LSO President Oscar Perez serves food to student Manuel Desiderio.
Photo Credit: Kelsey Morris
This Monday, Sept. 15, the Latinx Student Organization kicked off Hispanic Heritage Month with a celebration at the Hindsman Bell Tower. The celebration included a variety of free food, lively music, and two members of the executive board received a pie to the face.
LSO president Oscar Perez, a junior computer and electrical engineering major from Warren, stated that over 90 students checked into the event.
“Traditionally, this event is a yearly event we do to celebrate the beginning of Hispanic Heritage month. As far as I know, we have been doing it for a while now, for sure since my freshman year. I don’t know too much about it since before I was here, but I am almost positive they have been doing this event before as well, since most businesses that tend to donate for this event usually expect a visit from one of the executive members around this time of year,” said Perez.
Different restaurants in the Russellville area donated food for the event. Some of these restaurants include La Huerta, Morelos Mexican Grill, Los Munchies Taquiera, Las Palmas, and the Arkansas Sweet Spot.
Donation jars were placed in Doc Bryan 242 the week before the event in order to raise money for both this event and future events hosted by LSO. The two executive board members with the most money in their jars were pied in the face at the event.
“Over the span of anywhere from a week and a half to two weeks, including the kickoff, we raised about $100 of donations from Pie-the-Exec alone, which turned out better than we could’ve imagined,” said Perez, one of the people who got pied.
Cathy Polanco, the treasurer for LSO, was the other person who received a pie to the face.
“My favorite part of the event? This is a hard one because there’s so much to like about it, but if I had to say, I think I would choose the sense of belonging that everyone gives while they are there. Both Hispanic and non-Hispanic students get together at one place, enjoy the food, the music, and just overall have a good time talking to one another and getting to enjoy a little bit of our culture if they don’t know much about it. No matter what it is that we’re doing, if it involves being able to share the culture with others, I will always enjoy that event/moment,”said Perez.
For more information regarding the Latino Student Organization, contact Perez at operez2@atu.edu
