ACC celebrates Mexican Independence Day at Riverside Campus

A Diez Y Seis celebration was hosted by several groups at the Riverside campus on Sept. 16. The ACC Center for Public Policy and Political Studies, The Latino/Latin American Studies Center, the Student Success Center, and former state Sen. Gonzalo Barrientos all helped to put on the event.

For 28 years the celebration took place at the Capitol. Now it has been permanently relocated to ACC. This is the second annual celebration here on campus.

The event included speeches from local historians, as well as entertainment from Mariachi Cocula, Roy Lozano's Ballet Folklórico de Texas, Johnny Degollado y Su Conjunto, and ACC's Boca Abajo. Boca Abajo's website refers to the band as a pioneer in the Austin Latin alternative music scene.

300-350 students, faculty, and community members, as well as friends of the senator attended the event which was catered by Casa Chapala Grill Cantina.

In an ACC press release, Peck Young, director of the Center for Public Policy and Political Studies said, "Diez y Seis is more than Mexican Independence Day. It is Texas history and the history of many people who are part of this community."