“Move your hips!” was a frequent directive given to Latino dance learners by Andrew Jessip, senior global studies major, at Baila Conmigo on Monday night. It was the first event to kick off Latino Heritage Week.

Latino Heritage Week is sponsored by the Center for Multicultural Education with support in planning and implementation from UNIDOS, Panthers for DREAM Iowa, The Brothers of Lambda Theta Phi Latin Fraternity Inc. (UNI Colony) and The Potential Candidates of Lambda Theta Alpha Latin Sorority Inc.

UNIDOS, formerly known as the Hispanic Latino Student Union (HSLU), has a changed name to reflect a new vision for the organization on campus.

“UNIDOS means United in English. We are all a united UNI community, and the name reflects that,” said Juan Hernandez, senior TESOL Spanish major and President of The Brothers of Lambda Theta Phi Latin Fraternity Inc. Hernandez was at the kickoff for the week of events on Monday afternoon.

“It was a flash mob,” Hernandez said. “We ran down the Maucker stairs with flags representing all Latin American countries to grab everyone’s attention.”

The attention-grabbing seemed to be successful, as Baila Conmigo, Monday night’s event, saw an attendance of about 75 people. Attendees learned a variety of Latin dances, including the salsa, cumbia and bachata. Jen Arnold, junior psychology major, saw the event as a fun step outside her comfort zone.

“It’s been very lively and interesting because people don’t learn dancing in this environment,” Arnold said. “But we’re all making it together.”

Natalia Tinoco, senior global studies major, taught the salsa, a dance she’s known all her life.

“Everyone in Colombia learns [the] salsa when they’re little,” Tinoco said.

This week’s events are special for Tinoco.

“It makes me happy knowing there’s a place other than home where I can represent my culture,” Tinoco said. “It makes UNI feel more like home.”

Tinoco is not alone in this sentiment.

Kimberly Garcia Aguilar, senior elementary education major said, “This week makes me feel included and represented.”

For Hernandez, this week is a celebration.

“To me, this means being proud of where I come from and my neighbors,” Hernandez said. “It’s about celebrating who I am instead of forgetting where my family comes from.”

Given last year’s election, Hernandez feels building the Latino community at UNI is imperative.

“Around the election cycle I didn’t feel welcome,” Hernandez said. “We’re planning these events to show that we’re here, and if you felt like I did, you have this community and people who care about your culture.”

This week’s events were designed to represent Latino students’ culture and identities as well as discuss the issues facing the Latino community.

“We wanted to be broad and make sure we included all Latin American identities,” Hernandez said. “We wanted to address issues that face other Latinos [sic]. A lot of times someone from El Salvador or Honduras can be classified as Mexican because of the whole immigration issue, so the second day we’re talking about identity and what it means to be Latino and/or an immigrant.”  

Hernandez urges students to make it to the Latino Showcase tonight to get an in-depth view of Latino culture.

“There will be dressing up in traditional costumes, a duet, Mariachi, other acts and tajin,” Hernandez said. “The showcase will have the talents of students here at home.”

Hernandez hopes the student body will have fun at the events, but also learn.

“I hope people get informed and understand more about Latino,” Hernandez said. “We all have different backgrounds. We have people from El Salvador, Colombia, Mexico and Panama that put in ideas to make these events inclusive of Latino culture.”

Creators of the Heritage Week hoped to create events close to campus and to bring all students in.

“The events are open to everyone. As long as you have a passion for Latino culture, show up and have some fun,” Hernandez said.

Other events this week included a documentary viewing of “Hate Rising” with empanadas that took place yesterday, as well as tonight’s Latino Heritage Showcase. For more information on all the events happening this week, visit cme.uni.edu.