The ISU Latino Heritage Month committee closed out this year’s Latino Heritage Month by presenting Noche de Cultura (Night of Culture) in the Memorial Union great hall Sunday night.

The night involved an excellent sample of cultural music, food and dances provided by ISU student groups OLaS and Descarga.

Daniel Hodapp, sophomore in art and design and president of the LHM committee, has worked diligently alongside Erika Gonzalez Elizalde, junior in marketing, and his nine other cohorts on the committee for the past couple of months to put together this years’ LHM closing event.

The idea behind the awards-show format of the event was one that had taken a great deal of planning, Hodapp said. He wanted this year to be one that people “would remember for years.”

Hodapp’s hope was that as a result of this event, people will learn more about Latino heritage and become more interested in attending similar events in the future.

“Noche de Cultura is like my dream becoming reality. We have done a lot of work in putting this together and are hopeful that everything will turn out as planned,” Hodapp said.

The evening started with a dance performance by OLaS, followed by the opening speech by Loreto Prieto, director of liberal arts and sciences cross-disciplinary studies.

Prieto spoke a great deal about the importance of unity among Latin Americans, especially those in the United States. He urged those in the audience to hold steadfast to their culture and to never forget their heritage.

“Those that are not Latino may have difficulty understanding the differences that could divide us,” Prieto said.

The differences Prieto referred to included the varying dialects of Spanish spoken among people from different Latin American countries.

He provided an example of students in his class who are from different Latin American countries, and although they both could be speaking the same word in English, the other would not understand the Spanish they used to translate it. To illustrate this point, he provided the scenario of how some Americans call a soft drink “pop” and others call it “soda.”

“When we are pressured to rid ourselves of our languages and cultures, this can drive a wedge between members of different generations,” Prieto said.

Noche de Cultura sold out of tickets for the evening with 320 ticket sales; Hodapp said he was ecstatic that the event turned out well.

Sulianet Ortiz, senior in electrical engineering and former member of the LHM committee, was glad the performances were entertaining.

Ortiz described the event as “one of the best opportunities to display our culture, in a little bit more formal way.”

According to its brochure, the LHM committee at Iowa State was established in 1992 with the purpose of organizing activities to celebrate Latino Heritage Month. Its objectives have evolved to “provide their members [with] the ability to develop into future leaders in the community.”