Annual Latinx Diversity Festival Held at UWM Union

Students worked diligently, painting their pots as the sound of the mariachi band from the Roberto Hernandez Center began to cue in. The musicians turned to everyone in the crowd and urged them to all count in, “uno, dos, tres!” as the music erupted and the students in the Union at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee joined in with clapping and dancing in support of the Latinx Diversity Festival held on Thursday. 

The event ran from 11a.m. to 2p.m. and included showcases of Latinx culture with music, dance, crafts, free food and the chance to learn about 12 different Latin countries. The festival was sponsored by the Sociocultural Program and the Roberto Hernandez Center at UWM, and it was one of many events UWM hosted for Hispanic Heritage Month.

Sounds of clapping, laughter and joy could be heard throughout the Union in support Hispanic Heritage month and all the students who identify within the Latinx community at UWM.  

Graduate Assistant for the Sociocultural Program, Yudith Arenas, 22, was in charge of arts and crafts for the event. “I think it’s really important to have our Latin community come together and have a huge celebration of each other’s cultures,” said Arenas. “I also think it’s very important for students who are not very familiar with that culture to have a better understanding of it and become familiar with it.” 

Arenas stressed how important is it for everyone to acknowledge the differences among cultures in the Latinx community. Often, she feels it is assumed that everyone who identifies with the Hispanic heritage are grouped into being the same.  

“Yes, we are the same in the sense that we do speak Spanish, but just acknowledge that fact that we have our own identities within our culture,” said Arenas. 

Arenas created a station to make buttons for all the Latinx countries, celebrities and political people. She also printed out a mini history lesson for students to refer to as they painted pots that were symbolic to Indigenous people, and are important during their ceremonies to support their religious beliefs.  

This event originally came out of student efforts back in 2016 when the first Latinx Diversity Festival was celebrated. A group of students expressed their want for the event and since then it has been presented yearly.  

Graduate Assistant for the Roberto Hernandez Center, Jessica Solórzano, 22, was in charge of collecting volunteers for the festival. She reached out to students via social media, email and word of mouth, but it didn’t take much for the students to agree to the event.  

 “I think what gains people’s interest to volunteer for this opportunity is the want to celebrate their own culture and their own heritage, so it doesn’t really take a lot of buy in from the students, you often say it and they’re there,” said Solórzano.  

The 12 countries represented at booths in the center of the festival were picked based on the student volunteers’ requests and based off the countries they personally identified with. “If we could have more countries included, we would, but resources and time limit us,” said Solórzano. 

The Latin countries talked about by student volunteers are updated every couple of years in attempt to stay consistent with the student body they are serving at UWM.  

UWM student, Gabriela Garzon-Torres, 23, volunteered at the festival this year to talk about Colombia. Garzon-Torres expressed how there are often stereotypes around her culture, but she wants people to know the Latinx community is more than those stereotypes with the dance, amazing food and beautiful people their country has to offer.  

“It’s putting a little piece of each other’s culture in everyone’s minds,” said Garzon-Torres. “I’m very passionate about it because I am from Colombia as well, and I want people to know that they can visit and learn more about the culture.”  

Statistics from the UWM database show that as of Fall 2020, only 3% of the demographics at UWM was made up Hispanic students.  

Garzon-Torres feels that the Latin community is not represented enough at UWM, and Arenas added that UWM could do more like emphasizing scholarships and ensuring that students can afford to come to the school. 

“I feel like that 3% has so many factors to it,” said Arenas. “Some Latinx students just generally can’t afford and there are some that have real responsibilities at their homes, so for this event I think it’s important to let our students feel like they are a part of the community and help them feel they are a part of UWM.”  

Midway through the festival, a group of dancers performed a piece that took students through a journey of cultures starting in Africa and then transitioning out into all the various places of Latin America. The performance was committed to honoring the West African roots that contributed to Latinx culture, honoring ancestors and honoring the musicians and students in the room. 

Dancer, Educator, Graduate Student and Alumni of UWM, Victoria Isacc, 22, performed with her peers in the dance. She emphasized how it was important for the dancers to acknowledge the African roots that a lot of Latin American dance has.  

“It’s really great to see UWM being intentional about celebrating this month and uplifting not only individuals that are currently in the UWM community, but also the greater UWM community. It makes me feel good as another person of color on this campus,” said Isacc. “We see a lot of discrimination and oppression that occurs towards people of the Latinx diaspora and it can be really frustrating going on a predominantly white campus all the time.”  

Part of the performance included inviting individuals at the event to dance with them as they performed a salsa demonstration.  

“It was nice to see how many people joined in for that demonstration,” said Isacc. “And even though not a ton of people came to the front, there were a lot of people that came to the back and were still participating.”  

Solórzano acknowledged the hesitation from students as well as saying that when she explains the event to students, they often wonder if they can participate.  

“It’s for everyone, come join the party!” said Solórzano. “It’s nice to see students who don’t identify with the affinity group wanting to participate.” 

UWM student Alberto Vilchis, 20, enjoyed the dancing at the event being a dancer in salsa, merengue and bachata himself. This was his third year attending the festival.  

“It’s really meaningful and actually touching my heart because it’s nice to be able to share your culture with other students,” said Vilchis. “I think this event was really impactful.”  

Taking attendance was part of the process during the event, for the purpose of sending out surveys to those who attended to get feedback to help improve the event and keep it going for next year.