Another beautiful day on campus brought festivities to celebrate Latinx Heritage month, which runs from Sept. 15. to Oct. 15. Culture and Conchas was put on by Associated Student Productions (ASP) on Sept. 22 from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m., and offered students a chance to watch a performance by Ballet Folklorico Sarita, a Mexican dance group from Windsor. Along with the performance, ASP also gave out conchas, which are a Mexican sweet bread. The name “concha” means “shell” in Spanish, which is how they got their name, because of the shell-like pattern of streusel baked onto the top of the bread roll. 

During the first half of the event, Ballet Folklorico Sarita performed a few traditional dances. The second half of the event was an informal class teaching students how to perform this style of dance. 

Maia Madrigal, ASP member and fourth year biology major and Spanish minor, said, “We brought this to campus because it is Latinx heritage month right now, so it’s important to show the students who might not know of the culture a little bit about the Latino culture.” 

It seemed that even students who were just passing by Seawolf Plaza were pleasantly surprised by the performance. Third year double communications and economics major, Jason Hill, said, “I came out here first because I heard the music and everybody was crowded in the Seawolf Plaza, then I walked around the corner. I didn’t know this was happening and I saw them dancing. I thought, “Whoa, that’s pretty cool.” So I stopped and watched and I was adequately entertained by what I saw which was very impressive…I got to learn more about Hispanic culture today.” 

Another student was passionate about this event and was stoked to come out and support her culture. Yasmin Esquivel, fourth year sociology major, said,  “I came out to this because I feel being on a predominantly Caucasian campus, events like this are really important to come out to and support all cultures. It’s crucial to show that we are all here to support each other as well strive for higher education.”

The next event celebrating Latinx Heritage Month will be “Farmworkers – Photographs, Prints, and Paintings” on  Thursday Sep. 29 from 12 p.m. – 1 p.m. at the University Art Gallery, showcasing portraits of Sonoma County’s grape harvesters by award winning, Santa Rosa photojournalist Erik Castro.