With the growing Hispanic population on campus, it is more important than ever to learn about and understand the Latino culture, Jezzette Rivera, a junior in criminology and political science and president of Mi Familia, said.
“As the Hispanic population grows, it’s important to understand where we are coming from,” Rivera said. “Within the Hispanic population, there are a lot of different ethnicities that are really diverse from one another. They all have different traditions and cultures.”
The percent of Hispanic students at the University has increased steadily from .3 percent in 1976, to 2.4 percent in 2007, according to the University Planning and Analysis Web site.
The purpose of Hispanic Heritage Month, which began Sept. 15 and ends Oct. 15, is to educate people about different Latino ethnicities, Rivera said.
“It’s not just educating other people, but educating ourselves about different ethnicities within our cultures,” she said. “Here at N.C. State, we are trying to educate students about who we are and where we come from.”
Latino students have an opportunity, Rivera said, to help people of other races understand Latino culture.
“There are six Latino organizations on campus and we have the opportunity to shape their direction and grow their member base,” she said. “[Latino organizations] are just starting to be known on campus. Now we get to make an impact on N.C. State.”
Ashley Chaput, president of Lambda Pi Chi — a Latina sorority — and sophomore in Spanish language and literature, said it is important for students to understand Latino culture because of the growing Latino population in the region.
“The Latino community is becoming a large part of American culture,” she said. “It is important for others to understand how our culture functions and to understand its history.”
Because the Hispanic community at N.C. State is small compared to some other schools, it is more difficult for it to be recognized, Chaput said.
“To try to fix this, we have programs that focus on issues affecting Latinos,” she said. “That is the first step we take to be recognized so other people will see that we exist on campus.”
Andrew Pita, graduate student advisor for the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers and graduate student in engineering, said it is important to continue to celebrate Latino heritage because Latinos are going to become an important part of American culture.
“The population of the country is changing with the influx of Latinos,” he said. “Hispanic Heritage Month is necessary because it is good for people to get to understand [Latinos]. We are going to be an integral part of the U.S. in days to come.”
SHPE serves the University and the surrounding community in several ways, according to Pita.
“We try to promote and develop Hispanic technical talent at N.C. State,” he said. “We host company information sessions on campus and co-sponsor the activities of Hispanic Heritage Month at N.C. State. We also do a lot of community outreach such as tutoring local middle and high school students.”
