Asha Longsworth
Staff Writer
The Latino Student Forum hosted a “CumbiaLandia” event May 14 on Citrus Lawn.
This event was LSF’s last event for the year.
“We’re trying to make it an annual thing,” Sophia Santana, senior biology major and LSF President, said. “Cumbia originates from Colombia – it’s a lot of drums and two step beats.”
Traditional cumbia consists of African percussion and Indigenous wind instruments like maracas and tambor llamadores. It has heavy percussion, woodwinds and brass instruments. A live banda playing cumbia music was a fusion that truly emphasizes diversity and inclusivity.
“There’s samba, salsa, bachata and banda,” Ahsha Jones, senior psychology major, said. “So many different dance genres native to Latin America. I appreciate LSF, IDEAs, and Housing introducing cumbia to La Verne.”
About 40 students came to the event, where they were immediately greeted with warm pupusas, esquites, agua frescas and a live banda playing cumbia music.
“We’re also having pupusa, which are Salvadorean,” Santana said. “So we’re trying to do a little bit of everything to highlight different cultures.”
Each table was decorated with cantaritos, traditional Mexican clay vase-cups, filled with Mexican tamarind candies.
“This is definitely a good de-stresser,” junior biology major Emma Calderon said. “It’s nice just being with my friends to have a good time.”
LSF hosted Cumbialandia with the Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Advocacy Students, IDEAS. For their portion of the event, they had wooden hearts to write your name on. Students then dropped their hearts in a wooden shadow box as a keepsake to commemorate the end of the semester.
“Summer is coming and we won’t all get to see each other so this is a chance to hang out, eat some good food, and dance,” Santana said.
Around 8 p.m. people began dancing in front of the banda. About half the students who were sitting at tables, got up and two-stepped their way to the front of Citrus Lawn.
In general as student organizations’ E-board are graduating, the next set of students representing these organizations being ushered in are actively preparing for the Fall. Next year’s president for LSF is junior biology major and IDEAS member Kesia Loma Quintero.
“Especially with finals, it’s time to have fun, celebrate the graduates,” Loma Quintero said. “Community is power – especially because of the current political climate. To us this is a time to be loud and proud.”
Asha Longsworth can be reached at asha.longsworth@laverne.edu.
Asha Longsworth is a senior communications major with a concentration in public relations, and a staff writer for the Campus Times.
