Hispanic Heritage Month finally came to an end on Wednesday, Oct. 15 with a closing ceremony in the Wornick dining hall in RTUC. A band played while students enjoyed their dinner of Hispanic cuisine. The menu included staple Mexican items such as salsa and platanos.

Hispanic Heritage Month is meant to spread the Hispanic culture to those who may not be aware or have much knowledge of it. This year’s month has been a huge success. The “month” ran from Monday, Sept. 15 to Wednesday, Oct. 15. Throughout the month, Millikin held a number of different Hispanic events. For example, earlier in the month, there was a performance of tres vidas from the core-ensemble in Kaeuper Hall in PMC.

Participants also learned about Hispanic entrepreneurship opportunities and had an open panel in LRTUC.

Columbus Day, or “Discovery Day,” also passed within the month. In Latin countries, the holiday is also known as El Día de la Raza, or Day of Race, according to the Don Quijote website.

The holiday goes by many different names according to the site: “In Argentina, the name of the holiday was changed to Día del Respeto a la Diversidad Cultural (Day of Respect for Cultural Diversity). In Chile it is called Día del Descubrimiento de Dos Mundos (Day of Discovery of Two Worlds). . . And finally in Venezuela the holiday is known as the Día de la Resistencia Indígena (The Day of Indigenous Resistance).”

Columbus Day is important in Latin countries, because it celebrates many different Latin people.

When asked about his thoughts on Hispanic Heritage month, freshman Dillon Blankenship said, “I have only been here about three months and it is amazing to see such recognition of the Hispanic community here on campus. I was not expecting to walk into Wornick and see a whole band set up in there… it was pretty cool.”

Even though Hispanic Heritage Month has come to a close, the culture lives on. Samuel Motta, freshman, said, “It was cool while it lasted. Usually I am not interested in these sort of things, but here on campus they did a pretty good job of keeping it interesting.”

Cassie Marts said that the closing ceremony was “very interesting and a cool way to get the whole university involved, overall a nice end to a very eye opening month.”

Millikin has one group for Hispanic students, which is Latin American Student Organization, or LASO, for short. It’s important to keep awareness of Hispanic heritage going outside of Hispanic Heritage Month. Hispanic organizations like LASO can certainly contribute and keep people aware.