Sept. 15 marked the first day of Hispanic Heritage Month, which celebrates over 20 Hispanic and Latinx communities around the world. Across the 5Cs, various clubs and organizations are hosting events and introducing new cuisines to dining halls to celebrate.
Kicking off the month, students at Pomona College said they are planning to celebrate through various parties.
“I know there’s a ‘Carnival’ party happening later this month, [and] I plan on going with one of my friends who is part Brazilian/Japanese,” Jacob Zarate PO ’27 said.
Chicano Latino Student Affairs (CLSA) is an affinity group for Latinx students at the 5Cs, one of many organizations that provide resources and support for Latinx students. Other organizations include Scripps College’s Cafe Con Leche, Claremont McKenna College’s Mi Gente and Pitzer College’s Latinx Student Union (LSU).
Joseline Aguilera CM ’27 shared that on the first day of Hispanic Heritage Month, members of Mi Gente and other Latinx students gathered together to celebrate. Aguilera, a CLSA sponsor, added that more events are in the works.
“For CLSA, we’re also having an event towards the end of Hispanic Heritage Month where we come together to celebrate all of Latin America,” Aguilera said. “We’ll have tables, food and knickknacks to represent all the different cultures.”
On Pitzer’s campus, LSU hosted several events to commemorate the start of Hispanic Heritage Month. This included a themed “Snackie,” a weekly Pitzer tradition, where students enjoyed various foods from a wide array of Latinx cultures.
The organization also hosted an “LSU in the Kitchen” event, where students cooked tostones at the Pitzer Demonstration Kitchen. Barron said that LSU still has its “El Mercadito” event to look forward to, which will close out Hispanic Heritage Month.
“El Mercadito brings Latinx-owned vendors from the area, cultural performances, and activities like piñata breaking to Pitzer’s campus,” LSU Co-President Osvaldo Barron PZ ’27 said.
This year’s El Mercadito will take place shortly after Hispanic Heritage Month ends on Oct. 19.
However, not all students feel that Hispanic Heritage Month has been celebrated enough on campus. For instance, some students have voiced complaints that Scripps has not done much to celebrate the month, apart from hanging up posters and decorations of Latinx culture.
“I feel like a good event would be a potluck, where people can bring different cultures into the mix,” Karina Hernandez SC ’27 said. “I’m ethnically Mexican and I feel like other cultures are not as seen during Hispanic Heritage Month.”
Hispanic/Latino community members make up only 19 percent of Scripps’ campus population, as of the 2022-2023 school year. According to Hernandez, this can be difficult.
“At a predominantly white institution, it’s easy for people of color to feel erased,” Hernandez said. “There’s a running joke that photographers only take pictures of people of color to prove [Scripps] has diversity.”
At Harvey Mudd College as well, some students feel that there has been little effort to celebrate the start of Hispanic Heritage Month.
“Even with Salsa-Mudd, a Hispanic affinity group with a big emphasis on social events, Hispanic Heritage Month isn’t talked about much,” Julia Kolt HM ’26 and CLSA sponsor, said.
Still, Kolt said that she enjoys being involved in the Latinx community at the 5Cs.
“I didn’t grow up around many Hispanic people, so it’s nice to find a community with similar interests and backgrounds to mine,” Kolt said.
At the same time that Latinx student organizations are holding events for the community, Scripps and CMC’s dining halls are celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month by offering new dishes on their menus. These dishes focus on traditional cuisines across the cultures in Latin America.
“We’re featuring Latin American and Hispanic-inspired dishes with a focus on corn in traditional items like tortillas,” said General Manager of Malott Dining Hall Mark Gillera.
At CMC, Collins Dining Hall has adopted a theme called “Mundo Latino” which occurs every weekend, and more often during Hispanic Heritage Month.
“They make a bunch of dishes from around Latin America like tortas, esquites, tostadas and other different foods,” Aguilera said.
Aguilera emphasized the importance of food in bringing people together and celebrating identity.
“For a lot of Latines, a big way of showing gratitude is through food,” Aguilera said. “Sharing food, dancing, and showing up to future social events is a good way of showing community and being an ally.”
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