If you were walking by Gerlinger hall on Oct. 12 you could hear “Mighty Oregon” in Spanish to “Low” by Flo Rida feat. T-Pain booming through the speakers as local students and community members celebrated Hispanic Heritage Month.
All of the music was performed by Mariachi Los Patos, a local bilingual mariachi band.
Two of the four band members, Maria Gonzalez and Omar Moreno, are juniors at the University of Oregon. The band performs at private events almost every weekend and local events such as this one.
The event was held by the Center for Latino/a and Latin American Studies.
According to Moreno, students and local community members who might not be involved with Hispanic communities are drawn to this event because of the vibrancy and the diversity of Latin-American culture.
“I think it’s the richness of the culture and seeing new things,” Moreno said. “There are things here I have never even seen before.”
There were vendors selling art and literature in both Spanish and English during the event, representatives from the University of Oregon and Lane Community College were present as well.
The event was catered by the local restaurant Jalisco and featured many local performers such as singers, dancers, poets and musicians.
One group, the Ballet Folklórico Alma de México, is comprised of children who learn traditional Mexican dance. Another featured UO music school students.
UO students Morgan Wright and Pender Fort volunteered at the event to complete part of their upper-level Spanish class. According to Wright, volunteering helps non-Hispanic students learn about the culture “as a whole instead of just learning to speak the language.”
“It is really interesting to see the sense of community here,” Fort added.
Antonio Huerta, outreach manager for undergraduate studies and one of the organizers of the event, performed charrería. Charrería is a Mexican tradition similar to rodeo, that includes equestrian competition and rope tricks.
According to Huerta, in putting on the Hispanic Heritage Month Celebration he had two goals in mind.
“One is to acknowledge the cultural value that Latino students bring to the college experience,” Huerta said. “The second is to bring this community to campus and make that connection.”