Hispanic Heritage Month has been observed in the United States since its inception in 1968. The month is also being observed at American River College through Oct. 15 where The Latinx Center will celebrate with a plethora of activities designed to increase student engagement.

Uriel Delgado, ARC’s newest Director of Hispanic-Serving Institution, will begin the event portion of his tenure at ARC with the introduction of Bienvenida. Bienvenida kicked off the month-long observation on Sept.16 with the purpose of increasing engagement with Latinx and other underrepresented students at ARC. Although the theme focused on students who identify as a member of the Hispanic, the event was held for the benefit of all students at ARC.

Bienvenida featured booths from several of ARC’s clubs and home bases, where the students received stickers for their loteria cards under the shade of the trees in front of the library. Upon applying a certain amount of stickers from the various booths, students could exchange their loteria card for some free food in the Student Center, donated by the ARC Latinx Center.

“It’s really to encourage [the students] to actually talk to people and not just walk around … but talk, engage, and actually learn.“ Delgado said.

Engagement and outreach of Latinx and other underrepresented populations is the mission pursued by ARC under the guidance of the HSI division of the U.S Department of Education. This department is tasked with, among other things, distributing grants to colleges that meet certain criteria, according to the U.S Department of Education’s HSI website. In the case of ARC, this is because the college’s Hispanic student population numbers 25%. ARC was awarded this grant for the first time last year, according to Delgado.

“The goal of the grant has five objectives: To increase the graduation rates among Latinx students, increase the transfer rates, increase enrollment, increase fall to fall retention, and decrease remediation amongst all of the Latinx community.” Delgado said.

Opportunities for engagement aren’t limited to event coordination, however, as Delgado’s goals require many of the human resources ARC has at its disposal.

“[This is done] by having a faculty mentorship program, having student ambassadors, and just providing programming that helps support students so that they can be successful here on campus.” Delgado said.

Delgado isn’t alone in his enthusiasm toward inclusion and engagement. Ariana Aguilar, an English major at ARC, relishes the effort of ARC’s push for an increase in cultural representation.

”It does mean a lot to have representation here on campus,“ Aguilar said. “I remember going to other schools and there wasn’t a lot of that.”

Aguilar appreciates the effort by Delgado through the HSI grant and is excited for what’s in store for the future.

“I hope to see in the near future more festivals,” Aguilar says.

Aguilar is in luck for the near future, as Delgado and the Latinx Center have at least a couple more events on the docket for Hispanic heritage month. Latinidad, for example, will be a showcase of Afro-Latino cultural contributions followed by a one hour salsa class on Oct.1.

Additionally, they will be celebrating Latinx Superheroes on Oct.3 in the Main Library at ARC. Latinx Superheroes is an event showcasing Latinx superheroes in the community, with a presentation about their experiences.

National Hispanic Heritage Month began Sept.15 and ends Oct.15 nationally. For more information, check out the Hispanic Heritage Month website.

Correction: An earlier version of this story misspelled Uriel Delgado’s’s name.