This month is not just for Hispanic Americans to celebrate, it’s a time for people to recognize Hispanic Americans who have contributed culturally and historically to America.
The other significance for this month is that it also contains the dates of the independence for six Latin American countries. Some of the countries are Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua, which are all celebrated on Sept. 15 and Mexico celebrates its independence on Sept. 16.
On Aug. 30, the Diversity Resource Center held a meeting for the planning of Hispanic Heritage Month on campus, but the outcome wasn’t as expected. Though there were only a few people in attendance, LaNeeca Williams went on to explain that she would have a calendar of events put together for the campus.
Some members from Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlan, also known as MEChA, were in attendance to pitch some ideas for Hispanic Heritage Month. MEChA is a national student organization that unites Chicano students while they strive for educational enhancements in their community.
The other hopeful attendee was from the Spanish department and things seemed to move along smoothly.
Williams pointed out that the campus wanted to celebrate Mexican Independence Day on Sept. 13, even though Mexican Independence Day is celebrated on Sept. 16, but nothing has been confirmed. The student activities department picked Sept. 13, because there would be conflicts with sports on Sept. 16.
Some other events were still in planning, but nothing was ready to be released to the public.
Awareness is what the goal would be for these events, but Williams understands the campus needs events that will attract many students. A list of speakers will be put together for these events and presentations are expected all throughout the campus.
Some new ideas were introduced at this meeting and the attendants agreed that the campus needs new innovative tactics to raise the awareness of the Latinos on campus. One of the ideas was to present a few educational films about Chicano culture and history. These movies will be shown throughout the campus and available for everyone.
MEChA will also have a dance Sept. 22 and the money raised will go towards the funding for scholarships.
The event will have three Mariachi groups and a DJ that will consume most of the space for music. The tickets will be available before the event for $10, $5 for students in high school and college students with a school ID, and it will be $15 at the door.
The dates and locations for the rest of the events, discussed in the article, will be released in a week or less. Once the calendar of events is put together, the TODAY will post them for the students to read.
For anyone that is interested in helping with these events, you can also sign up as a volunteer.
For more information, contact Laneeca Williams, director of affirmative action and campus diversity, at 719-549-2210, or by email at [email protected].
