LV Life

Fiesta brings Latin flavor to ULV

In honor of Latino heritage month, Rosa Arcadia, president of the Latino Student Forum, announced for the fiesta, which was held Monday in the Quad. Along with information and food booths, KULV's "Big B," Brian Ortega, provided music at the event. / photo by Adam Omernik
In honor of Latino heritage month, Rosa Arcadia, president of the Latino Student Forum, announced for the fiesta, which was held Monday in the Quad. Along with information and food booths, KULV’s “Big B,” Brian Ortega, provided music at the event. / photo by Adam Omernik

by Amby Sarabia
Assistant Editor

Latino music and the mouth-watering smell of enchiladas and fajitas were spread all over campus Monday as the Latino Student Forum held the Latino fiesta in honor of Latino heritage month.

The event, which was held at the University Mall, was intended to expose the University’s students as well as its faculty to the many different Latin countries, said LSF President Rosa Arcadia.

“We wanted the entire campus to be exposed to the vibrant and captivating countries that constitute the multifaceted Latino community,” she said.

With nine booths set up along the University Mall, participants were able to receive information about the different Latin countries such as: Cuba, Peru, Guatemala, El Salvador, México, Columbia, Nicaragua and Belize and the influence the cultures have had on the United States.

Aside from gaining valuable information from the informative booths, students and faculty members sampled free food from the different countries.

There were enchiladas, fajitas, bunhuelos, churros, Mexican Jell-O, horchata and jamaica.

“We wanted students to realize Latino culture is very diverse within itself and help them get some real background information,” Arcadia said.

Latino heritage month is celebrated from Sept. 15 to Oct. 15 to honor all the important historical events, which occurred at different times in each country.

“We had a good turnout, but it was difficult to schedule it with such a short time limit,” said Arcadia. “I mean we did not want to surpass the last day.”

An estimated 300 people attended the fiesta.

“The event was to better inform those who did not know much about the culture,” said Sonia Nuñez, director of activities. “We made sure to have more than one country there.”

Artifacts, clothing, paintings and pottery were showcased at the different booths representing each country.

“It was important to bring the Latino culture to the small town of La Verne,” said Nuñez. ‘Especially since we have such a diverse campus.”

“I had a lot of fun,” said junior Michelle Fletes. “It is important that people are made aware of the Latino culture; hopefully they were able to gain more of an insight into the culture.”

With a campus that promotes cultural diversity, it was of no surprise that such a large number of faculty and students turned out for the event.

Piñatas were also broken open in honor of the fiesta.

Amby Sarabia, Managing Editor
Amby Sarabia
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Adam Omernik, Photography Editor
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