Student Engagement and Campus Life to host events
To kick off the beginning of Hispanic Heritage Month, which is Sept. 15 to Oct. 15, Texas A&M University – Kingsville’s (TAMUK) Student Engagement and Campus Life (SECL) coordinators will be hosting multiple events around campus.
“This is a big time for our community to come together and really celebrate Hispanic heritage. We are holding cultural events, academic events, and many other fun events,” Multicultural Coordinator of SECL Gabrielle Vaughn said.
The purpose of these events is to learn all about the Hispanic culture, their accomplishments, food and music.
The first event commemorating Hispanic Heritage Month will be a Tamalada Festival, which will involve tasting tamales and learning different techniques of making tamales with other activities, which will be from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 24, at the Conner Museum.
Although the university is fairly diverse, the biggest ethnicity present on campus is Hispanic, with 69 percent of the student body identifying as that background, according to the TAMUK website.
“For the whole month I would really like [students] to get a different perspective on their culture,” Vaughn said. “I think a lot of times society could kind of portray the culture as being only fun, but they have a lot of academic portions, and so many Hispanics are really making strides in their careers, so I want to present that to the community so the students know that can be them one day.”
The purpose of these events is to bring students together to learn about and celebrate Hispanic culture.
Luis Juárez of Sigma Delta Pi, a Spanish affiliated organization on campus that honors Hispanic heritage and celebrates Hispanic culture, is a part of the many organizations who have come together at Memorial Student Union Ballroom Pavilion to answer any questions students have about Hispanic Heritage Month.
“My goal for the organization is creating unity around the campus for Hispanic heritage,” Juárez said. “It is nice to see other cultures come together to honor one heritage as a one.”
Other events to be hosted during the month include a Cultural Compositions Poetry Night, an Art Exhibit, Loteria Night and a Hispanic Heritage Night Tailgate & Football Game, Saturday, Oct. 8.
For more information regarding Hispanic Heritage Month and the upcoming events, contact Student Engagement and Campus Life at (361) 593-2760 or visit their office located at 1119 W. Santa Gertrudis Ave.
