!Hoy es el comienzo del mes de herencia hispanica!

Latinos at Iowa State will kick off Hispanic Heritage Month today at noon on central campus with entertainment and two motivational speakers.

“Hispanic Heritage Month is an awareness event about people getting a taste of everything from Latin American countries,” said Ann Ramos, director of the Mexican-American Younger Achievers Society (MAYAS).

Events have been planned throughout the month-long celebration of Latin American culture, including a fun run and walk on Sept. 20, a noon talk on Oct. 1, a Latin dance workshop on Oct. 16, and a dance at the Great Hall of the Memorial Union on Oct. 17, Ramos said.

Mike Lozano, meteorologist at KCCI-TV, will speak at today’s kick-off on “Building Community in Iowa.”

Lozano will also broadcast the weather report from the campanile immediately preceding his speech.

Hispanic Heritage Month is an opportunity for ISU Latinos to showcase their culture and eliminate misconceptions.

“The goal [of Hispanic Heritage Month] is to give a better representation of the Hispanic heritage and culture to the ISU community,” said Ed Munoz, associate professor of sociology.

“There are a lot of misconceptions,” Munoz said. “People think that we all drink tequila and are lazy, and are all of one national heritage group.”

Events held during Hispanic Heritage Month will feature cultural elements of each of the Latin American countries.

On Oct. 3, Ports of Call, another event celebrating Hispanic culture, will feature food and music from each of the countries and various performances, Ramos said.

Hispanic Heritage Month is sponsored in part by Hispanic organizations including the ISU Latino Council, MAYAS, Active Scholars of Puerto Rico (ASPiRa) and Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE), but Ramos said students do not have to be a part of Latino organizations to take part in the heritage month.

“The events are open to everyone to come take part in them,” she said. “It should be a fun month.”