UTRGV celebrated Mexico’s Independence Day with tacos, games, music and contests Sept. 17 and last Tuesday on the Brownsville and Edinburg campuses.
“Fiestas Patrias is an event that [the Campus Programming Board] has put on almost annually,” said Maria Almanza, student program advisor for the board. “It’s one of the events … that people have come to expect.”
The event has been celebrated since UTRGV was founded, Almanza said.
Mexico’s Independence Day is Sept. 16.
Cedrina Durand, cultural chair for the Campus Programming Board, said the Cultural Committee’s job is “to bring cultural events to the campus for [students] to celebrate, just bring diversity for the students to enjoy.”
Durand estimated that around 300 students attended the event in Edinburg on Tuesday.
The evening was filled with different activities, such as maraca painting, games, a photo booth, and jalapeño, taco eating and grito contests.
Chemistry graduate student Hector Vasquez won the jalapeño eating contest after eating eight of the hot peppers. The UTRGV record is nine jalapeños.
Nursing freshman Claude Magdangal ate 10 tacos to win the contest. Ruben Aguilera, an electrical engineering junior, captured the grito contest.
Vasquez received $100 in V-Bucks and Magdangal earned $25 in V-Bucks.
Music played during the event was a mix of Mexican artists, including Vicente Fernández and Pedro Fernández. Students danced the Caballo Dorado, huapangos and cumbias.
Free tacos and frijoles charros were served. Students could also get a piece of Mexican candy, such as Miguelitos, tamarindos and churritos.
Three students won the Campus Programming Board’s prize drawings. The prizes included school supplies and CPB’s promotional items.
Freshman Adriana Sanchez said she wanted to learn more about Mexico and its culture because she is an exchange student from Brazil.
“I never [thought] about Mexico before so, for me, [everything] is new … in here,” Sanchez said.
She said that maraca painting was her favorite part of the evening because she has never seen maracas before.
“I like this because it’s a culture inside of [the] university,” Sanchez said.
For Erik Muñoz, an information systems alumnus, his favorite part of the evening was the taco-eating contest. He likes that the university promotes and celebrates cultural diversity.
“We are in a Mexican-American border,” Muñoz said. “I believe that it’s nice for the university to host such events and bring out the Mexican in everybody.”
Fiestas Patrias is part of the university’s observance of Hispanic Heritage Month, which continues until Oct. 15.
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