On Sept. 14 at 6 p.m. Washburn University held a Hispanic Heritage Month celebration banquet. It was the first year that an event such as this had taken place at Washburn.
The Office of Student Involvement and Development, as well as students, helped make this banquet a reality.
“It was important that we took time and celebrated our students and their backgrounds as well as traditions. The Office of Student Involvement really helped put this together,” said Haydee Reyes-Alvarado, assistant director of Student Involvement and Development.
The evening started with an introduction from Washburn president, JuliAnn Mazachek, followed by all guests receiving an authentic dinner of carne asada tacos. A dance group, Grupo Folklorico Mi Sol de KC, provided entertainment for the night.
The keynote speaker was Ernesto De La Rosa, the City of Topeka’s chief diversity, equity and inclusion officer. He spoke about his background and where that led him today.
Along with his DEI job, he also oversees the Human Resources and Community Engagement department. Laura Kelly, Kansas governor, appointed Del La Rosa to serve on the Kansas Hispanic and Latino American Affairs Commission.
“What we really wanted to do is share Hispanic culture with everyone and celebrate it. Tonight showed that this culture is alive and well,” Reyes-Alvarado said.
When concluding the night, students had an opportunity to enter into a drawing to win a $500 scholarship provided by MANA De Topeka, a local chapter of the national MANA organization that is committed to improving the lives of Latinas. Mariet Delgado, a junior finance and management major, won the scholarship.
“Honestly I did not expect to receive this at all, but I guess it just happened at the right time,” Delgado said.
With this being the first year that an event like this has been held, students of Washburn made sure to play a major role in it being created.
“This came forth from our students and one of the things we really try to do at Washburn is make sure all our students find their place. So, our students said ‘hey, we want to see ourselves,’ and we did what we could to make sure they found their place,” said Eric Grospitch, vice president of Student Life.
Grospitch and Student Life have plans and expectations to make sure there will be more events like this in the future. These events will give students a voice and a moment in the spotlight to show where they come from.
National Hispanic Heritage Month is celebrated through Oct. 15, and focuses on recognizing the history, culture and contributions of Hispanic Americans in the United States.
Edited by Aja Carter and Karli Bayliss
