Sept. 15 commemorated the start of National Hispanic Heritage Month. This article will give insight on the ways Gibbons’ Hispanic or Latino Student Union has celebrated on campus so far, how you can participate, and other fun events the student union has in store for this school year.
What Is HLSU?
Formally known as HOLA (Hispanic or Latino Affinity), HLSU is a group where students are welcome to share their culture and a chance for them to identify with one another. It’s moderated by Theology educator Mark DeLaRosa and English educator Carolina Domingos.
Empanada Making with Cooking Club
Sept. 25 was the annual empanada-making activity in partnership with the cooking club. Every year, as one of the kick-off events for the group, HSLU gathers in the kitchen of the cafeteria to prepare and bake empanadas together.
I got the chance to interview DeLaRosa, the founding moderator for HLSU who has been running the group for four years now, on his experience hosting these events for our members.
“Whenever we celebrate ourselves and do it with the rest of the community, involving all of them, everybody learns… We’re sharing our cultural heritage and our food,” said DeLaRosa.
Annual Family Picnic
HLSU will also hold our Family Picnic on Oct. 10th, which was a great success last year. The picnic-style dinner is a great time for our Hispanic and Latino community within Gibbons to come together and get to know each other. There will be food trucks rented and set out in the green area outside the front of the school, as well as games and prizes. There’s hope that this continues as a tradition at Gibbons for our future HLSU families.
“I’m looking forward to the family dinner in a week. Something I experienced from last year was all of these families being so proud of their students and the students being so proud of their parents… it gave us a chance to be together,” said DeLaRosa.
Along with these events, HLSU will hold different opportunities to come together throughout the year like our Day of the Dead and Cinco de Mayo celebrations.
HLSU welcomes all students to get involved, especially fellow Hispanic students on campus who are looking for opportunities to share their culture and become a part of our community within a community.
“It brings my heart joy to be a part of this group because I think the kids are amazing and I think celebrating our families and our cultural heritage is a beautiful thing for everyone at Gibbons, ” said DeLaRosa. “It enriches everybody’s lives.”
