Learning opportunities a plenty during Hispanic Heritage Week
¿Usted sabe cuánta gente en este mundo habla español?
More than 400 million people worldwide speak Spanish fluently.
In the United States, the Latin-American population is the largest of any minority, with estimates that by the year 2050, one-fourth of the population will be of Latino descent.
From food and festivals to music and movies, Hispanic culture and heritage permeates our nation, so much so that nearly three decades ago an act of Congress declared National Hispanic Heritage Week, which was later changed to National Hispanic Heritage Month.
Beginning Monday, Sept. 26 and running through Friday, Sept. 30, the Utah State University Hispanic Student Union is celebrating Hispanic Heritage Week with a plethora of culture-based activities.
The reason for holding the celebration this week is that it corresponds with National Hispanic Heritage Month and occurs during the celebrations of several independence days.
“One of the things I enjoy [about Hispanic Heritage Week] is that we get to learn all about different Latin American cultures,” HSU president Noemi Rubio said. “We’re really close, we’re friends [and] we stick together. Everybody is like one big family.”
A display of artifacts and information from many different Latin American countries will take place Monday through Wednesday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the TSC International Lounge.
The documentary “Los Trabajadores” (“The Workers”) will be screened in the Sunburst Lounge on Tuesday at 11 a.m., noon and 1 p.m. The film follows two Hispanic men as they immigrate to Texas in search of work, Rubio said. The film last approximately 48 minutes.
A read-in of Latin American authors will be held Wednesday, Sept. 28 from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. During the read-in, people can bring their own Latin-American poetry or literature in Spanish or English and share it with the audience. To sign up for the reading, contact Rubio at noemilrubio@cc.usu.edu.
Lunchtime on Thursday will feature a carne asada cookout near the fountains south of the Taggart Student Center. Rice, beans, carne asada and tortillas will be available for $3 with Horchata available. During the cookout, there will also be live entertainment provided by a group from Ogden specializing in traditional Mexican dance.
A dance featuring Latin music will close out the week on Friday from 7 p.m. to midnight in the Sunburst Lounge.
Though many people feel the organization is just for Latinos, everyone is welcome to attend, Rubio said.
Brad Brown, a sophomore majoring in civil engineering, was first exposed to Hispanic culture while serving a Spanish speaking LDS mission in Tennessee. After he returned last November, he missed the culture and decided to join HSU when he came up the USU this year.
“For me it’s being in the culture again, the whole culture – the language, the food, we’re having a cookout. Ever since I’ve been back from my mission, I’ve missed the culture. Spanish is everywhere,” Brown said.
Nearly one-fourth of the active members in HSU are Caucasian. The group meets every Tuesday from 7:30-8 p.m. in Room 326E of the TSC (also called the Multicultural Lounge).
During the meetings, club members plan out activities, including a soccer tournament and Salsabration – which will be held April 15 as a night of Hispanic food and dance. The whole purpose of the club is to celebrate Hispanic culture from whatever country it may come.
“You really get to meet people and you help people know who Hispanics are,” club secretary Vianey Alarcon said about why she enjoys HSU.
Club treasurer Edison Suasnavas said HSU also has an intramural soccer team that plays every Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. Many non-Hispanic players come to the games each week.
“It’s really fun [when] we hang out,” Suasnavas said. “They laugh at us when we speak Spanish and they try to speak Spanish to us when we’re in the field. It’s really funny.”
HSU will officially be chancing their name to the Latino Student Union by the end of the year, Rubio said. The reason being that Latino refers to both the Central and Latin American countries, while Hispanic often means just the Central American countries.
For more information on Hispanic Heritage Week, contact Rubio at noemilrubio@cc.usu.edu.
-mattgo@cc.usu.edu