For Mayra Lopez, student involvement in Latino Awareness Week is important because it can show them the richness of Latino culture.
Lopez, political action chair for the Latino Student Union, said Latino culture is different from what some students know.
This week, LSU is hosting Latino Awareness Week to help raise awareness about the Latino Culture. Juan Pimiento, vice president of LSU, said there will be different events happening all week.
Some of the events that will be hosted throughout the week include paint the rock, potluck with La Comunidad, the Spanish learning community, the Latino Issues Conference, the Quien Soy cultural pageant and the LSU Olympics.
The annual event happens during the last week organizations can host activities, Pimiento said.
“We do it to close out the year with different activities that deal with cultural awareness and promote the Latino culture,” he said.
The majority of the events throughout the week are free, with the exception of the formal on Friday night, Pimiento said.
“It’s three dollars a person, two canned goods, or clothes to donate,” he said.
The LSU Olympics will be hosted at the University of Toledo, and the members will play games like flag football, volleyball, soccer and basketball.
The Olympics will be held on Saturday at 12 p.m.
“The winner will get a trophy, and the losers pay for all the food and drinks,” Pimiento said.
Lopez is most excited for the cultural pageant called Quien Soy.
Any student is welcome to participate in the pageant, where they can choose a country and give a presentation about the country and its culture.
¿Quien Soy? will be held from 9-11 p.m. in Business Administration 110.
“I think it is a great opportunity for people to be able to represent a country, whether it’s their ethnicity or their race and it’s a great way to learn about other cultures,” she said.
Another event will be the showing of a documentary, which is about two cities that share the common issue of immigration.
The point of this week is to help students understand Latino culture better, said Ana Brown, advisor of LSU and coordinator for Diversity Initiatives for the Office of Residence Life.
One of the big events for the week is going to be the Latino Issues Conference, which will take place Wednesday from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the Union Ballroom and will include a panel, Brown said.
“We are bringing in people from all levels; some high school students, college students and professionals,” she said.
One of the professionals who will be speaking is Shayla Rivera who is a rocket scientist and a comedian.
All students are encouraged to come out to the events, Pimiento said.
“It doesn’t matter if you’re Latino or not, you’re all welcome here,” he said. “I can guarantee it’s going to be fun and interesting.”
Students can find out about all of the events being offered through the LSU Facebook page, posters on campus and by checking campus updates.
“It’s really important to raise awareness about Latinos; the culture is so rich and so different from what everyone is used to,” Lopez said.
