Campus community celebrates Cinco de Mayo
Representatives from the University of Colorado Denver, Metropolitan State College and Community College of Denver worked together to organize the festivities staged outside the Tivoli Student Center.
CU Denver student Christian Tello played a key role in finding and coordinating the performers.
"He really took the lead in this effort because he said to me that he wanted performances that could be appreciated by the students," said Angela Marquez, executive director of the Office of Diversity and Inclusion, Educational Opportunity Programs. "With that in mind, he booked not only traditional Mexican music with mariachis, but also other forms of music that celebrated the generations of Latino culture – which included cumbia, folklorico dancers, Latin jazz, Mexican rock and Latin hip-hop with break dancers." The Mexican rock band and the Latin hip-hop performers are all CU Denver students.
Tello and Anthony McCree, both students in the College of Arts and Media audio engineering program, ran the sound equipment and ensured the performances were set up – good hands-on experience tied to their academic program.
Traditional Mexican food also was available for purchase, and there were other student information booths on site.