On September 15, 2021 at around 11:00 in the morning at the Schmitt-Morris Quad, Saint Xavier University professor, Dr. Amanda López, hosted a Mexican Independence Day celebration with a ‘grito contest’. Grito is Spanish for yell, so the event consisted of a lot of yelling to see which students had the loudest yell.
While technically Mexican Independence Day isn’t until Sept. 16, or the day after the celebration, SXU decided to celebrate today to truly kick off Hispanic Heritage Month which started the day of the Grito Contest Celebration. The students were rated first, second, and third based on their performance. Coming in first place was Destiny Enciso, followed by Rene Flores, and thirdly was Sofia Serrano.
To start the celebration off, they did the Viva chant. For those who don’t know, the Viva chant is a chant between the president and the citizens. The president will typically say a list of “Vivas” honoring some of the heroes in Mexico’s independence history.
López, gave us an insight into how the Grito Contest came to be a thing to kick off Hispanic Heritage Month and as a way to really celebrate Mexican Independence Day.
“This is like something that Mexicans do every year and it’s like a reenacting movement or fight for independence by Father Miguel,” Professor López stated.
She also continued on saying, “In my History of Mexico class, I like to introduce students to some of the cultural traditions of Mexico and the grito is one of the biggest celebrations in the country.”; “…many of our students have Mexican heritage and you might have seen some of the cars decked out with Mexican flags in the parking lot. Some of the big celebrations in the city like the parades have been canceled due to covid, so I thought this would be a fun way to bring the celebration on campus.”
An anonymous student attending SXU stated, “I really enjoyed this celebration as it really connected us all to the Hispanic cultural celebrations. I felt that this was a good way to reconnect students to their Hispanic heritage since a lot have disconnected and have been so caught up in school work.”
Another student who requested to remain anonymous added on, “I really felt like that was a good way to show appreciation for the Hispanic heritage.” ; “I felt that a lot of students appreciated that because it was something to kick off Hispanic Heritage month and to really help students who aren’t at home, who are living on campus, feel more at home and feel a sense of belonging as it was an opportunity to bond with other students of their heritage and celebrate their heritage together.”
In SXU’s panic to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month, with COVID-19 going around, López made a very positive solution that a lot of students enjoyed. It was quite a fun celebration and one that most students, especially of the Hispanic Heritage will remember.
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