OLÉ event kicks off Latino Heritage Month

The Organización Latino Estudiantil (OLÉ) held a kickoff event in Charles Commons Friday evening to celebrate the beginning of Latino Heritage Month.

At the start of the event, members of OLÉ’s executive board described several of the group’s upcoming events, including “Orange is the New Black: A Night With Jackie ‘Flacka’ Cruz,” which will take place in Mudd 26 at 7 p.m. on Oct. 23. Cruz, a star on the Netflix series Orange is the New Black, will speak about the challenges and successes that she experienced in her personal life and career.

During Parent’s Weekend, Salsa Y Salsa will give students a chance to learn about salsa dancing while tasting different salsas. The board encouraged students to attend these events and to learn more about Latino history, identity and culture during the month of October.

“Latino Heritage Month is our biggest month. We begin planning it in June [or] July,” OLÉ President junior Leslie Peralta said. “It’s a very hectic time period; a lot of coordination has to go into it, [such as] finalizing dates, finding and reserving locations, picking a menu [and] choosing speakers.”

Peralta has been involved in OLÉ since the fall of her freshman year and became OLÉ’s president this year.

“Opening Ceremony every year consists of an executive board introduction, a breakdown of LHM’s upcoming events [and] a speaker followed by food and dancing,” Peralta said.

Guest speaker Reyna Jarocki, education director and volunteer coordinator at Education Based Latino Outreach (EBLO), a non-profit which assists Latino children with basic reading, writing and math, encouraged students to volunteer with EBLO or another student organization. She described the programs that EBLO sponsors, which include an adult bilingual computer education program called Entrance to the Future, a Saturday school featuring cultural enrichment programs and youth tutoring and an after-school program called Mi Segunda Casa, which helps to empower students and to develop their academic skills.

Following this, Notes of Ranvier, a co-ed community service a cappella group, performed two songs. The group sang “Demons,” which featured soloist Michael Guo, and “For the Longest Time,” which featured soloist Rohith Bhethanabotla.

“It was incredible to see a mix of people come together to celebrate the culture of Latin America,” Anwesha Dubey, a member of the Notes of Ranvier, said.

Authentic Hispanic food, including chips, salsa, guacamole, enchilada and Jarritos sodas, was available at the event. The OLÉ’s executive board members helped serve this meal to guests.

After the meal was served, Temps D’Afrique, an African dance troupe, performed. Their routine ended in Shakira’s “Waka Waka (This Time For Africa).”

“Opening Night was an eclectic celebration of the thriving, rich Latin culture, and it was such an honor for the Temps D’Afrique to perform and partake in the lively celebration,” Collete Aoh, a member of Temps D’Afrique, said.

The next dance performance featured ¡Baila!, a Latin dance group, which performed a complex routine to a medley of Latin tunes.

At the end of the night, the dance floor opened up to anyone who wanted to show off their Latin moves. Attendees gathered on the dance floor, and the DJ spun Latin tunes until the crowd dispersed at 11 p.m., having experienced an evening full of Latin music and culture.