Founders Park was filled with music, food from two taquerias and loud chatter from students as they learned from several Latine associations Wednesday afternoon. La CASA hosted its annual event celebrating Latine Heritage Month, Noche de Cultura.

There were multiple student organizations spreading the word about their groups, including the Undocumented Trojan Success Assembly, Sigma Lambda Beta Fraternity and USC’s division of the League of United Latin American Citizens.

Daisy Montesinos Rivera, a senior majoring in law, history and culture and the president of LULAC at USC, said it was important for student organizations to participate in events like Noche de Cultura.

“It’s really important to have this event, specifically now with the immigration raids and with the Trump administration. I feel like it’s really important for us to come together as member orgs or just other orgs that support the Latin community,” Rivera said.

The afternoon featured performances from the group Mariachi Los Troyanos de USC and Grupo Folklórico de USC, as well as solo artist and Thornton School of Music freshman popular music major Nikki Rodrigues — and a speech from Provost Andrew Guzman.

Evelyn Franco, a senior majoring in public policy and pursuing a master’s in public administration, is the president of Mariachi Los Troyanos de USC, which has been performing at Noche de Cultura for multiple years. As they played a multitude of traditional songs from the Mariachi genre, cheers of encouragement rose from the crowd.

“It brings together a community,” Franco said. “Even people that are just interested in the culture, [that want] to learn more about it and be exposed to the different genres of music.”

She emphasized the timelessness of the mariachi genre and her wish to share this with other students. Franco expressed her hope that the performance leaves a lasting impression and encourages students to go watch the group in the future.

“I hope that what [students] take away is that Mariachi music can be a generational type of genre that anyone can enjoy,” Franco said. “My grandfather loves this music, and I know he’s proud that I’m part of this group, and I know it spans generations and different age groups and is a timeless genre of music.”

Guzman gave a speech in between Mariachi performances, sharing the theme and slogan of the event: “Honor our history, celebrate our strength.”

“It’s great to have an opportunity to reflect on the history we all bring to this event,” Guzman said. “One of the features of our Latino community in the United States is its deep diversity.

Guzman shared his father’s story, who immigrated to the United States from the Dominican Republic as a teenager. Guzman pointed out that while many students come from different backgrounds, there are often shared experiences that connect them.

“We, as a group, have this deep, rich history,” Guzman said in his closing remarks. “It has put us all in this one place as Trojans here today, and we should celebrate that.”

Noche de Cultura’s stage also gave opportunities to solo artist Rodrigues, who sang Brazilian music as a part of the afternoon’s lineup. Rodrigues said that performing at the event was a chance to celebrate and educate through music.

“I hope that students take away that it’s really important to just cherish other people’s cultures and to learn more about it,” Rodrigues said. “That makes you so much more aware about everything that’s going on.”

Rodrigues, who opened her set with Antônio Carlos Jobim’s hit, “The Girl From Ipanema,” said that exploring USC’s diverse clubs is an experience everyone should have.

“The diversity [at USC] is so cool,” Rodrigues said. “There’s so many different clubs for everything, and I think it’s just really good to cherish that, because that’s what makes USC so special and [Los Angeles] so special.”

USC’s Latino Alumni Association was also present, encouraging students to connect with alumni and promoting the organization’s Young Leaders Council. Isabel Aranda, a Price School of Public Policy graduate and the assistant director of the Association, said the group’s strong relationship with La CASA has ensured they’re always included and supported at events like Noche de Cultura.

“Our identity is crucial, always holding a space and having that grace for who we are,” Aranda said. “This specific event, in itself, it’s acknowledging that [Latines] bring a lot to the table. We bring a wealth of information from our culture to identity, to the food and the language that we have to contribute to [American] culture.”

Jennifer Lopez, a freshman majoring in law, history and culture, said it was empowering to have an event like Noche de Cultura for Latine students.

“Especially with all the things going on, … it’s important just to know that there’s a lot of people here who’ve got your back and just they understand you,” Lopez said. “A lot of Hispanic people might not feel seen, but with this event, we’re seen.”