By Jordan Roberts, Staff Reporter.
The 47th anniversary of Hispanic Heritage Month kicked off on Sept. 15 with a performance by the Saginaw based mariachi band Roxanne y Los Compadres, a jalapeno eating contest and other activities.
“Hispanic Heritage Month to me is an awesome time because I’m a high school teacher. So we get to talk about the importance of everyone celebrating,” says Roxanne Chantaca of Roxanne y Los Compadres.
Delta College will feature one main event each week and will incorporate the main campus, as well as the Bay City Planetarium and the Ricker Center Auditorium, as hotspots for the festivities.
In addition to the Kickoff Event, Delta College will offer several other events over the course of the month.
On Tuesday, Sept. 22, Delta hosted a Hispanic Heritage Game Show that took place in the Lower West Courtyard Common area in the Main Campus. This gave students the chance to test their knowledge on certain subjects of Hispanic Heritage such as history, culture and geographical locations.
On Monday, Oct. 12, the Bay City Planetarium will host a movie night starting at 6:30 p.m. According to Multicultural Services, the film that will be shown will “highlight the gifts of diversity and a culture’s ability to overcome diversity.”
The final event will be held on Tuesday, Oct. 20, at the Ricker Center Auditorium and will feature State Representative Vanessa Guerra as the Keynote speaker. She will discuss the importance of Hispanic Heritage Month and explain the meaning behind the Hispanic Heritage theme “Honoring our Heritage. Building our Future.” The event will be catered by a local Mexican restaurant and will feature Delta College Alumni who will present their stories about Hispanic culture and heritage.
Neal talked about what he was looking forward to most this year, stating, “How the students respond. We want to change the campus culture by combining education and entertainment. We want to involve all the senses by using music, food, and stories and show how each culture brings contributions to the table.”
This event will offer fun activities, education, but most importantly awareness. If anything it provides an opportunity to learn about a culture that has influenced our own so that everyone who participates can celebrate this varied and expressive culture.