UNC’s Latinx Heritage Tailgate and Football Game is A Great Way to Celebrate our Community

UNC strives to build an inclusive campus which fosters and nurtures a diverse, inclusive and equitable environment. That includes celebrating National Hispanic Heritage Month. 

Kicking off on Sept.15, the University of Northern Colorado’sCésar Chávez Cultural Center is hosting numerous events during the month-long celebration for students, alumni and the Greeley community to get involved with. 

On campus, the celebration is called Latinx Heritage Month to encompass the Hispanic and Latino community who identify across the spectrum of gender identities. The goal and intention is to highlight Latinx culture and the contributions students, alumni, faculty and staff who identify as Hispanic or Latinx have made to improve the community. 

One event hosted is the Latinx Heritage Tailgate and football game on Sept. 30. 

Alumni, campus and Greeley community members are invited to come together, eat Latinx-style foods like tacos, tortas, churros and more, listen to culturally reflective music from an alumna-owned Spanish-language radio station and learn more about how Hispanic and Latinx-identifying individuals have made an impact on campus and in the Greeley community. 

Evan Partida, a UNC student who is helping coordinate the event for the second year, considers working on this event an honor and a privilege. 

“This event is very important and valuable,” reflects Partida on last year’s tailgate. “A lot of people who live around Greeley are Hispanic or Latino. How UNC celebrates it is amazing.”

With more than 25% of UNC’s undergraduate student population and 40% of Greeley’s population identifying as Hispanic or Latinx, there is a lot to celebrate. 

This year, Partida is excited to see the tailgate brought to the next level. He hopes to bring in even more top-notch food vendors than last year, and Tigre radio will be playing music during the event. 

Lindsay Salazar ’09, owner of Tigre Radio, is excited to provide Spanish-language music for the event. 

“Music will always be the one universal language,” Salazar says. “In all cultures, music unites, and listening to music from other cultures opens us up to understand one another.” 

To Salazar, culturally reflective events allow students to understand each other's culture and are a great way to forge deeper friendships. She points out that Greeley’s community is ever-changing and more culturally diverse than many might realize, citing a visit to an elementary school recently where students were speaking 15 or so different languages in one classroom. 

The diversity that is present and growing in the community speaks to the growing diversity on UNC’s campus. 

Cristóbal Garcia ’08, associate director of Alumni Relations and staff fellow for Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) initiatives, emphasizes how important the events hosted throughout the month can be for students and alumni. 

“With culturally reflective events and programs like these, we get to have fun while building a sense of belonging for current and prospective students, their families, our alumni and community partners and our local Greeley/Evans community — which is nearly 40% Hispanic and Latinx-identifying,” Garcia said. 

As UNC continues to pursue the federal HSI designation, finding opportunities to serve, celebrate and find success for our Hispanic and Latinx-identifying students is and will continue to be a central focus. 

The Latinx Heritage Tailgate is not an isolated event, there are other upcoming university-led and community-based programs and events for everyone to learn from. From history exhibits to the kickoff of the new Latinx Music Bachelor of Arts program, there’s bound to be something for everyone to enjoy.