clark Santini Cup at 4:30 p.m., May 1, in the Redfield Studio Theatre on the Reno campus.

The cup, named for the community activist who led the drive to establish Rancho San Rafael, is presented annually to an individual who uses oral communication to achieve good works or to benefit the community. It is awarded by the W. Clark Santini/Robert S. Griffin Memorial Endowment Fund and the University of Nevada debate program.

Sepulveda has amassed numerous awards for activism and academic scholarship. She received the Thornton Peace Prize in 1993 for her work in defense of human rights and the Latina Women of the Year Award in Literature from the GEMS international television network in 1997. In 2000, Sepulveda received the Silver Pen Award, recognizing distinguished writers in Nevada.

She was the first Latina to be named a Foundation Professor at the University of Nevada, Reno in 2004. In 2005, she received the Governor's Art Award: Excellence in the Arts. In 1994, Sepulveda was the first Latina to run for the Nevada State Senate. The following year, she founded Latinos for Political Education, a northern Nevada not-for-profit that organizes voter registration, get out the vote campaigns, and political education.

Sepulveda is the author or co-author of 17 books including poetry, non-fiction, photography, literary criticism, and textbooks for the teaching of Spanish.