FSU Panama City celebrated Hispanic Heritage Month on Oct. 8 with a fiesta and Nole Talk with elementary education instructor Cristina Rios.

Hispanic Heritage Month is meant to celebrate the customs and achievements of United States citizens with Hispanic roots. Hispanics are not at all Hispanic because of race but are defined as people from Spanish-speaking countries or people with ancestry tied to Spanish-speaking countries, Rios noted.

Rios was raised in Havana, Cuba; Bogota, Columbia; and San Juan, Puerto Rico. Although she didn’t celebrate what we would call Hispanic Heritage Month, she said she enjoyed celebrating the independence days of many Spanish-speaking countries.

The main thought Rios wants people to take away from her presentation is the value of diversity. “Sometimes we don’t really know how diverse we are, but we need to know it to fully appreciate it,” she said.

“This talk is probably one of the more cultural experiences I have been to on campus,” student Nick Byrne said. 

Being Hispanic is all about a culture focused on family, Rios said. “Hispanic families are a very close-knit and collective in nature. …  Traditions and the celebration of holidays is also a time for gathering and fellowship with close family and friends. Cooperation is valued.”

Rios said she is glad to speak at FSU Panama City because the campus had not yet had an event about Hispanic heritage. “We needed the Hispanic heritage day because our demographic is changing,” she said.

According to Andrew Konapelsky, associate director of the Office of Admissions and Records, the years between 2010 and 2014 have recorded an upward shift in diversity on the Panama City campus. The Hispanic population has increased from 4 percent to 7 percent, the African-American population from 6 percent to 9 percent, and those with two or more ethnicities from 2 percent to 3 percent.

On our campus, diversity is not only measured in ethnicity, it is also measured in age.  Out of 856 students on campus, 155 are below 20 years of age; 188 are 21-22, 199 are 23-25; 136 are 26-30; 123 are 31-40, and 95 are 41 years of age or older.