By: Mary Cardona-Foster
Fitchburg State University students are taking an active role this month participating in and supporting national Hispanic heritage month, which began on Sept 15 will be continuing late into Oct with events on campus that are free for students.
Tonight, LASO (Latin American Student Organization) is teaming up with the Holmes dining hall to serve Spanish-styled food. WXPL will be playing a mix of Spanish styled songs and music for students in the dining hall.
On Oct 22, the Center for Diversity and Inclusiveness (CDI) is scheduled to hold a meeting for any students interested in joining in the main lounge. Following the meeting, students can join LASO in the main lounge of Hammond at 3:30 pm and learn different styles of Spanish dance. The LASO members will lead students in step by step tutorials on Spanish dances like salsa and bachata.
On Oct 27, LASO and the fraternity Sigma Tau Gamma is scheduled to host the Double Dominoes Tournament that will take place in the Falcon Hub at 3:30pm. The tournament will be open to all students and prizes will be given out to the winners of the tournaments.
Fitchburg State University will wrap up Hispanic heritage month with a Day of the Dead celebration on Oct 29 at 3:30 in the Hub where students will get a taste of the Hispanic culture food, play games and listen to Spanish themed music.
The month kicked off on Oct 1 with Nuestra Fiesta Latina, a black and white themed dance hosted by the Latin American student organization for students of Fitchburg State University. With black and strobe lights to get the fiesta going, LASO vice president, Breanna Mueses (a sophomore at FSU) said the fiesta was “a huge success”. Students danced to a variety of music and enjoyed foods like empanadas and Spanish styled cheese and chicken appetizers. “It was very rich in culture and a lot of fun,” said Fitchburg state sophomore, Kevin Alaracon, who attended the dance with friends.
On Oct 6, students joined together in the Falcon Hub for Lotteria. Similar to Bingo, the aim of Lotteria is to get an entire row marked off, but instead of numbers, the cards contained Hispanic culture words and pictures. Students received prize baskets filled with different themed items such as candy, movies, and school survival.