Latine Heritage month takes place from Sept. 15 to Oct. 15 and is a time to recognize the culture, heritage and contributions of Americans with cultures from the Caribbean, Central America, South America and Mexico. Comunidad, a student-led club for the Latine community, is celebrating with a series of special events over the course of the month.
Latine Heritage month takes place from SEpt. 15 to Oct. 15 and is a time to recognize the culture, heritage, and Contributions of Americans with cultures from teh Caribbean, Central AMerica, South AMerica, and mexico.
Latine Heritage month started at ‘Berg with a “Warm Welcome Back” on Sept. 15. The event celebrated the start of the month with food, games and music around a fire pit at the Office of Multicultural Life (OML). Dia de Exaltón was another event held on Sept. 22. Exaltón is a reality television show where two teams, the “Contendientes” (Contenders) and the “Famosos” (Famous) compete six days a week in obstacle course races. Comunidad’s spin on this was an obstacle course day full of games and competitive fun.
On Oct. 6, Comunidad is collaborating with the Women of Color Collective (WCC) for ¡Bailando! They are going to present Bachata lessons with Ely Dance Studio. Bachata is a genre of dance and music that originated from the Dominican Republic in the 1960s. The music genre is a fusion of Merengue, Bolero and Son Cubano. It originally had a rhythmic guitar, an electric bass guitar, bongos and güira, but Bachata music has evolved into a more electronic and modern style now. The dance is known for being romantic and having a syncopated rhythm. Bachata was originally danced from front to back, but it’s now danced from side to side. The hip action step is the most notable characteristic of this dance.
Comunidad’s goal is “to connect, learn and create friendships.”
Adrián Padrón-Curet ’26
Lastly, on Oct. 12, there will be a “Charlamos” or “We Chat” event where Comunidad members can come together to learn about their fellow members’ experiences and learn how to embrace themselves as Latines. For the secretary of Comunidad, Adrián Padrón-Curet ‘26, Latine Heritage Month means “finding a sense of community between Latin American countries. There is a large population of people who are Hispanic and Latine here at Muhlenberg, but unfortunately, we are spread out, and many do not connect with each other.” In regards to what Comunidad has done for Latine Heritage month, Padrón-Curet stated that Comunidad’s goal is “to connect, learn and create friendships. We have different activities planned out that will help people become closer. We are happy to see that this has been working with our past activities since the e-board has become really close to new freshmen and other upper-class students.”
Shaiyan Feisal '26 is a neuroscience major with a minor in public health. She enjoys writing news and arts & culture pieces to highlight the various voices among the student body and show the variety of commodities Muhlenberg has to offer. When she isn't writing, she enjoys reading murder mystery novels and painting.
