The University of North Florida’s Latin American Student Organization will kick off Hispanic Heritage Month on Sept. 15  at 5:30 p.m. with a potluck celebration open to the entire campus community.

The potluck will be held in Building 15, Room 1105 in collaboration with Club Espanol, Unidos in Honors, and the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers and is intended to celebrate Latin and Hispanic culture. 

Gerardo Diaz, the president of UNF LASO, said the organization’s mission is to educate the campus community on Hispanic and Latin culture through various events.

“[Hispanic Heritage Month] is important because it’s the month to freely educate everyone on our culture and on the love Hispanic countries have,” said Diaz. “It’s important for our campus because it’s not just white Americans who are working to build a better world—it’s also the Hispanic students.”

Diaz said that when he became LASO’s president, he hoped to make LASO bigger and more well-known across the Jacksonville community. He wants the Hispanic community to feel free to express themselves no matter what is happening on or off campus.

“We’re well known on campus, but as the new president, I want to build a stronger community in Jacksonville,” said Diaz.

Damien Epps, head of marketing and public relations for LASO, said the organization creates a safe place where Hispanic students can come together and feel comfortable and proud of who they are.

“It’s very important to bring the community together as a whole,” said Epps. “A lot of people think that because they’re not Hispanic, they can’t participate. But that’s not what we’re about. We’re very inclusive and try to include everyone.”

Epps said it’s important for universities like UNF to highlight Hispanic Heritage Month. He said celebrating different cultures that are prevalent in the community can help break harmful stereotypes.

“Getting more Latin involvement would be wonderful so we can create a home and community for these people. I also hope that these events will create a better understanding of what Latin and Hispanic culture is like, break negative stereotypes and bring light to our culture,” said Epps.

Both Diaz and Epps encouraged anyone interested to get involved with LASO. The organization has a GroupMe where they advertise all upcoming events, updates, and volunteer opportunities.

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