LAC Night will not occur during Hispanic Heritage Month for the second year in a row. The event is currently scheduled for January 22 to give Latin American Club (LAC) leaders more time to prepare, according to LAC Vice President Marco Swaisgood.
Swaisgood said this year’s club officers were not made official until the beginning of April due to last year’s LAC Night being pushed to February.
“It was just really a short period of time for the new leadership to get people together from both Southern and our own leadership to prepare LAC Night in time for October,” Swaisgood said. “So that’s why we pushed it to January for this year — to give the LAC Night director enough time to actually prepare a good LAC Night.”
Swaisgood said last year’s LAC Night was originally planned to be held in January instead of during Hispanic Heritage Month to accommodate for uncertainties caused by the pandemic. According to Swaisgood, who was the LAC NIght director at that time, the club wanted to make sure it would be able to hold a cultural night and have enough time to adjust to changes. However, the event was not held until February due to the short amount of time between the start of classes and the originally planned date, according to Swaisgood.
To ensure a smoother transition of power, Swaisgood said the club will begin officer elections in December. This way, the club will be able to hold future LAC Nights during Hispanic Heritage Month.
“Even though LAC Night might not be until January, and official officers won’t come in until January, we will already have those officers prepared and already learning from us,” Swaisgood said. “So, they can take on the mantle and prepare an LAC Night for October, so we can really highlight Latin American Heritage Month. It’s kind of sad that we don’t have [LAC Night] during our month like all the other cultural clubs have had it in the past few years. But we’re trying to readjust and maintain that date of having it during our culture month in the future.”
The club has found other ways to celebrate its heritage month. On September 22, the club gave free empanadas to its members and sold some to non-members. According to Swaisgood, the event was a “big hit.”
Additionally, Swaisgood said LAC is currently doing a spirit week and will give away prizes to members or non-members who participate in the event. LAC Vespers will be held on October 8 and 9.
Students can follow LAC’s Instagram account @sau_lac.
