Harvard Celebrates Hispanic Heritage Month

Latinx cultural organizations and House committees across the College are hosting events on campus including movie nights, dance outings, and food tastings to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month.

The celebration of the histories and cultures of Hispanic Americans will run from Sept. 15 to Oct. 15.

Uriel Martinez ’22, chair of Latinx organization Concilio Latino, encouraged Harvard students to use the month to learn about the rich culture within the Latinx diaspora.

“Talk to any Latinx people you may know to just become more aware of different cultures that are around you,” Martinez said.

Fuerza Latina, a pan-Latinx social organization on campus, is hosting events organized around weekly themes throughout the month. Themes this year include the performing arts, music, food, and the visual arts, according to Fuerza president Nayleth E. Lopez-Lopez ’23.

“What we really try to do through all of our events is create a community and have a really strong family here on campus for Latinx students,” Lopez-Lopez said.

Latinas Unidas, Fuerza, and Latinx performing group Teatro plan to host a joint film night Thursday as part of their celebration.

One of the largest events this month was Latinx Convocation, a new ceremony started in 2018. Roughly 200 attendees attended this year’s ceremony on Sept. 25, according to Martinez.

Some Houses hosted community events to celebrate Latinx students. The Adams House deans hosted a tea event Sunday called “Hispanic HeriTEAge Month,” featuring foods such as alfajores and ceviche.

J. Andrés Ballesteros ’13, a faculty dean aide at Adams House, said he believes it is important to celebrate the month to showcase the richness of different Hispanic cultures through the example of food.

“I think this event is really important in showing, first of all, how cool Latino culture is and how there is so much to offer, but also how diverse it is within itself,” Ballesteros said. “We switch up the menu each time, so each time I learn new things about the cuisine of the hemisphere.”

Jayleen R. Herrera ’23, president of Latinas Unidas, said she hopes Latinx organizations and students can support each other during the month by holding discussions about the significance of their cultures and by focusing on empowerment and collaboration.

“It’s important that we all just unite, feel proud, celebrate our culture, and empower one another,” Herrera said.

Lopez-Lopez said she is grateful that students can celebrate the month in-person after being separated during the virtual year.

“I’m honestly so happy that we can finally meet up and form community with the first-years and sophomores, because I know — especially from sophomores — they got hit hard by last year,” Lopez-Lopez said. “I feel like they weren’t able to fully see how strong the Latin community is here at Harvard.”

—Staff writer Audrey M. Apollon can be reached at audrey.apollon@thecrimson.com.

—Staff writer Leah J. Teichholtz can be reached at leah.teichholtz@thecrimson.com. Follow her on Twitter @LeahTeichholtz.