W&L Celebrates Hispanic Heritage Month The Comunidad Latina Estudiantil student group has planned and organized numerous events in collaboration with the Office of Inclusion and Engagement.

By Emily Innes
September 14, 2023

Washington and Lee University is celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month with campus-wide programs and events organized by W&L’s Hispanic and Latinx student organization, Comunidad Latina Estudiantil (CLE), in collaboration with the university’s Class of 1994 Office of Inclusion and Engagement (OIE). Hispanic Heritage Month is observed from Sept. 15 to Oct. 15 and celebrates the histories, cultures and contributions of American citizens whose ancestors came from Spain, Mexico, the Caribbean and Central and South America.

The month’s kick-off event will take place on Friday, Sept. 15 at 4:30 p.m. with music, food and dancing on Cannan Green. All members of the W&L community are invited to attend and celebrate the start of Hispanic Heritage Month.

CLE presents Carne Asada on Sept. 16 at 4 p.m. at Nuestro Hogar Latino, located at 4 Henry Street. Nuestro Hogar Latino aims to provide a community and environment in which Latinx cultures, issues and identities are promoted and acknowledged. Carne Asada is a great opportunity to build community and connect over food, music and games. The event also serves as CLE’s first student body meeting of the academic year, when CLE welcomes its newest members to the Latinx community at W&L, and an RSVP is encouraged.

Hispanic Heritage Month events also highlight the close relationships between faculty and students at W&L. On Oct. 4 at 6 p.m., CLE will host a dinner with Latinx-identifying professors at the Hotchkiss Alumni House. Students are invited to meet and converse with professors while sharing a meal together. RSVP is encouraged.

CLE will host their annual dance, Baile, on Saturday, Sept. 30 in Evans Hall. Baile is open to the public and tickets will be sold online and at tables in Elrod Commons, as well as at the Sept. 15 kick-off event. Ticket sales will benefit Programa Sol, a summer program hosted by W&L’s English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) organization that provides academic emergence programming and fun summer camp activities for Lexington Youth. Programa Sol aims to provide academic enrichment and bolster participants’ English language and literacy skills, affirm multicultural identities, and encourage a healthy lifestyle through physical activity.

During Parents and Family Weekend, CLE will partner with Pluma, W&L’s Spanish-language literary magazine, to host a Friday Night Underground (FUDG) event on Oct. 6 at 8 p.m.

Rounding out Hispanic Heritage Month events are a movie night on Sept. 21, a sunset drive in Rockbridge County on Sept. 23, and a student panel on Sept. 29 at noon in Hillel 101. W&L’s Latine / Hispanic Employee Resource Group will also host a service project on Oct. 7 at Rockbridge Area Relief Association (RARA) and a social gathering on Oct. 9 in Elrod Commons 216.

Follow CLE on Instagram (@wlu.cle) to stay up to date on the full calendar of events throughout the month.