Hispanic Heritage Month (HHM) is a national, annual celebration that takes place from Sept. 15 to Oct. 15. According to the National Museum of the American Latino, HHM is “an opportunity to shine a spotlight on the unique voices and experiences of Hispanic/Latino Americans and recognize their history, journeys, and achievements.”
At Albion, students can celebrate and appreciate Hispanic Heritage Month via a multitude of themed events and field trips. This year, all programming is brought to you by the student leaders of the Organization of Latinx Awareness (OLA).
According to their constitution, OLA aims to bridge the Albion community with Latinx communities around the world, and to provide programming that fosters a positive atmosphere and emphasizes Latino history and culture.
Dallas junior River Morelli is the president of OLA, after being vice president last semester. Morelli said they were “nervous” to take this new position, but knew it was something they wanted to do.
“I was really excited in everything I got to do last year and I just kind of wanted to do more,” Morelli said. “I have a lot of passion and I have a lot of ideas that I want to see on campus, and I’m a huge advocate for the Latin community.”
Morelli joined OLA their sophomore year because they wanted to see more Latinx representation on campus. They added that they’ve always been proud of their Mexican culture, and that being a leader in OLA gives them the opportunity to show “how diverse and great” Mexican culture, Hispanic culture and Latin culture are.
“I definitely feel like with the current political climate, it’s very important to be proud of your culture and show that, especially being at a PWI (predominantly white institution),” Morelli said.
Morelli said they want OLA to be a space where students can have someone to talk to, about both serious and fun things. At their meetings, they talk about different Latino cultures, sometimes do crafts, plan events or talk about whatever members want to talk about, Morelli said.
Planning HHM: Events for Students, by Students
Morelli said that she and OLA secretary and Iowa City, Iowa, junior Adah Bertling have been planning their HHM events since May. Last year, OLA was not as involved in the planning of the HHM programming as they wanted to be, Morelli said. This year, Morelli and Bertling took time to plan what they wanted to see for HHM, and met with Associate Director of the Office of Belonging Rivkah Gamble over the summer to officially plan the programming.
“It was really important for me to take this initiative, just because I want people to have events where they actually feel seen and represented, not just events thrown together to say ‘Oh, here’s representation,’” Morelli said.
Morelli wanted to have events where students could meet people and make friends, and find pride in seeing their culture represented. Morelli said the events they’ve planned encapsulate Hispanic culture and the future of the community.
“I think with our political climate, a lot of people are afraid to show their Latin culture and express their identity,” Morelli said. “These events are helping capture what we are, more than just stereotypes.”
Fostering and Finding Community
When planning events for OLA, Vice President and Dallas senior Teresa Lopez said she asks: “What kind of events can we make to make people come out of their room and talk to other people?”
Lopez joined OLA her first year, but wasn’t on the executive board until her junior year, when she was a social media chair. Lopez said she joined because she wanted to talk to Hispanic people and people from similar backgrounds to her. As vice president, her goal is for OLA to be that welcoming space for more Hispanic students looking for community.
Lopez added that OLA is a space for anyone who needs to find their community on campus.
“Some of us aren’t Hispanic, but we’re still here to be friends with each other, just find a community that’s different,” Lopez said. “We want a space for people that aren’t in Greek life or sports to come together.”
Lopez said it’s important to celebrate not only Hispanic Heritage Month, but “every single month that represents other cultures.”
“All of us together make America, America,” Lopez said. “All of our individual backgrounds should be celebrated.”
Bertling said that going from living in a large Hispanic community to attending a PWI was a bit of a “culture shock.” Their sophomore year, Bertling realized they would have to get more involved on campus in order to find a sense of Latino community – and that led them to OLA.
“Finding that community was really helpful,” Bertling said.
Bertling added that a lot of Albion’s Hispanic students come from majority-Hispanic communities, so it can be hard to adjust to Albion, especially socially. OLA has become a space where those Hispanic and Latino students can come together, Bertling said.
“Having that space for them to actually feel, at least a little bit, like they belong in a space that sometimes makes you feel like an alien – I think it’s really valuable,” Bertling said.
Bertling said it’s “very fulfilling” to “be actively doing something to foster that community on campus.”
“Everybody’s welcome. We have good events, the vibes are usually good, they’re fun, but it’s not exclusive,” Bertling said. “I feel like most people think that OLA’s exclusive to only the Latinos of Albion, but definitely not.”
Morelli said that it’s “really exciting” to be able to plan events that they and the rest of OLA want to do. A calendar of OLA’s HHM events can be found on their Instagram page or on flyers posted around campus.
“It’s been really rewarding just being able to even plan out these events, and being able to do them is even more rewarding,” Morelli said.
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