2008 Woodie Awards
A Taste of Latino Culture
Patrick Dolan
Issue date: 10/15/07 Section: News
- Page 1 of 1
Break out the maracas and salsa shoes, because October is Latino Heritage Month here at William Paterson University. The Latino Heritage Month committee teamed up with Organization for Latin American Students, as well as many other organization on campus, to host events all month long that will educate students about the Latino culture though educational and entertaining events.
Last Tuesday during common hour the festivities kicked off at the opening ceremony in Zanfino Plaza. Students were served authentic Latin cuisine, listened to authentic merengue as played by DJ 360 and had a chance to win movie tickets for answering trivia questions or giving the best dance demonstration.
Students who showed up for the event were glad to see it happen. Claudio Areche, a student organizer for the event said he was pleased with the turnout because events like this are very important to such a diverse campus community.
"There are all kinds of cultural months, there's Latino Heritage month, there's Asian Heritage month and February is African American Heritage month, so you know it's good to target all types of cultures," he said.
Dinorah Medina, a sophomore psychology and early childhood education major, said she enjoyed the event because it reminded her of home, and also because it is important to educate people about other cultures so they don't rely on stereotypes. She said, "I don't think people really appreciate Hispanic heritage. I think they listen to a lot of the stereotypes. Like that we [Latin Americans] try not to amount to anything, and we're thieves, and we end up in prison all the time, and we get knocked up at age 15. It's just wrong to stereotype people like that."
One of the trivia questions that the DJ asked was where the dance Merengue came from. Hearing this question, accompanied by the Merengue music, provoked people all over the plaza begin to dance, small steps side to side and back and forth. Medina explained that Merengue is very popular in the Dominican Republic and other parts of Latin, and Central America. "If you are Dominican and don't know Merengue, there's a problem," she insisted. According to the DJ, Merengue comes from slaves in the Caribbean dancing with their feet chained together, allowing only small steps.
The event was a success. The food and weather were great, making students happy. Coming up later in the month there are art exhibits, guest speakers and a dance contest. Posters with all the events and locations are on display throughout the campus.
Last Tuesday during common hour the festivities kicked off at the opening ceremony in Zanfino Plaza. Students were served authentic Latin cuisine, listened to authentic merengue as played by DJ 360 and had a chance to win movie tickets for answering trivia questions or giving the best dance demonstration.
Students who showed up for the event were glad to see it happen. Claudio Areche, a student organizer for the event said he was pleased with the turnout because events like this are very important to such a diverse campus community.
"There are all kinds of cultural months, there's Latino Heritage month, there's Asian Heritage month and February is African American Heritage month, so you know it's good to target all types of cultures," he said.
Dinorah Medina, a sophomore psychology and early childhood education major, said she enjoyed the event because it reminded her of home, and also because it is important to educate people about other cultures so they don't rely on stereotypes. She said, "I don't think people really appreciate Hispanic heritage. I think they listen to a lot of the stereotypes. Like that we [Latin Americans] try not to amount to anything, and we're thieves, and we end up in prison all the time, and we get knocked up at age 15. It's just wrong to stereotype people like that."
One of the trivia questions that the DJ asked was where the dance Merengue came from. Hearing this question, accompanied by the Merengue music, provoked people all over the plaza begin to dance, small steps side to side and back and forth. Medina explained that Merengue is very popular in the Dominican Republic and other parts of Latin, and Central America. "If you are Dominican and don't know Merengue, there's a problem," she insisted. According to the DJ, Merengue comes from slaves in the Caribbean dancing with their feet chained together, allowing only small steps.
The event was a success. The food and weather were great, making students happy. Coming up later in the month there are art exhibits, guest speakers and a dance contest. Posters with all the events and locations are on display throughout the campus.
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