Ruben Rivera has a Ph.D. in Religious Studies from Boston University. He recently retired after nearly 24 years as an educator at Bethel University in Saint Paul. The last six years he was Vice President for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. The “Shalom Seminar” he created has been called a “new paradigm” in faith-based diversity efforts and reconciliation across racial and other divides. Z is for Zapatazo: Poems Between the ____ Spaces (Atmosphere Press, 2022; copyright: Ruben Rivera) is Ruben’s first published collection. He lives in Minneapolis with his wife Anita.
