Despite bad weather and a last-minute relocation to Reid Ballroom, Tuesday’s Cinco de Mayo celebration went off without a hitch.

“Cinco de Mayo was amazingly successful,” said Club Latino President sophomore Diana Madriz.

Cinco de Mayo, is not, as many Americans mistakenly believe, a celebration of Mexico’s independence from Spain. Rather, it honors Mexico’s surprise victory over France in the 1862 Battle of Puebla.

“Cinco de Mayo has become a cultural celebration for all Latin Americans living in the United States,” said Madriz.  

In fact, the holiday is more widely celebrated in the United States than it is in Mexico.

Tuesday’s event featured traditional Mexican dishes and performances by two local folk dancing troupes, Mariachi Sol de Michoacan from Pasco and Walla Walla’s own Rolando Gaytan.

The event not only catered to Whitman students, but to members of the Walla Walla community as well.

“One of Club Latino’s major goals is involving the surrounding Walla Walla community in our events,” said Madriz. “We want local Latinos to be able to  feel like Whitman is a place they can come to.”

Latinos account for over 17 percent of Walla Walla’s population

Cinco de Mayo festivities also included a special emphasis on local youths and their families, with activities like a beanbag toss, mini golf, face painting and pin the tail on the donkey to appeal to younger participants.

According to Madriz, local Latinos are often deterred from attending Whitman events due to a lack of family-oriented activities. “Even if parents want to attend, they can’t leave their kids behind at home,” she said.

Cinco de Mayo followed in the footsteps of Shadow Day, another major Club Latino event of the spring semester.

In its eighth year, Shadow Day brought 57 Latino high school sophomores from Walla Walla and Milton-Freewater who would be the first in their family to attend college to campus on April 16. The students attended classes, toured campus, ate lunch with Whitman students and attended scholarship and financial aid presentations.

“Our goal is to get these students interested in college as early as possible and to show them that attending college is not impossible even though many have that mentality,” said Madriz.

Madriz also emphasized the importance of these events to changing local students’ and families’ perceptions of Whitman.

“Events like Cinco de Mayo and Shadow Day are another way of getting our name out, not only as a club but as a school,” she said.