On Sept. 15, members of Unidos, the Latine affinity group on campus, invited students to gather to celebrate the start of Hispanic Heritage Month with a barbeque on the side lawn of Reid. This first festive food-filled event only marks the beginning of the Hispanic Heritage Month festivities that will be taking place through Oct. 15, organized by both Whitman students and community members. By encouraging participation across Walla Walla, Hispanic Heritage Month events invite Whitman students to engage with the Hispanic community beyond the boundaries of campus.

Despite being a relatively new affinity group that has just started its second year on campus, Unidos has made a mark on members and the community at large. Assistant Professor of Hispanic Studies and Unidos Faculty Advisor, Mariana Ruiz-González, explained that especially as the number of Hispanic students attending Whitman steadily grows, it’s critical to continue uplifting affinity groups like Unidos that provide community and support. 

“Now the community of students with Hispanic heritage is growing a lot. It’s important that students feel like they belong and they have these spaces [like Unidos] to express themselves culturally and reconnect with their roots,” Ruiz-González said. 

Unidos President and WEB Cultural Events and Lectures Director, Eyleen Menchu Tuy, agreed with Ruiz-Gonzáles and added that the variety of cultures, nationalities, and identities that make up Unidos allows students to engage with multiple facets of Latine culture. 

“I am an international student from Guatemala, and I am glad to be part of this club where I can share my culture and learn about the culture of the other club members. I became interested in being the President of Unidos because I want to help organize cultural, creative, and informational events with the club on campus,” Menchu Tuy said in an email to The Wire.

For Unidos, events like the Hispanic Heritage Open Mic Night on Sept. 24 (co-hosted with WEB), provide opportunities for cultural engagement that invite broader campus participation. The event invited speakers to perform in Spanish, English, or Spanglish and used the arts as a starting point for dialogue about identity. 

Ruiz-González explained how musical performances break down barriers that can hinder dialogue in other contexts, making the open mic an important forum to foster connections. 

“Music is a universal language for people to come together. You don’t have to understand the lyrics of a song, you just feel the rhythm [or] you can dance [or you] can cry with the song,” Ruiz-González said. “Everyone will feel something with the music. It’s a way to integrate everyone.” 

Senior and Unidos Social Media Manager Andrea Diaz-Garcia described the benefits for performers who choose to attend the event and share their talents. 

“I hope participants get out of their comfort zone… I hope I see people pushing that, either singing, doing poetry or talking,” Diaz-Garcia said. 

To extend these events beyond campus, Unidos members have both participated in and helped organize Hispanic Heritage Month events across Walla Walla. 

On Sept. 15, Diaz-Garcia danced at St. Patrick Catholic Church as a part of the performances they coordinated to welcome the start of Hispanic Heritage Month. Because Diaz Garcia grew up in Walla Walla, she has been attending the annual event at St. Patrick’s since she began dancing at 13 years old and encourages Whitman students to check it out. 

“There’s spontaneous dancing [and] music, then there’s food being served all along the sides, [and] raffles as well in between to keep people busy, games for children and informational booths and resources for people who choose to look,” Diaz-Garcia said.

For Diaz-Garcia, Whitman students attending community events round out the college experience and helps uplift and support community organizers.

“It was so nice [to see Whitman students at Saint Patrick’s], especially because I know the Whitman bubble exists and it’s hard for students to get out into the community… if they don’t have a connection point,” Diaz-Garcia said. “It’s great to see Whitman students and faculty pull up to the events because I know they’re going out of their way to go.” 

Ruiz-González explained that since she first immigrated to the United States nine years ago, her understanding of her own heritage has shifted significantly, inspiring her community engagement during Hispanic Heritage Month. 

“I was never thinking about celebrating my heritage when I was in Mexico. The idea of identity labels is very important in the U.S. and I didn’t understand it at the beginning [but] I found myself in a very vulnerable place as a migrant,” Ruiz-González said. “I am a very privileged migrant, so I was trying to understand how other people engage with their identity in a country that is so multicultural but is [also] so complicated.”

When walking through downtown Walla Walla, Ruiz-González noticed the lack of visual representation for Latine communities and began an annual tradition of painting a mural as a part of Walla Walla’s Festival de Cultura Viva.

“Walla Walla is mainly a white town, [the] Hispanic population is the second largest group but when I first arrived I felt that there were no Hispanics, and there are. The thing is that…they engage with the space in a segregated way in the city because urban space is designed like that,” Ruiz-González said. 

This year, the mural project will build upon the Alebrijes Corridor on the corner of Main Street and Palouse, extending it further down the wall. The project is funded by a Community Engaged Learning and Research Initiative grant, and members of Unidos and the Whitman community are invited to attend the festival or even to try their hand at helping out with the mural. 

For Menchu Tuy, the collaboration between Whitman and other community organizations builds up the meaning of Hispanic Heritage Month.

“This month means to me a time to reflect and share about the stories of people from these communities,” Menchu Tuy said in an email to The Wire. “I am glad that there are many student-led activities to celebrate this month and I am also very excited to see many groups collaborating to continue the celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month.” 

By participating in events both within and outside of Whitman, Unidos members and students make Hispanic Heritage Month an occasion for community connection.