The Office of Multicultural Affairs has proven that the way to bring together a small minority population at Syracuse University is to host a big party.

It was a full house in Goldstein Auditorium Saturday night as over 100 well-dressed and enthusiastic Hispanic and non-Hispanic students and faculty enjoyed a night of traditional cuisine, Latin comedy and salsa dancing during SU’s first Fiesta Latina.

OMA hosted the event in celebration of Latino Heritage Month. The Hispanic population makes up a mere four percent of the SU student body, so the celebration proved an excellent way to unite Latinos on campus.

‘It’s a great initiative to bring all colors, races and ethnicities together to experience this culture,’ said Anand Jain, a public administration graduate student in the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs. ‘I’m from Texas so I’m familiar with Mexican-Americans, but I don’t really have a feel for the Latino community.’

Jennifer Handog, an international relations graduate student in Maxwell, agreed.

‘The international component is important for students to be able to come together and celebrate this culture,’ she said.

Salsation! Theatre Company, a Latino sketch comedy troupe from Chicago, united enthusiastic guests for most of the evening with Latin-related humor in the form of skits and improvisation. The mostly lighthearted comedy employed the use of Latino stereotypes to score laughs; witticisms were delivered all night on a variety of issues ranging from domestic strife to political inequality to acculturation.

A sharply scripted mock advertisement for ‘Latino Barbie and Ken’ sought to sell a Hispanic version of the popular American doll duo that featured Barbie as a ‘voluptuous Latino with round curves and ruby red lips, complete with a feather duster and apron,’ and a Ken ‘complete with a resident alien green card and a waiter’s outfit.’ Of course, no comedy routine would be complete without a crack at the Bush administration, and Salsation! didn’t disappoint – it cracked on Bush’s vacation time, took jabs at his budget cuts and mocked the effectiveness of his No Child Left Behind policy to the repeated tittering of guests.

‘The stereotypes they played out were a bit over the top, but very funny nonetheless,’ said Shirley Giraldo, a freshmen television, radio and film major.

But the multifaceted performance was ultimately geared at promoting the Latino voice.

During one skit, a Salsation! actress faced the crowd and rhetorically asked, ‘What does it take for a Latina to be heard?’ Salsation’s typecasting, while undeniably good for laughs, also served as an accurate indication of the kinds of issues faced by Latin-Americans and those around which students can unite.

Giraldo thought the event was effective in amalgamating the Hispanic population of SU. ‘It was really good,’ she said. ‘The cultural awareness aspect of the event is important, and was cool to be able to meet people from other Hispanic countries.’

‘The turnout was awesome, the event was awesome, I think it was exactly what the students wanted,’ said Josie Otero, the administration secretary of the Office of Multicultural Affairs.

Dr. James Duah-Agyeman, the director of OMA, announced that this year’s gala would become an annual occasion and promised a bigger and better event for 2006. If the lively salsa dancing and animated interaction of guests at the end of the night was any indication, the OMA will need more tables for next year’s Fiesta Latina.

‘I’ll definitely be back next year,’ Giraldo said.

Published on September 24, 2005 at 12:00 pm