Latino Awareness Association, Female Empowerment and Multicultural Education, the Office of Multicultural Affairs and Student Association collaborated to host Loteria Night, an evening honoring Hispanic heritage.
The event took place Wednesday, Oct. 15, at 7:30 p.m. in the Rotunda.
Kathy Perez, president of LAA, explained how Loteria symbolizes Hispanic heritage and close-knit relationships.
“Loteria is a Mexican version of Bingo,” she said. “We play it with our family and friends during family gatherings, birthday parties and holidays.”
Perez was pleased with the turnout and the reactions of attendees.
“The event went very well,” she said. “We had a turnout of about 44 people, and everyone was having fun. We had prizes for winners, and we had some Mexican hot chocolate and sweet bread, as well.”
Student Association’s speaker, Nora Lipetkzy, talked about the importance of representing diverse student bodies.
“I met with Roberto Garcia, [the director of Multicultural Student Services], a few different times about SA collaborating with Hispanic Heritage Month,” Lipetzky said. “Last year was the first year in who knows how long that SA and the Office of Multicultural Student Affairs started partnering at events. What (we) had talked about was ensuring that students felt represented and welcomed through … intersectional events.”
Alex Miller, president of FEME, said the organization works to improve the culture on campus.
“FEME aims to … be inclusive for students of all backgrounds,” Miller said. “We have been working in partnership with a variety of offices and RSOs here on campus to bring together many different groups of people. (We want) to be able to learn from one another and start a conversation.”
Perez talked about how she admired the diversity of world cultures and wanted to share her admiration with others.
“Celebrating diverse heritages and cultures is important to me because I think culture is beautiful,” Perez said. “It is important for others to learn about the different cultures around them because they are all so different and unique.”
Perez said being involved in similar events will lead to friendships and awareness.
“By being involved in diversity initiatives, students can learn new languages, new cultures and new music,” she said. “They will make new friendships, and they will be aware of the differences between cultures.”
Perez said students should look out for upcoming Hispanic heritage programs.
“We have a skull painting event coming up in collaboration with Pinterest,” she said. “That will be happening on Tuesday, Oct. 29, from 6 to 8 p.m. in the Student Life Programming Room. In the near future, there will also be some events focusing on Native American History Month.”
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