A campus group tried to address problems facing U.S. Latinos by hosting Hispanic Heritage Month.

SOL is a group for Latinos and for individuals who support them, Maria Lopez, president of the Student Organization of Latinos, said.

” SOL works to spread the culture of Spanish-speaking countries,” Lopez said. Hosting Hispanic Heritage Month is one way to do this.

HHM started on Sept. 15 because five Spanish-speaking countries celebrate their independence day on that date.

There were three main events planned to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month: a speaker, Maria Aponte, from Puerto Rico; a forum and discussion lead by Carl Allsup, the director of the Ethnic
Studies program, focusing on immigration; and a discussion following a movie, Lopez said.

SOL hosted Maria Aponte’s program and invited Allsup to speak this month to show how the challenges U.S. Latinos faced in past generations continue to affect Latinos today, Annie Malischke, vice president of SOL, said.

” We wanted to give students on campus a chance to learn about these connections to give them the tools to dissolve racism and increase respect for Latinos,” Malischke said.

It was a great privilege to bring speakers to campus and to already have on-campus knowledgeable individuals in Latino history and current issues, Malischke said. As a result, Latinos on campus and students of other ethnic origins had a chance to learn more about themselves and others and come together for the success of Latinos.

Celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month on campus was important because, regardless of who you are, you should never forget where you come from and for Latinos/Hispanics, family bonds are very important, Marco Aguirre, a senior software engineer from El Salvador, said.

” I think the best way to celebrate it is to learn a little about the culture, no matter what or how,” Aguirre said.

SOL hosted HHM Sept. 15 to Oct. 15.