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UTEP held its annual El Grito ceremony to celebrate Mexico’s Independence Day on Friday.
The celebration was held at the Union Plaza where UTEP President Diana Natalicio gave a speech expressing UTEP’s dedication to providing quality education for students of both sides of the border.
“Our traditions of friendship and cooperation’s with Mexico and of offering access in excellence not only to us students but to students from Mexico enhances our campus and community’s lives,” Natalicio said.
Consul General of Mexico in El Paso Marcos Bucio, Secretary of Education for the State of Durango Ruben Calderon Lujan and other dignitaries were honorable guests during the ceremony.
SGA President Kristen Ahumada, a junior majoring in biological sciences said she believes it’s “truly beautiful” to see students from both countries can come together to pursue their education with the support of government officials and public figures from the U.S. and Mexico.
“UTEP is being very progressive [by] acknowledging that the majority of [their] students [are of] Mexican descent. This ceremony capitalizes the diversity here on campus and we’re just bringing that life,” Ahumada said.
Consul General Bucio lead the ceremonial Grito featuring the Technological Institute of Cuidad Juárez’s “banda de guerra” followed by the singing of the Mexican national anthem.
Penelope Garcia, a junior majoring in multidisciplinary studies, is president of Vision of Mexico, a student organization that supports international students, believes that celebrations like these are important UTEP community to witness and for those Mexican international students who are far from home.
“Many students are from the south of Mexico, so they don’t have opportunity to go home and visit their families as often as those who live here in the frontier. I think it’s important for [UTEP] to have these types of celebrations so they feel close to home,” Garcia said.
After the ceremony, attendees continued the festivities with mariachi singers and were served enchiladas. The Consul General and other dignitaries joined the mariachis and sang serval songs to celebrate the nation’s birth.
