From Sept. 15 to Oct. 15, different organizations are celebrating Latine Heritage Month across campus, including the student-run club El Grito De Lares and the university’s Office of Multicultural Affairs (OMA).
“We are doing everything to celebrate this month,” said Alan C. Ventura, FCRH ’24, president of El Grito.
El Grito kicked off Latine Heritage Month on Sept. 14 on the McShane front lawn with an outdoor social and planned five more events throughout the month — including a dance session with Candela Latina, a Diversity Panel, a Yankees game, a Latin Night Market excursion and Museo del Barrio excursion.
“I’m very big on visibility. Last year with President Tetlow coming in and like all the different changes, I’ve been trying to do my part to, you know, speak with administration to kind of push for just different things that I think Latines specifically need on campus,” said Ventura. “And El Grito really is a place where I think we can give that visibility to Latines when they don’t get it in other spaces.”
Ventura added that they try to cover all the different aspects at their club meetings — from Latine music, pop culture, fashion, food and anything that has to do with Latine culture.
Camila Da Silva, FCRH ’24, vice president of El Grito, said that her favorite part of the club is learning new things about Latine culture.
“Since all the Latine cultures are so different, it’s really enjoyable to learn from the members and from the other people on e-board about what their traditions are and what they think is important for the month,” Da Silva said.
She added that she is most looking forward to the event with Candela Latina — the Latine dance club on campus — where they will be teaching bachata and salsa.
OMA also has different events — some in collaboration with El Grito, like the Yankees Game — throughout the month.
“Fordham has a very large Latine community, and those students deserve to have their heritage celebrated and acknowledged. Family is extremely important to many members of the Latine community, and simply acknowledging and celebrating their heritage is a way to combat homesickness,” said Rashain Adams Jr., the graduate intern at OMA who organized the Latine Heritage Month events.
He said that “Sabor de Cafe” is his favorite program of the month. It is a partnership with Campus Ministry to bring in different fair trade coffee and pastry brands from different Latin Countries around the world.
One change that Adams wanted to highlight is the month’s name at OMA from Latinx Heritage Month to Latine Heritage Month. He explained that Latine allows non-binary students to be included in the conversation and celebration.
He added: “We want everyone to know that all these words have different roots and mean different things when discussing something or someone within the diaspora. Hispanic was adopted by the United States in the 1970s to identify people of Spanish-speaking origin yet it excludes countries where Spanish is not normally spoken like in Brazil. Latin/o/a is used to describe people from the Latin American diaspora. Latinx is a more recent term that is gender-neutral. However, Spanish speakers have pointed out the colonizing nature of the letter ‘X.’ Latine is another gender-neutral alternative that is preferred, with ‘e’ being more commonly used in native Spanish.”
Overall, Ventura added that the month and different events are a great opportunity to raise more awareness of Latine culture.
“I think this month is a perfect opportunity for us to penetrate those spaces in Fordham where we aren’t seen, we aren’t heard and make our faces seen and our voices heard,” said Ventura. “I think this is a great month for us as a club, but also us as a community to experiment and find different ways to kind of give more credence to Latine voices.”
Further updates can be seen on their Instagrams: @fordhamoma and @elgritodelares.
