By JORDAN MCLEMORE, Staff Reporter
Hispanic Heritage Month is Sept. 15 through Oct. 15. Northwestern Oklahoma State University has picked Tuesday, Oct. 4 as the day to celebrate this month with the campus.
The event is open to all students, faculty and staff of Northwestern, along with their families. This will be the first time for NWOSU to celebrate the month in this way. NWOSU usually invites speakers to come to campus and hold discussions. The Hispanic Heritage club hopes to reach more students through a movie.
Ana Parra, international student from Venezuela and president of the Spanish club, said, “I’m very excited about the events we [the Spanish Club] are offering to NWOSU and Alva’s community to celebrate the Hispanic Heritage Month. I think it’ll be a great opportunity to learn a little bit more about our heritage and culture.”
They will be showing the movie, “McFarland, USA”, which is about a coach who moves with his family after losing his last job as a football coach. He sees that some of the students are worth starting a cross-country team and turns seven students with no hope into one of the best cross country teams.
The Enid Campus will be showing “McFarland, USA” on Oct. 5, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., and the Woodward Campus will be showing it on Oct. 5, from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
There will be chips and salsa to munch on during the movie showing, which will be at 7 p.m. in the Ballroom in the Student Center. Students attending are advised to bring blankets and pillows with them to get comfortable while watching. However, there will be chairs set up as well.
The Hispanic Heritage Club will also be hosting two piñata breakings the week before the movie night on the lawn of Herod Hall. Also to celebrate Hispanic Heritage month and to celebrate the Day of the Dead, they are holding a dinner called the “Enchilada Party” on Thursday, Nov. 3, from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.
Students with a current student I.D. must pay $3, and the faculty, staff and community members must pay $5 at the door. This event will be in the Ranger room of the student center.
National Hispanic Heritage Month is a month to recognize the contributions made and the important presence of Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States. This month helps to celebrate their heritage and culture.
Hispanic Heritage Month, whose roots go back to 1968, begins each year on Sept. 15, the anniversary of independence of five Latin American countries: Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua. Mexico, Chile and Belize also celebrate their independence days during this period and Columbus Day (Día de la Raza) is Oct. 12, according to hispanicheritagemonth.org.