A wide variety of events will be planned for students around Hispanic Heritage Month through The Student Success center within the Office of Diversity and Inclusion. | Credit: Amani Bayo
The yearly celebration of Latino/Hispanic culture during Hispanic Heritage Month in Columbus looks to emphasize self-care and establish community through the efforts of campus and local organizations.
The Student Success Center within the Office of Diversity and Inclusion is one organization that plans to organize programs and events to better serve students during Hispanic Heritage Month and celebrate diversity within Ohio State’s community.
Program coordinator for the Latine Student Success Center Johana Coronado said several planned gatherings — including workshops and meetings — will be centered around catering to different student needs.
“We want to foster holistic success and community for Latine students,” Coronado said. “The visibility that we’re trying to have is a big role.”
Coronado said the LSS center has gone through several changes to better represent the diversity within Latino culture, including its name and demographics of leadership.
“We rebranded the center to be ‘Latine Student Success,’” Coronado said. “We had seen research that said the ‘X’ does not transfer to indigenous languages.”
Coronado said education scholar Sergio A. Gonzalez will be hosting “Queer, Latinx/e and in College: Exploring Jotería at the intersections of queerness and Latinidad” Sept. 21 from 3:30-5 p.m.
Coronado said she also plans to encourage self-care through events such as “LSS and Chill” and “Rise and Grind,” a series where students can gather in the LSS center for breakfast, talks, board games and rest.
Organization of Latinx/Hispanic Employees, another Ohio State Latino organization, also aims to enhance student outreach and start conversations within the community on campus, Jimmy Oñate, director of the division of athletic training and president of OLÉ, said.
Oñate said he aims to foster advocacy, engagement and development during this month and forward. The organization will hold a town hall meeting Sept. 22, welcoming students and faculty to gather a consensus of what Hispanic leadership can look like on campus and extend resources where needed.
“Ohio State University is a global campus, not just a regional Ohio campus, and so shouldn’t our leadership and our student body represent more of a global, as opposed to a local, demographic?” Oñate said.
Additionally, OLÉ will host events, such as “Day of the Dead Columbus” — a celebration of past relatives — Oct. 8 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. This event, held in partnership with Latino Arts for Humanity, will feature art exhibits, living altar performances, ofrendas, local vendors, calavera poetry workshops, Aztec dance and more, according to the program website.
Oñate said holding these events is crucial to displaying Hispanic culture on campus.
“I think embracing the Hispanic Latinx culture, which is vast, all under one roof and explaining that to the folks is what Hispanic Heritage Month is all about,” Oñate said.
Oñate also said OLÉ will be working on a yearlong project that encourages students and faculty to get involved and share their stories.
“The more that we can share diverse thoughts, ideas and create conversations, the more that we create opportunities that we didn’t think that we could do or have,” Oñate said.
Rolando Rubalcava, editor of multilingual magazine titled “¿Qué pasa, Ohio State?,” said the magazine seeks to accurately represent the diverse culture on campus by offering a dialogue of information and opportunities surrounding Latino issues.
“One of the things that I really enjoy is not just having a space, but it gives people a chance to talk,” Rubalcava, doctoral student in English, said.
National Hispanic Heritage Month begins Sept. 15.
