The Ambassadors for Diversity and Inclusion and the Hispanic American Leadership Organization (HALO) collaborated to celebrate Hispanic culture.

The Nuestra Cultura event was open to Wichita State students and community members and was designed to showcase many different facets of Hispanic culture. Sophomore Grecia Esparza, the secretary of HALO, said the event was designed to help people learn about and see traditions that they may not have known existed. 

“We feel like there’s a lot of diversity to be explored,” Esparza said. “And that still needs to be seen more around campus. So I feel through this, we can really expand on that.” 

HALO had multiple Wichita State students and different groups from around Wichita perform for the event. 

Junior Carlos Sosa, a performer who sang “Mi Tesoro,” said he was originally hesitant to join the showcase, but, eventually, he knew he needed to join.

“Seeing Hispanic representation on campus and seeing events geared towards the Hispanic heritage — I knew I had to be a part of that,” Sosa said. “It was just something that I wanted to do my part in. My parents always raised me to always contribute my talents where I can.” 

Sosa said the showcase was a success in celebrating and preserving Hispanic culture on campus.

“The biggest thing is getting our voices out there and getting people to recognize that as representation at WSU,” Sosa said. “And so having these celebrations to just celebrate the culture, it’s very important for future students to see that they have a place here on campus and that they recognize their cultures have value.”

Several students attended the event, including freshman Maneja Ahmed. Ahmed said she decided to attend because she wanted to explore different traditional dances, songs and languages. 

“It’s really nice to embrace their culture,” Ahmed said. “We’re (my friend and I) international students, so sharing mutuality with them and understanding them is really nice.”