Florida Atlantic University’s Latino Hispanic Association (LHA) hosted its second annual “El Apagon” BBQ event on Oct. 29 to celebrate Halloween and diversity on campus.

The LHA, in partnership with FAU’s Multicultural Programming, celebrated their first Halloween event with a costume contest, games and BBQ-style food. The event also featured Latin music from DJ Greggy G. The Halloween-themed event lasted from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. on the FAU Housing Lawn.

FAU is a Hispanic-serving institution that welcomes thousands of Hispanic students a year, according to Ashley Rodriguez, vice president of social media at the LHA. 

“A lot of the Latinos here like to have an environment where they can all meet,” Rodriguez said.

The LHA did not require students to purchase tickets for the event. Upon arrival, students were simply asked to check in with the LHA team.

“We’re shooting for 120 [attendees] today,” said Sylvana Mejia, president of the LHA.

There were about 110 to 115 attendees, she said.  

“We’re in America, so this makes it feel more [at] home,” said Eithan Shahar Arias, a sophomore from Mexico majoring in international business.  

He noted that the event, along with the costume contest, brought students of Hispanic origin together and made them feel welcome.

Mejia said the two winners of the costume contest would win a JBL speaker. 

“Anytime I can support organizations, and that our brothers are a part of at the FAU community as a whole, is something I’m always interested in,” said Charlie Holder, the president of Alpha Tau Omega Fraternity, Inc. at FAU.  “The students showed lots of support, from not just Hispanic students, but also the community as a whole.” 

Ben Win, a freshman majoring in computer science with Asian heritage, shared that he came with friends, despite not having Latino or Hispanic heritage. At the beginning of the event, he expressed his excitement for the food.

“I think it’s going to be lit,” Win said. 

The LHA hosts about five to six events per semester, but has been less frequent than last year, where they hosted three to four events per week, according to Mejia. She said the decline of events was due to the board members being too overwhelmed. 

“We had three to four per week, and it was just too much,” Mejia said. “All board members were burnt out by it.”

Dylan Vo is a contributing writer for the University Press. For more information regarding this or other stories, email vvo2024@fau.edu.