The spirit and history of Latin American countries came alive Thursday night at the Student Activity Center as students enjoyed free food, games, presentations and a celebratory atmosphere at the fifth-annual Celebración de Independencia.

Lambda Theta Alpha Latin Sorority Inc. and Lambda Theta Phi Latin Fraternity Inc. established the event in 2008 to celebrate Mexico’s independence. It has since grown to celebrate other countries and has expanded to include other organizations, said Alma Arriaga, a bilingual education junior and treasurer for Lambda Theta Alpha.

“The main goal of the event was to promote awareness of Latino heritage, culture, and traditions while giving the opportunity to those who identify with the nine countries to celebrate their national culture,” said Arriaga. “With this being an election year, another one of our goals is to highlight the importance of the Latino vote.”

The event featured as a special guest speaker Mary González, a 2007 UT graduate and the Democratic nominee (and projected winner, since she faces no Republican opposition) for the race for Texas House of Representatives District 75, which comprises much of the area east of El Paso. González discussed the importance of student leadership on and off campus.

“We’re here to celebrate and recognize the revolutions of our countries of origin that fought for independence,” Gonzalez said. “They’re supposed to remind us of the power of our communities, the power of revolution and the power of resistance, and, now more than ever, we need a movement from our communities.”

Jazmin Estrada, a physics senior and member of the Mexican American Culture Committee, spent part of the event informing students about registering to vote and offering registration slips for those who were interested.

“Latinos have a voice and more often that not, we think we don’t because of the country we come from,” said Estrada. “But I think it’s time we started making a difference.”

Bilingual education junior Abel Ibarra said Latinos are an important part of the voting demographic.

“We’re a huge minority and we’re still growing as a population so we have a lot of say in what issues the country should be dealing with,” Ibarra said.

As part of event, Ibarra’s fraternity, Sigma Lambda Beta, presented information about Brazil’s independence to students and offered entertaining ways to learn some facts about the country.

“The U.S. is very diverse as it’s the country of immigration,” Ibarra said. “A lot of people may know about Mexico or Brazil but not about Guatemala or El Salvador, so it’s a chance to understand people better in terms of where they come from.”

For communication studies freshman Madeleine Chacon, an El Paso native, the event was even somewhat reminiscent of home.

“We celebrate stuff like this in El Paso, so it was like a little piece of home right on campus,” she said. “I really like that they’re able to spread the word about our culture, what we’re about and what we celebrate.”