CYPRESS : Students Celebrate Mexican Holiday

With mariachi music and colorful displays of books, clothing and ethnic foods, students at Cypress College on Tuesday celebrated Mexican Independence Day.

Though the actual date of the holiday is Sept. 16, the festivities were Tuesday because that is the customary day for campus activities, counselor Therese Mosqueda-Ponce said.

“We’re also kicking off this week our Puente Project with recruiting for students,” Mosqueda-Ponce said. “It’s a program to help minority community college students transfer to four-year universities, and our target students here are Mexican Americans.”

Puente is Spanish for bridge. The program is so named, Mosqueda-Ponce said, because it helps minority students cross the gap between the community college and four-year institutions.

Besides spotlighting the Puente Project, Tuesday’s celebration, sponsored by the college’s Multi-Cultural Studies Committee, had an educational motive.

“We had one history instructor who gave a brief overview of what Sept. 16 means and who it involved,” Mosqueda-Ponce said.

Mexican Independence Day honors revolutionary priest Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, who launched the freedom movement on Sept. 16, 1810, to make Mexico independent from Spain.

One Cypress student, 18-year-old Michael Saucedo of Whittier, said that many people confuse the Cinco de Mayo holiday with Mexican Independence Day. Cinco de Mayo , however, celebrates another historical event, the May 5, 1862, victory of Mexican fighters over invading French forces.

Saucedo said that such celebrations help students learn more about historical events and Latino holidays.

“Celebrating Mexican Independence Day is important because we want people to learn what we struggled for,” Saucedo said. “We want people to know what we stand for and what we fought for. I’m very proud because I’m a Chicano, and I’m trying to educate other Chicanos why they should be proud of themselves.”