Hispanic Heritage Month at OPSU

Hispanic Heritage Month is traditionally celebrated from September 15 – October 15. This year’s Hispanic Heritage Month at OPSU was celebrated differently from usual due to the pandemic. While student leaders opted for more virtual events, they still included many opportunities to celebrate and honor their Hispanic heritage. They started with the traditional jalapeño eating contest on campus, which was done as a Facebook live event with Nico Rodriquez successful as the back to back champion. Stacy Jimenez, HALO co-president, led a virtual book club of The House on Mango Street over the month while Yesenie Cano, our other co-president and Manuel Medina, focused on weekly social media posts about Hispanics, who have influenced the culture in the U.S.

Another event, led by Annette Gándara, was the virtual scavenger hunt across campus and that event was followed by a virtual game night to introduce players to Hispanic themed games. The final event, the cultural fair, was led by Cristofer Monje and Andres Muñoz. They spent time researching the twenty Spanish speaking countries in the world and then making a display of that information in the Student Union hallway.