Students and faculty will gather at several locations across campus this week to celebrate Día de los Muertos, a Hispanic cultural tradition honoring loved ones who have passed away. The kick-off event will be an evening of crafting and pozole, a traditional Mexican soup, from 6-8 p.m. on Oct. 30. The Valpo community also had the opportunity to submit photos of their loved ones to be displayed on commemorative ofrendas, Spanish for offerings, on the second floor of the Christopher Center Library, Harre Union, Loke Hall and the Gloria Christi Chapel Nov. 2-8.
Sonia Morales, Assistant Director of OMP (Office of Multicultural Programs), and Kat Peters, Assistant Director of the Institute for Leadership and Service (within the Division of Calling and Spiritual Life), have been instrumental in fostering the collaboration that makes these events possible. This year, the celebrations have expanded to other facilities, in part to accommodate students who wouldn’t usually find themselves in the Chapel.
“So, it was a project that was a collaboration between OMP and Calling and Spiritual Life. We wanted to continue working on that, and this year, we wanted to make it bigger,” Morales said. “We wanted to include the library and the Union because [they] are the places where the students are more willing to go.”
Both Morales and Peters are enthusiastic about the opportunities that these partnerships present to reach a wider segment of the Valpo community, and welcome the contributions that other facilities and organizations can contribute.
“It’s really neat, because it does seem like it’s growing. It’s a campus-wide collaboration, which is something that is really important to us here at the Helge [Center] and in Calling and Spiritual Life. [We are] partnering with many places so that we can do projects together,” Peters said.
Morales too expressed the importance of embracing the opportunity to learn from their collaborators and improve their programming by doing so. She hopes that these collaborations will continue to evolve and flourish in the future.
“Something that has been really important is to understand what are things that everyone could bring to the table … We are also learning a lot about the departments that are working with us and we’re thinking [about how] they could keep working with us in different ways,” Morales said.
For Peters, this is an expression of the commitment to holistic education and embracing opportunities that characterize both the university’s mission and the Lutheran faith.
“I think there are some really neat statements out about the university’s calling … For example, it talks about symbols of faith [are] core to our mission, and Lutheran tradition calls us to serve our neighbors, embrace our differences and work to make quality education accessible to all who seek it,” Peters said.
Morales noted the similarities between Día de los Muertos and Christian traditions such as All Saints’ Day. She views the parallels between them as an opportunity for meaningful connection, and a way to come together to process the grief the community has experienced.
“Valpo celebrates All Saints’ Day where we read the names of all who have passed in the previous year … So it’s like we’ve always been doing this. But here’s another specific cultural way we can celebrate and remember, and so we can do this all together,” Peters said. “This is an important part in the healing process. I think with everything going on in the world and coming out of COVID, I don’t think that we’ve processed all of our grief about everything … which is a really healthy thing to do.”
Peters emphasized the mutual benefit of interacting with different cultural traditions, but also believes that Día de los Muertos has an impact that transcends culture. She hopes to continue this in the years to come.
“It’d be great to just keep adding … We are a family and we all get to work together even across cultural differences or bringing different traditions together. And that’s something that’s going to benefit everyone,” Peters said. “So it’s not just a cultural event, it has spiritual and emotional significance that we hope makes a difference in people’s lives.”
Students interested in participating in Día de los Muertos programming can consult the relevant flyers around campus or contact omp@valpo.edu or chapel@valpo.edu for more information.
– Carolyn Dilbeck ’25