Keene State College and the KSC Multicultural Department celebrated Latino Culture on Thursday, Oct. 3, from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. in the Mabel Brown Room.
As a part of Latino Heritage Month, officially honored from Sept. 15 to Oct. 15, the group organized a festive dance and food gathering.
Sandra Garcia, the coordinator of the Diversity and Multicultural Office, along with an intern for the office, Jessica Pierre, helped organize the event filled with performances, live music, traditional foods and information about the Latino culture.
Many students from the Spanish studies department, students with Latino background, friends and other students attended the event and enjoyed dancing and sharing the experience with others, according to Pierre.
She said, “We put up flyers, contacted professors and had a lot of students offer ‘word-of-mouth’ about the event.”
Junior Michelle Green, who is studying Spanish at KSC, said she found out about the program from her professors and friends who were planning to attend.
Jeremias Campos, another student at KSC, said, “This is quite a good turnout but there are more students who would enjoy it.”
Garcia explained, “We had two major goals for tonight, to celebrate Latino heritage month and to encourage students to showcase themselves, to learn and look into their roots. They are someone to be celebrated.”
“In the beginning they played a video for everyone, giving an introduction to the Latino culture and explain the purpose for having a get together like this,” Green said.
The video presented many different faces of KSC students and faculty, who shared their experiences in the Latino culture and why they loved their heritage. Pierre put the video together, turning it into an introduction and good representation of the culture, according to Garcia.
Tim Smith / Equinox Staff
“Then, they had performers and live musicians who were incredible. I was a little nervous when the dancing began, but they had videos to help us, and everyone was very welcoming. I love dancing and the style of dance is beautiful,” Green said.
She added, “And have you tried the food? It’s amazing!”
Campos spent the majority of the night dancing with everyone and encouraging those more shy and unfamiliar to Latino dance to get up and join in.
He said, “You don’t have to be Latino to dance and love this culture. That’s what tonight is all about, people joining together and getting out of their comfort zone. It’s all fun.”
He then popped right back up and joined in with friends and classmates to dance to “La Negra Tiene Tumbao,” a dance video on Youtube that the organizers played on the big screen to help teach everyone the moves, according to Campos.
He said, “I learned how to dance just by observing and enjoying it. Others can, too. Without music, it would be harder to find such a strong connection to my culture. It really keeps it alive for me.”
“I grew up in a culture where any celebration was centered with music. It really brings everyone together,” Garcia said.
Garcia added, “There’s a misconception that only those students with Latino heritage are welcome to our events. Everyone is invited, we want as many students here to enjoy the music and help us all celebrate. Hopefully, we plan to have similar night’s like this in the future and that students, from any background or culture, will come and participate.”
Eleanor Marshall can be contacted at emarshall@keene-equinox.com
