On Thursday, September 15, 2016, was the Latin Festival to kick off Hispanic Heritage Month.

Student Organization (the full-time undergraduate student government) of Kean University, along with the Graduate and Part-Time Student Council (GPSC) and Kean University Galleries hosted the event. The Latin Festival took place in the lobby at the Center for Academic Success (CAS) during college hour. 

Hispanic Heritage Month runs from September 15 to October 15. Some may wonder why Hispanic Heritage Month starts in the middle of the month. Fact be told, September 15 is the anniversary of the independence of Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua. September 16 is when Mexico celebrates its independence, and Chile follows after on September 18.

While Hispanic students celebrated their roots, every student was invited to enjoy the free food, art and giveaways provided by the Student Organization of Kean University.

During this event, Kean University students with backgrounds from all over the world had the opportunity to appreciate and learn the Latin culture. Everyone had the chance to trace their roots to Spain, Mexico and the Spanish-speaking countries of Central America, South America and the Caribbean.

Students were welcomed by a smoothie stand that served a mango, orange and banana concoction and pina colada drinks, each decorated with a tiny umbrella. As soon as the smoothie stand opened, the line grew, reaching down to the art gallery. 

Beyond the smoothie stand, there were many tables with flags representing Hispanic and Latino culture. Each table was covered with festive decorations, exotic drinks and tasty foreign candy ranging from chocolate like Bon O Bon to candies like Vera Semaforo. Hispanic students were able to flashback to when they were kids.

As students made their way down the halls of CAS, Hispanic music entertained played and kept an upbeat atmosphere. Flags were put on each table shortly after the festival started and, in no time, all the flags were passed out to attendees. Some lucky students were able to collect all of them while other students stuck to getting that one flag they really wanted.

On one table, there was a game for students to take part in. Each student had to spin the wheel and whichever number the clicker landed on, the student had to name the country and colors of that country's flag. If the student won, they were able to get a drink and snack. After a while, all snacks and drinks on the table were free to claim.

"This Latin Festival shows great diversity. It does bring back memories from when I was younger," said Melissa Orellana, junior psychology major. "My favorite part of the festival was collecting all the flags, because it was fun and it was nice to see the diversity from every country. This festival was good in teaching culture as well." 

On another table, students had the chance to make their own bracelets out of colored rope. Students came and visited each table and enjoyed plenty of the free candy and drinks that were provided, especially those who needed a quick wake up before heading to class. Even students in a hurry could not miss the stack of various flyers from Student Organization on each table.

Details on each flyer included:

• If students want to voice out opinions, suggestions and ideas to Student Organization, applications are available on Cougar Link.
• The Laser Tag event is taking place in Downs Hall on Tuesday, September 20, 2016, from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. 
• Students are also invited to the Pep Rally on Friday, September 30, 2106 in Harwood Arena at 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Kean IDs are required for the Pep Rally.
• Students are welcome to join the programming committee, under the Office of Student Government, if they wanted to be more involved with Kean University.
• As a reminder, students should not forget to vote for Homecoming Queen and King.

A part of the festival that was hard to miss was the art gallery exhibition. Artwork from the exhibition Bandits & Heroes, Poets & Saints and popular art from northeast Brazil were displayed at the art gallery located in CAS. 

Allan Meira, senior communications major, was very impressed by the exhibition. 

"Being Brazilian, I was really impressed by the exhibition. It's great what they captured, because they included information and stuff that other people don't know about," said Meira. "When people think of Brazil, most people think of Rio, but the exhibition was real, showed underrated stuff, Brazilian facts more than just Rio. They included the amazons, the cultures and the things that no one really talks about."

The gallery set up the artwork with Brazilian music playing in the background. History and culture were shown in the displays, such as sugar plantations, slavery in Brazil, statues, expressions of faith, poetry song celebrations, the land of the people and so much more. In the gallery, food such as tres leches, empanadas and churros were served to visitors.

Some displays were interactive in which students were able to write a wish or a blessing and tie it to a gate for luck and faith. All of the displays were informative and enlightened students about people like Alfredo Cruz, a famous artist of Brazil, and information such as the history of diversity included in each artwork.

"I don't have any Hispanic or Latino roots, but I did think this exhibition was very informative and cute. You can taste different foods, learn about the cultures and traditions," said Janay Ferrell, senior marketing major. "My favorite part of the festival is definitely the food and the diverse tables. The festival makes me understand other cultures a lot more. I think it's good that Kean hosts these kinds of diverse festivals." 

Each person who participated in the festival really helped set the mood for the event. If students were lucky enough to enjoy the whole festival full of food in the art gallery and halls of CAS, along with the music, activities and cultural information, then they were able to really enjoy and kick off Hispanic Heritage month.