Aiming to raise awareness of the many groups that make up Latin culture, this year’s Latino Heritage Month will showcase the diversity of the smaller cultures within the ethnic group.

Although often seen as a single group, the Latino community is made up of many cultures, a fact emphasized by the organizers of this year’s Latino Heritage Month.

Latino Heritage Month kicks off Friday with the “Marcha de las Americas,” or “March of the Americas,” showcasing all the different cultures that compromise the Latino community. The theme for this year is “Latinos: Muchas Culturas, Un Orgullo” or “Latinos: Many Cultures, One Pride.”

The theme is meant not only to raise awareness of the many groups, but also to showcase how strong Latino presence is in the ISU community.

Hispanics make up 2.1 percent, of students enrolled at Iowa State for the fall semester, according to the Office of the Registrar.

David Romero, senior advisor for LHM and a senior in biology from Ecuador, said it is important that the diversity of Latin culture is finally being acknowledged. When it comes to Latin cultures, there is a lot of generalization, Romero said.

“There’s a lot of similarities among all the different groups, but there’s also many little details that make each group special,” he said.

The “Latin Roots” dance group will demonstrate different folk dances from Venezuela, Colombia, Argentina and Mexico, which is one of the ways LHM will hopefully raise awareness of the variety of cultures within Latin American culture.

Latino Heritage Month is a national celebration, with activities throughout the United States. On campus, the festivities are organized by the Latino Heritage Month Committee, a student-run organization.

The committee has been raising funds for the events through many different activities, such as Latin-themed parties at the Boheme Bistro, 2900 West St., Pacheco said.

“The students are very active in organizing all of the activities,” said Yanira Pacheco, Latino Heritage Month Committee’s faculty adviser, who is Puerto Rican. “We begin planning during spring semester since almost no one is around during the summer.”

The opening ceremonies, which will take place Friday night in the Great Hall of Memorial Union from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m., will feature Rose Vasquez as the keynote speaker. Vasquez, Iowa Board of Regents member from Des Moines, is employed as the diversity consultant in the human resources department at Principal Financial Group.

Pacheco said all of the organizers in charge of the events have put time and the effort into the festivities, not only because they are proud of what they do, but because they are proud of who they are and where they come from.