Tufts last week concluded its celebration of Latino Heritage Month, commemorated through a variety of campus events, including a gallery exhibit, a salsa dance event and a poetry slam.
The month concluded with a poetry reading by National Poetry Slam champion Mayda del Valle and an open mic night sponsored by the Association of Latin American Students (ALAS) and the Arts, Sciences and Engineering Diversity Fund on Oct. 27.
Del Valle's presentation featured a variety of poems, including some from her days as a teenager on the South Side of Chicago. Del Valle said she wanted to inspire the audience to pursue their goals.
"Sometimes we are not encouraged to do what we like," del Valle said.
The open mic evening took place, as it has in years past, during the Voices of Tufts event for prospective students, many of whom attended it, according to Director of the Latino Center Rubén Salinas Stern.
ALAS President Gabriela Gucho−Oliva helped plan the event, which she thought appealed to a wider audience this year.
"We're truly working on trying to reach the bigger student body than just our small niche group," Gucho−Oliva, a senior, said. "And with certain events like Mayda del Valle — having a poet come instead of just making it an open [mic night] type of thing — I think that really helped bring in other people, because usually people aren't really open to just coming in and then performing, especially for a really small community."
Other events held throughout the month included an exhibition of sculpture busts by artist Ken Gonzales−Day and a dinner discussion titled "Multicultural Connections: Impact of Race in the Workplace," according to Stern.
Another prominent event called "Latinos Take Over Hotung" featured a salsa band and a DJ performance.
Gucho−Oliva was very pleased with the turnout, explaining that the event attracted a more diverse crowd than normal.
"We just had a really huge crowd, at least for the salsa part," she said. "We reached capacity within the hour, and those same people stayed for at least more than half the night."
Latino Heritage Month takes place nationally between Sept. 15 and Oct. 15, as the independence days of eight Latin American countries fall during this period. Tufts traditionally celebrates the month a little later to facilitate planning for events, according to Stern.
The month−long celebration is designed to honor Latin−American culture across the United States.
"[Latinos] have a history here; they have a culture here," he said. "This is not a foreign focus. This is part of U.S. history, U.S. culture. I don't want to see it separated."
Latino Heritage Month was more successful this year than it has been in years past, Stern noted, and he expects to see it continue to grow.
"I think that it's changed in the sense that I think it's a little more established," Stern said. "People know about it."
Stern hopes to see more students of different backgrounds attending the month's events.
"We always want a diverse group of students to come to our events," Stern said. "We're not invested in only having Latino students attend Latino events."
