Hispanic Heritage Week hosts a variety of activities
As the new week begins on campus, so does Hispanic Heritage Week.
The week is dedicated to educating the public about the cultures’ heritage.
“The purpose of the Hispanic Heritage Week is to have events that are meaningful to the culture that we are representing,” said the president of the Hispanic Student Union, Ernesto LÃpez, a senior majoring in Spanish.
LÃpez has been in HSU for four years and the president for one.
Melody Callan, a freshman majoring in early childhood education and HSU member, said the purpose of the week is, “to help expose all the student body to the colorful heritage that the Hispanic community has to offer. It will be a lot of fun.”
In past years, the week was during the spring semester but was moved to fall semester because National Hispanic Heritage month is Sept. 15 through Oct. 15.
“We wanted to go with the flow,” LÃpez said.
The week has struggled the last few years, he said.
“There was hardly any turnout from students,” LÃpez said of past years. “We hope to get it going.”
HSU is the brain behind Hispanic Heritage Week. The union has always been responsible for both planning and executing the week, LÃpez said. This year is the first year they will get a little help from the Spanish Club.
“Maybe that was the problem in past years,” LÃpez said. “They [HSU] tried to do everything by themselves so nothing ended up getting done.”
The Spanish Club will help pass along the news about Hispanic Heritage Week by passing out fliers and helping with some of the activities.
“We are trying to combine efforts,” LÃpez said.
HSU always welcomes new members. Unlike the myth the Hispanic Student Union is only for Hispanic students, the club, like the other multicultural clubs, is open to anyone regardless of culture.
“It’s a big misconception that the Hispanic Student Union is only for Hispanics,” LÃpez said. “It’s good for other people to join so more people can know about it.”
Monday, Tony Yapias, director of the state Office of Hispanic Affairs in Utah, will be speaking in the Sunburst Lounge at noon about the changing face of Hispanics in the United States. Yapias was appointed director on April 3.
LÃpez said Yapias will be a good speaker because he likes to be involved with the activities in universities.
Tuesday, HSU will be having a Carne Asada Cookout. It will be on the Taggart Student Center patio at noon.
Thursday there will be a read-in, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Sunburst Lounge. Readers will be reading selected poems, papers and songs by Hispanic writers in hour intervals. They will be switching between English to Spanish.
There will also be a display in the Sunburst Lounge from Tuesday through Thursday about geography of Hispanic countries and influential Hispanic people.
Other upcoming HSU events include Miss Diversity and Salsabration in October.
-vramirez@cc.usu.edu