It is Hispanic Heritage Month, and organizations at The University of Alabama are hosting a variety of events from now until mid-October.

Events held during the month are centered on promoting and celebrating Hispanic and Latino contributions to world culture, featuring art work, dancing, storytelling, film-making and history from those cultures, as well as helping to lift up Hispanic and Latino students with resume building, diversity-focused career fairs, and a student-centered art exhibit.

UA Crossroads, the diversity office on campus started in 2005, is orchestrating the calendar of events, but department offices, UA faculty and student organizations are largely responsible for their planning and hosting. Sponsoring the variety of activities are the Latin American, Caribbean, and Latino Studies program, the Capstone College of Nursing, Crimson Tide Ballroom Dancers, Creative Campus, and many more. These organizations often work together to provide an inclusive string of activities that run throughout the month.

Almost all events are held on campus, and are free and open to the public. One event in particular that Director Lane McLelland of UA Crossroads is excited to see come to fruition is the Hispanic-Latino Festival & Dance on Sept. 29 at 6 p.m. in the Heritage Room of the Ferguson Center.

According to McLelland, the festival has been in the works since last year, when the student president of the Hispanic-Latino Association, Marissa Navarro, met with a UA faculty member at a Crossroads-sponsored Inclusive Campus breakfast. 

The breakfast is an event that UA Crossroads hopes to put on every spring in order to bring together students, faculty, and community members from different cultural backgrounds and to facilitate collaboration between diverse communities.

A full list of events can be found at crossroads.ua.edu/hispanic-latino-heritage-month/.