ALAS celebrates Hispanic Heritage Month

Karina Garza | Contributing Reporter

The Association of Latin American Students (ALAS), an affinity group and support network for Hispanic and Latinx students at Washington University, programmed several events to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month and welcome new students to the organization.

Hispanic Heritage Month is a nationally recognized holiday in the United States that begins Sept. 15 and ends Oct. 15. These dates represent a significant time in history for many Latin American countries.

“It celebrates Hispanic [heritage]—the independence of a lot of Latin American countries was gained in September; so, that is why it is globally used as a month to celebrate Hispanic culture, Hispanic independence of countries and, in the United States, it includes Latinx culture,” ALAS Co-Heritage Chair junior Maria Cortez Lopez said.

ALAS kicked off Hispanic Heritage Month by hosting Club Caliente, a Latin Dance night, on Sept. 7.

“For Hispanic heritage month, we like to combine some social and some educational stuff and involve the greater Latinx community. So, for the social stuff, we have a Latin dance night that occurs in Mudd Multipurpose. And we reach out to anyone who likes music in Spanish and hear music that they wouldn’t hear at other venues in St. Louis,” Lopez said.

ALAS hosted their first general body meeting of the year, which focused on the history of both the organization and the history of Latinx students at the University, on Sept. 12. During the meeting, Lopez provided a forum to speak about individual experiences being Latinx.

“I think specifically, at Wash. U., it is our time to show the rest of campus that we are here and to share our voices,” ALAS External Vice President and senior Sabrina Sedovic said.

The number of Latinx students at the University has trended up in recent years, composing 7.4 percent of the student body in 2018, up from 6 percent in 2017.

“Hispanic Heritage month is to recognize each other’s heritage, culture and accomplishments,” ALAS Internal Vice President and junior Brady Delgadillo said. “For Latinx and people of color in general, a lot of those things are overlooked.”

Latinx students were given the chance to engage with their own stories and identity with the prompt, “I came from” through a whiteboard campaign.

“We have a whiteboard campaign where we like to engage the greater student body at Wash. U. and raise awareness about where people’s heritages come from,” Lopez said.

ALAS also programmed a Welcome Back Barbecue Sept. 15.

“The welcome back barbecue is an ALAS tradition, and it is usually held one of the weekends of Hispanic Heritage month and usually on the [South] 40 because it is an event more targeted toward freshman. We have a fun barbecue [with a] carne asada vibe. It is a good way to get introduced to new members in a casual and fun environments since everyone loves free food,” Lopez said. “We usually supplement the usual barbecue with potluck sides like guacamole or pico de gallo or salsa, stuff that people would probably eat at home if they went to a barbecue.”

To introduce students to greater community service engagement, ALAS planned a Latinx Community Service in St. Louis Session for Sept. 19.

“We [did] a panel on community service, which is how you can get involved with other [organizations] in St. Louis that service that Latinx community. So, we [had] partners like the MICA Project, which works with immigration in the St. Louis community and other student groups that also have a focus on helping Latinx populations in St. Louis,” Lopez said.

ALAS President senior Sofia Orelo believes Hispanic Heritage month serves as a great way to welcome new students to ALAS.

“I personally don’t think it should be minimized to a month…. [but] if there are new Latinx people, new first-years that want to know more and feel more included and more welcome by the community, it’s definitely a good time to show them that they have family here,” Orelo said.

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