LAS VEGAS (FOX5) — Students at the College of Southern Nevada transformed classrooms into colorful tributes complete with candles and pan de muerto to honor loved ones who have passed during the college’s Día de los Muertos celebration.
The event, organized by CSN’s Office of Diversity Equity and Inclusion, invited students and staff to create altars and contribute to a community altar where anyone could add photos of loved ones or pets.
“This is a very special tradition for Latin American countries. We celebrate that day when our loved ones come to visit us and we expect them with altars where we decorate them with a very special traditional flower called marigold and Spanish cempasúchil,” said Lorena Rodriguez Rios, program manager for the Office of Civic and Cultural Engagement at CSN.
Cultural representation on campus
The celebration holds special significance at CSN, where nearly 40% of students identify as Hispanic.
“At CSN, we are a really diverse college, we have almost 40% of our students identify as Hispanic so for them, this means representation,” Rodriguez Rios said.
For many students, the event provided a way to reconnect with family traditions and memories.
“This tradition to me means remembering my grandmother, remembering those days where my abuelita was there with me and would love listening to mariachi music and taking her coffee and just spending those afternoons, the holidays together,” said student Iltze Pimienta.
Learning about culture
Other students said the experience taught them about culture, even if they didn’t grow up celebrating Día de los Muertos.
“My family is very much Cuban, and we weren’t officially introduced until Coco, but I have always seen the ofrendas; we have it in a bit different way, but we have ofrendas in our culture as well,” said student Rochelle Perez.
Organizers said this is the second year CSN has hosted the celebration, and they hope to make it a campus tradition.
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