For the past eight years, the Viterbo campus and La Crosse community look forward to celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month with each other. Although officially starting Sept. 15 to Oct. 15, Viterbo University’s Hispanic Heritage Month Community Celebration, on Sept. 26, kicked off multiple events provided for Viterbo students.
The celebration is an effort to create a space for students and community members to come together and create a bridge between the ability and knowledge in the community and diverse backgrounds and history of the students. The 2024 keynote speaker was Claudia Cisneros Mendez, a journalist acknowledged for her work with an Emmy win just this past summer, using her journalism skills to shed light on social, political and transnational issues.
Organizations from every field all over La Crosse invited to share their stories as they work with and build up La Crosse’s Latino community. Each year, there is an enthusiastic response from the greater La Crosse community as various corporations, such as Centro Latino or Coulee Region Immigration Task Force, find value in creating opportunities to come together, share stories, and connect with students. Learning to put their studies into work outside the classroom, Viterbo students were also invited to speak at the community celebration to encourage discussion between the students and surrounding communities.
Outside the community celebration, this year Viterbo University has also offered other opportunities for students to get involved and learn during Hispanic Heritage Month. Over the last month and a half, Viterbo has organized various events such as Loteria! – Spanish bingo hosted by the AVANZA! club, a screening of “In the Heights” and following conversation, as well as bringing in other speakers. Oscar Mireles, a writer who is currently in Madison Wisconsin, was invited for a poetry reading Oct. 24, after lunch from Hispanic food trucks. The Viterbo library put together a collection of information in books, videos, and other resources in their virtual display on Viterbo website for students to learn from and physical displays of Dia de los Muertos alters have information around campus for students to appreciate as well.
An incredible amount of organization, time, and care has been put into Viterbo’s events, other events around La Crosse and the entire country celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month. Viterbo University’s campus theme this year is “Kindness Begins with Understanding,” and all the Hispanic Heritage Month events are opportunities to deepen understandings of peers, colleagues, and the larger Viterbo community.
