With only 10 days left in Hispanic Heritage Month, USC’s administration has taken a different approach to celebrating this year. In a statement made to Annenberg Media on Monday, the university said it was moving away from hosting events to give student organizations the opportunity to lead their own.
“Cultural heritage events and celebrations have long offered Trojans ways to learn about other traditions and deepen their own sense of community and belonging. In order to empower students with greater input into the design and programming of these federally recognized events, we are reverting to an approach that gives primary responsibility for these events to recognized student organizations (RSOs),” the statement said.
“By empowering RSOs in this way, the intent is to inject new voices, energy, and ideas into cultural heritage events, broaden their appeal, and enliven our campus as a whole.”
The university’s decision to step back from heritage events comes after the Undergraduate Student Government passed a Senate bill in April. The bill advocates for a more collaborative approach between students and USC when planning university cultural heritage celebrations. According to a USG press release, the bill emphasized the importance of centering student voices and experiences in the execution of such events to ensure they accurately represent the communities they celebrate.
The Daily Trojan reported that during Arab American Heritage Month in April, the Middle Eastern and North African Student Assembly said the university did not allow one of its members to recite a poem at an event. Additionally, the Native American Student Assembly said Native American students were not allowed to speak at the university’s event in November, leading the assembly to hold an independent event.
The USC Thornton Afro-Latin American Jazz Ensemble, or ALAJE, which performed at a jazz night hosted by USC in 2024 to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month, hosts weekly concerts on Mondays in the Carson Television Center.
Faculty member Aarón Serfaty, who leads ALAJE, emphasized the ensemble’s love of playing music regardless of university affiliation, although he voiced some concerns about USC’s decision to step back from organizing events.
“Honestly, it seems like it’s a lot to ask of students that are already in the middle of midterms,” he said.
Despite the added stress that organizing events may place on students, he thinks it will lead to events that students may enjoy more.
“I do like the idea of students running things because you guys are younger, and you know what moves you,” he said.
According to the USC events calendar, the university is not hosting its signature closing event, Noche de Cultura. However, the USC Price School Office of Student Affairs recently announced it would host its own event on the final day of Hispanic Heritage Month, Oct. 15. Latine speakers will share how their personal stories help make the Price School a vibrant and powerful community at the Cultural Compass Speaker Series.
Dalia Cancel Batista, a junior transfer student studying biomedical engineering, said having Hispanic Heritage Month events would help students far away from home feel more comfortable.
“I’m Dominican and I’m from the East Coast, and I don’t know any other Dominicans here,” Cancel Batista said. “I think just helping find community, in this bigger community as a university, could help students who are maybe far away from home or haven’t been able to experience their culture in any way here.”
Cancel Batista said she’s only heard of one event organized by an RSO this month: a salsa night hosted by the dance team Break on 2. The team’s president, Katherine Ramirez, expressed disappointment that Break on 2 was the only RSO to host an event this year.
“It’s super, super important for the university to [organize events], and especially being in L.A. with a prominent Hispanic community, it just seems very disrespectful to not give a space for the students, for the community to express such a beautiful culture and give people the opportunity to learn,” Ramirez said.
Kenny Tapia, a senior stage management major, is on the executive board of the Latino Film and Media Association, or LatiFAM.
“Operating as LatiFAM, I feel like we are highlighting that this month specifically is a month of Latino excellence and through that, it’s kind of lost in the Hispanic heritage pride of what that really means,” Tapia said.
Tapia said LatiFAM is spotlighting Latino filmmakers from across the country to reinforce that they are present on campus and are more than willing to give people a voice when that voice is not being heard.
Edited by Natalie Cerna and Zayane El Solh