Story by: Anastasia Benstead, Culture Editor
Latinfest was an absolute success last Saturday. Hosted by the Latinx Students Association, it was a celebration of hispanic culture on campus. A huge shoutout is deserved for Wendy Jiménez-Padilla (President), Jenni Hernandez (Vice president), JR Sanden (Secretary), Miguel Mar (Treasurer), and Margoth de Leon (Social Media Coordinator). They did an excellent job preserving the integrity of the annual tradition. “this year we wanted to continue this tradition and chose the theme to be identity in honor of Latine/Hispanic heritage month” Said Wendy, president of LXSA.
Photo Credit: The editor
From left to right: Jenni Hernandez, Wendy Jiménez-Padilla, Miguel Mar, Margoth de Leon, JR Sanden
Jenni did all of the logistics work for getting the fantastically delicious Los Pinches Tacos food truck. LXSA provided 75 food tickets, first come first served, for free tacos, burritos, and quesadillas. The evening began with dinner before moving into a brief segment of speeches, given in both Spanish and English.
One of the biggest messages LXSA wanted everyone at Aquinas to know, that “there isn’t only one factor to determine if you’re latine or not. You don’t need to be able to speak Spanish to be latine. You don’t have to be born in a Latin American country to be latine. You don’t have to have visited your family’s homeland to be latine. You don’t have to fit certain stereotypes to validate if you’re latine. You don’t have to know how to cook cultural foods to be latine. You don’t have to know historical or cultural facts to be latine. Don’t allow anyone to determine your latinidad and celebrate your roots!” – Wendy Jiménez-Padilla
Around 7:30pm the real fun started when the piñatas were brought out. Seen here, Eileen Zielke, takes a swing at the clown piñata.
The piñatas were filled with traditional latine candy, and anybody who wanted to could take a swing at things and give it the good old college try! Even more fun still, was the song that the audience was encouraged to sing as the batter had their turn hitting the piñata.
The lyrics were: “Dale, dale. dale, no pierdas el tino, porque si lo pierdes pierdes el camino. Ya le diste una, ya le diste dos, ya le diste tres y tu tiempo se acabó!”
It is a fun song to encourage the hitter, and give each batter the same amount of time to attempt to hit the piñata.
Students had nothing bad to say about Latinfest. Senior Grace Green says “I thought it was very well planned. LXSA did a great job of sharing traditions from latin communities, as well as explaining to attendees what hispanic heritage month means. And the food truck was super yummy!”
Hispanic heritage month is about reflecting, celebrating, and highlighting latin culture. The only way towards a more inclusive future is to raise and praise the voices that often go unsung in this country. As a community, we must recognize the impact of our actions and advance towards a more equitable and sustainable society.
The Saint 