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Last Saturday marked the 12th annual Somos, an event showcasing the Latino community and talent at NC State.
Mi Familia, the largest Latino student organization on campus, facilitates the annual event.
Each year, Mi Familia decides on an overarching theme, and this year, the theme was Las Estrellas. As a result, Somos was set up to resemble the Latin Grammy Awards, and in between the different cultural displays, the hosts presented a variety of awards, keeping with the theme.
The event was slow to start, but filled Hunt Auditorium just before the “Nuestra Raices,” a fashion show of Latin American styles, began. A variety of traditional outfits were on display from countries as diverse as Mexico, Colombia, Guatemala and Costa Rica, to name a few.
Students also acted out skits featuring celebrity impersonators that included Pitbull, Marc Anthony, Jennifer Lopez and Vicente Fernandez. During a more serious moment, Carlos Vega, a senior studying civil engineering, shared his free-verse poetry and received a standing ovation for his personal stories of discrimination.
Jessica Gallo, Mi Familia social chair and a sophomore studying social work, was very proud of the event, especially the presentation of the two awards: the Nelson Award and the Founder Award.
This year’s Nelson Award went to Nelson Santiago, the assistant director for Latino Student Affairs within the Multicultural Student Affairs office, and the Founder Award went to Avi Gomez, a fifth-year senior studying business administration. Despite not holding a position on the executive board, both recipients contributed greatly to Mi Familia during the semester and especially in planning the semester’s largest event.
“Their support and their resources and their spirit to have a great event was a vital role in making Somos happen, and it just feels good to make sure those people are appreciated,” Gallo said.
The event closed with performances from Magetsi, an award-winning 4-H group from Lee County, and Sube Ritmo, NC State’s only Latin dance team. There was also a video recognizing graduating senior members of the Latino community.
Somos counted as a University Scholars event, bringing in a variety of students. University Scholars typically hosts and promotes events that spread diversity and cultural experiences, as well as the arts. The event was free and open to the public as compared to previous years, when Mi Familia asked for a small entrance fee.
“I hope that visitors learn that there’s more to the Latino culture than just salsa dancing and speaking in Spanish, or just being Mexican. There’s a lot of diversity, and each country kind of has its own culture,” Gallo said.
