One of the many celebration events leading up to American River College’s 70th anniversary homecoming celebration will be hosting a Latinx & Hispanic heritage celebration game on Oct. 28. Scheduled to start at 3 p.m., the ARC men’s soccer team will be playing at home against College of the Sequoias, with Latinx programs and clubs such as Latinos Unidos, Folklórico Los Rios and Mariachi Los Rios in attendance to share their culture with the audience.
El Centro is one of ARC’s programs that is working to put this celebration together. This program is a support system and space offered inside the Unite Center where students can acquire resources and celebrate their Hispanic, Latinx and/or Chicano heritage.
Uriel Delgado, director of the El Centro program, emphasizes the importance that these celebrations will have for bringing awareness to the program, as well as encouraging students to engage with the program’s celebrations, clubs, activities and even going to the Unite Center to bring life to their own club or activity ideas.
“I’m hoping that at this game we probably have fans who have not attended El Centro events, and getting that exposure to the campus of what we have that celebrates Latino heritage and Latino culture on campus is really the goal for collaborating,” Delgado said.
As the El Centro program has only existed a year and its surrounding clubs are just as young, exposure to the campus community is one of their biggest goals with this game as they’re consistently looking to collaborate and expand their partnerships on campus, according to Delgado.
Both Folklórico Los Rios and Mariachi Los Rios will also be in attendance for the purpose of performing a halftime show at the soccer game to display their culture through musical and artistic expression.
Iris Perez, one of the founding members of Mariachi Los Rios, has emphasized the emotional and proud moment of playing and listening to Marichi is an experience that she hopes to share with attendees of the game.
“Just having that representation and being able to play at the ARC soccer team is great in terms of people knowing that we’re here and inviting more students to participate with us,” Perez said. “We’re a very lively group, and I hope that translates as much during the soccer game.”
She goes on to describe how she hopes this reach has an impact on students who may feel like they haven’t found their place on campus, especially in the music department, as anyone is encouraged to join Mariachi regardless of their cultural background.
The game is advertised to include this live music during halftime as well as free treats during the game. As the campus and its community looks to celebrate its 70th anniversary with the attendance of the men’s soccer game, people may also learn a little more about the campus’s cultural community and how they could get involved.
