The Hispanic-Latino Association is preparing festivities for Hispanic Heritage Month, which is from Sept. 15 to Oct. 15. The aim is to help spread Latino culture and foster a Latino community on campus. Included in these festivities is La Gozadera, a closing event set to be the largest of the semester.
This will be the organization’s third Hispanic Heritage Month celebration on campus since the HLA’s founding in the spring of 2022.
“With La Gozadera, we’ll have music, and people can come be in community with us and celebrate what being Spanish means, which is really fun,” said Julia Dominguez, president of the HLA. She added that the event drew over 700 attendees last year.
Hispanic Heritage Month started as National Hispanic Heritage Week, which was established in 1968 during the tenure of President Lyndon B. Johnson. President Ronald Reagan expanded it to a full month in 1988.
“A lot of Latin American countries gained independence on September 15,” Dominguez said. “We love doing social events, but we have to look back on the history to see the why. Why have we needed this? Why is this here? That way we’re both learning and reaching out with events.”
Dominguez said that she wants to break the feeling of underrepresentation of Latinos on campus.
“I’ve been in classes where I look around and I’m the only Latina, and this isn’t from a lack of numbers. There are thousands of people on campus who identify as Hispanic or Latino; it’s just a matter of getting to them,” Dominguez said.
However, changes brought about from SB129, which restricts state funding for so-called “DEI programs,” have hindered HLA’s function.
“We always used to use the intercultural center, but they close early now, so we can’t use their meeting space. At our last meeting, we had 50 chairs, which was the max, and we still had 50 people standing. That wouldn’t have happened in the intercultural center,” Dominguez said.
Traditional funding avenues for the HLA, including those from the University, have been shut down due to the law, forcing the HLA to curb the amount of planned events as well as each event’s size, Dominguez added.
Dominguez also noted that despite funding and logistical setbacks, the organization has grown to 800 members and 100 active members.
“We really do push that you’re gonna be experiencing Latino culture, eating Latino foods,” Dominguez said of HLA. “We always try to cultivate a space where everyone’s open to join, not just Latinos.”
