From Sept. 15 to Oct.15, Hispanic Heritage Month is celebrated throughout the United States.
According to the Hispanic Presidents’ Council website, Hispanic Heritage Month began in 1968 as a week-long celebration that recognizes Hispanic Americans’ contributions to the U.S. and celebrates heritage and culture. The Hispanic Presidents’ Council, or HPC, is a Texas A&M student organization that serves as a voice for all Hispanic and Latinx organizations on campus and has organized events celebrating their culture.
Public health senior and HPC director of operations Karina Saldaña said her primary duty is to coordinate Hispanic Heritage Month and put together the official calendar of events put on by their umbrella organizations.
“We kicked off the month with an opening ceremony that was on YouTube live explaining the month and how it’s important to us and why it’s at Texas A&M,” Saldaña said.
Saldaña said her drive to provide representation for the Hispanic and Latinx communities inspired her to take on the position as director of operations.
“With the director of operations position, I was able to kind of kick off the whole thing for the university, which is really exciting for me because it’s a big deal and the Hispanic community is growing so much at A&M,” Saldaña said. “We need representation now more than ever.”
For Saldaña, she said Hispanic Heritage Month means uplifting the voices of Hispanic people in America.
“Right now, our voices are being brought down, but this month is dedicated to celebrating us,” Saldaña said. “For me, especially here at A&M, it [is] important to expose students, staff and faculty to the culture and the different things that are important to us like the music, the dancing, the art, the movies.”
Mechanical engineering senior and HPC president Maximilliano Lopez said he encourages everyone to participate in this month-long celebration because everyone is welcome.
“There [is] a wide range of events which include celebrations, lecture topics, discussions and social activities, so that’s one of the things we do,” Lopez said. “It’s an open-door policy, you know, we’re not going to deny anyone from coming out, it’s really open to everyone. We just want to share our culture and proudness of that culture with them and just hope that they learn and come out and have fun.”
Lopez said when talking to Hispanic and Latinx freshmen, they felt they didn’t have a sense of belonging at A&M. However, Lopez said he wants to use Hispanic Heritage Month to remind them that A&M is their home.
“The biggest thing is making sure students understand they are not alone.” Lopez said. “Yes A&M is going through this big change of activism along with the nation, but they have a sense of home here, and community and they are open to express themselves however they want and won’t be ashamed of it.”
For more information about the Hispanic Heritage Month celebrations taking place in Aggieland, visit the HPC website.