The Student Engagement and Leadership Center hosted the annual “El Grito,” a traditional ceremony to honor Mexico’s Independence Friday, Sept. 13 at UTEP’s Union Plaza.  

The plaza was decorated with green, white and red piñatas, tables with Mexican fruit ice pops and little Mexican flags.  

The Consul General of Mexico at El Paso, Mauricio Ibarra Ponce de León, was welcomed by UTEP President Heather Wilson and SGA President Jessica Martinez along with representatives from the Chicano Studies, Women and Gender Studies, and Linguistics programs.  

Every year on Sept. 16, Mexico celebrates its independence from Spain in 1810 with “El Grito.” People traditionally gather to celebrate this patriotic day by remembering the heroes of this movement such as Miguel Hidalgo, Josefa Ortiz de Domínguez, among others, according to HuffPost. 

Wilson mentioned the importance of celebrating this event on campus and made a remark that UTEP is the number one university in the U.S. with more Mexican students than any other in the country.  

Ponce de León gave the signal to the Escolta and Banda de Guerra del Instituto Tecnológico de Ciudad Juárez to begin the Mexican National Anthem and the flag ceremonies that are typically held to celebrate Sept. 16.  

Afterward, Ponce de León, replicated the yielding of the names of the Mexican heroes and the public helped him by also yielding, “Viva México, Viva, Viva México”. 

18–year–old Dominique Barraza, a digital media production student at UTEP, attended the event with two of her friends.  

“Se me hace un evento algo muy bonito, ya que representa la cultura mexicana, la mayoría de aquí tienen raíces mexicanas,” Barraza said. (To me, it is a very beautiful event that represents Mexican culture since the majority of people here have Mexican roots) 

This event has been held at UTEP for several years to teach people more about Mexico’s culture and its traditions, and many students are from Mexico and cross the border every day to attend classes. 

“Se me hace padre que UTEP celebre este tipo de eventos, por que te hace sentir como en casa, celebrando las tradiciones de México,” said Dafne Herrera, an 18–year–old nursing student at UTEP. (I think it’s cool that UTEP celebrates these kinds of events because it makes you feel like you’re at home celebrating Mexican traditions.) 

To conclude the event, el Mariachi Femenil Flores Mexicanas, composed of only women, performed a couple traditional Mexican songs as attendees enjoyed their refreshments at the plaza.  

Maria Ramos Pacheco may be reached at [email protected].