Last Friday evening, students, as well as some faculty, gathered on the lawn outside of Umble to celebrate Mexico’s culture and history.

One of Latino Student Union’s (LSU) leaders, Lourdes Resendiz, was the head planner of the event. She was in charge of planning and executing the LSU Cultural Spotlight, with a focus on the country of Mexico.

Students who identified with the Mexican culture were the main people who were involved and helped with the event. They put lots of hard work by taking time to plan the event and contributing towards it. All contributions counted, whether it was by helping with the planning process, providing homemade food, making posters with history about Mexico or setting up for the event.

When walking out towards the lawn, one could see lights hanging around the space with bright, colorful decorative paper that was particular to Mexico. One could also see handmade posters, created by Latino Student Union members, hanging on trees with various types of information about Mexico’s culture and history.

There was a long table filled with different types of food such as tostadas, beans, rice, horchata, fajitas and tamales prepared by LSU.

At another table, students were able to make esquites, which is corn in a cup mixed with mayonnaise, queso fresco (Mexican cheese) and a lime-chile powder.

After some time of feasting and conversing, then came the what many students considered the fun part. Students took turns hitting a piñata that Resendiz had constructed earlier. This was one of the highlights of the night.

All around, there was a lively atmosphere with Spanish music playing on speakers, and students eating and conversing with each other.

While it was a bit windy on Friday afternoon, many students and Goshen College faculty came out to the event and were able to eat Mexican food, get a glimpse of decorations and learn some of Mexico’s history.

Elijah Lora, president of Latino Student Union, had the initial idea of starting these cultural spotlight events.

Resendiz explained the purpose of these events was “to celebrate the different cultures that students represent with others.”

As the head planner for this event, Resendiz commented that it was great to see lots of smiles on everyone’s faces while celebrating Mexico’s beautiful culture. She also mentioned that it was also nice to see students embracing the Mexican culture and they seemed to enjoy being a part of it for an evening.

Resendiz considered the event a success and a great way to celebrate and share Mexico’s culture with the campus. It was a chance to show the students and faculty a small glimpse of the Mexican culture and history as well as allowing them to be involved in it.

There will be other future cultural spotlight events highlighting other Central and South American cultures. Students should be sure to look out for them. Follow Goshen College Latino Student Union on Facebook for more information and upcoming events.