“We teach culture, not Spanish” is the slogan that Hispanic/Latinx student group HOLA stands by in planning their cultural programming. 

Their mission is to provide Hispanic and Latinx awareness of campus issues within the University community. HOLA prioritizes having a cultural exchange between all students of different backgrounds without exclusions in order to protect and preserve the overall wellbeing of Hispanic and Latinx students by reflecting and uplifting their voices and culture. 

“Attending events like HOLAdays, which consists of many Latin holiday foods and activities, really brought childhood nostalgia,” said HOLA events programming chair Jessica Lopez-Perez. “It portrayed HOLA as a home away from home and made our large campus feel a lot smaller.” 

In a student body of 19,000 undergraduates, it can be hard to find where you belong, especially for students with several identities that make them who they are.

“As a Latina in a PWI [predominantly white institution], I found this especially vital to my college experience,” Lopez-Perez said. “HOLA really is a family and we aim to make everyone feel welcome, regardless of where they come from.”

So far, HOLA has already held one of their biggest events of the fall semester: Fiesta Latina. A celebration of Latinx culture, the event usually consists of music, food, dancing and other fun activities. This year, the event was known as “Noche de Travesuras,” which translates to “Mischief Night.” The 2000s theme put an emphasis on the rise of Reggaeton and Latinx artists and even included a best-dressed contest.

Lopez-Perez said she was very pleased with the turnout of nearly 500 students, which was a significant increase from last year’s Puerto Rican cultural celebration, “Noche en Viejo San Juan.”

“It was my first event as the new events programmer,” said Lopez-Perez. “I was pleased with the results and happy to see so many new faces.”

Some upcoming events to look out for this semester are Friendsgiving in collaboration with the Filipino Student Association (FSA) and the annual HOLAdays event in December. For the remainder of the year, HOLA will be holding their annual La Feria—a Hispanic carnival on the Trabant patio—and Latin Night. Look out for announcements for these events by following @hola_ud on Instagram.

This blog post was written by our Division of Student Life student intern Esha Shah.