On Thursday Oct. 30, students gathered on campus to celebrate Día de Los Muertos with ofrendas (altars), food, art, music, and dance.
The Latinx Center hosted over a dozen groups across campus in the USU Forum Plaza, including the Women and Gender Equity Center, the Pride Center, the Black Student Center, the Kellogg Library, the College Assistance Migrant Program (CAMP), the COMPASS Center, and more.
Also present were student organizations like M.E.Ch.A and Ethnic Studies Professor Marcelo Garzo-Montalvo’s class, “La Cultura Cura: Latinx Xicanx Culture, Healing, and Resistance.” Festivities included champurrado, Mariachi, and Danza Azteca.
At the same time, a separate event took place in the Ethnobotany Garden, where Dr. Bonnie Bade held a more traditional ofrenda created by her students, including cempasúchil flowers grown in the garden. Students brought offerings, planted acorns for the Oak Cooperative, made flower garlands, and ate mole and chocolate.
One of many groups celebrating was Milpa Comunidad (@milpacomunidad), a club for students learning from and supporting our milpa here on campus. The celebration in the Ethnobotany Garden was in collaboration with the Milperxs, as club members call themselves.
Milpa is a Mesoamerican polycrop farming practice also known as “The Three Sisters” (corn, beans, and squash). The practice dates back over 9,000 years and remains culturally significant to Indigenous communities throughout Mesoamerica.
The milpa has been gaining traction on our campus for over a year now. Students are excited that the club gives more students the opportunity to get involved.
“It’s nice to see an extension of the research lab and everything we’ve been working towards. And then finding a sense of community. Even in a space like this. To be able to interact with other clubs and communities at school has been really nice,” said Dawa Soni Sherpa, a Milpa Comunidad club member.
Find more of our coverage of the milpa here: