While growing up, during Día de los Muertos, Alfredo Velasquez watched his dad collect vibrant colored flowers and listened to stories about how people in Oaxaca, Mexico, danced, celebrated and shared food to honor their loved ones. Years later, Velasquez drew on his personal connections to teach others about the holiday. 

LatinX Graduate Student Association, Black Graduate Student Association and Graduates for Underrepresented Minorities hosted an educational event on Friday that included a presentation about Día de los Muertos, an Indigenous holiday originating from Southern Mexico and Central America that honors those who passed away. Sergio Morales, the LatinX Association’s communications director and third year Latin American studies and community/regional planning masters student, and Alfredo Velasquez, the LatinX Association’s executive director, taught attendees about Día de los Muertos’ history, diversity and misconceptions. 

Velasquez, third-year human development and family sciences doctoral student, said he and Morales wanted to host the event so people understand the holiday’s meaning as it approaches. Velasquez said he thinks some people participate in Día de los Muertos without giving back to the community or making an effort to learn more about the culture and how people celebrate. 

“People think that it’s a Halloween type event, but … (there’s) no element of fear or a spooky factor,” Velasquez said. “It’s gotten to a point where in some communities across the nation, … people who don’t identify as Indigenous or Latino are profiting off of this holiday (by) selling merch that’s related to (Día de los Muertos) but they have no genuine connection to it.” 

Ahniah Charles, the Black Graduate Student Association’s co-president and second-year human development and family sciences doctoral student, said acknowledging different cultures and having conversations serves as a way for people to participate in cultural celebrations separate from their own.  

“When I was in school we had programs where we went over, ‘Hey, what are these holidays? What do they signify?’” Charles said. “If you don’t understand something, it’s okay to have (a) conversation that is respectful to get an understanding of how these cultures are significant.”  

Clarissa Aguilar, a first year neuroscience doctoral student, said she appreciated that early in the presentation, the speakers emphasized Día de los Muertos’ diverse celebration methods and shared their experiences with the holiday. 

“(Morales) talked about a dance that’s done and a different way of having the altars adorned outside of the homes, as opposed to being inside,” Aguilar said. “I love that they made it personal.” 

Velasquez said after Senate Bill 17, LGSA lost their sponsorship from the College of Education and no longer received direct funds from the president’s office. Shutting down LGSA was an option, but Velasquez said doing so would result in more harm than good. 

“In the era of SB 17 and the idea of culture being attacked, I feel like this workshop is more important than ever,” Velasquez said. “Even though we’re not funded by the University because of these laws, we still made it happen. It’s (about) retaining culture and letting others (be) aware of the history and the significance of (that) culture.”