The United Latino Association is another student organization on the making an effort to raise awareness of diversity and culture on the TCU campus.

The third annual Fiesta en Carnival, ULA's biggest event of the year, promoted Hispanic heritage and showcased unique culture on Thursday. This year the event was selected to be a part of Inclusiveness and Intercultural Services’ CommUnity Week.

“I think diversity is not as strong as it should be on campus because you don’t see a lot events like this,” Jose Trejo, president of ULA, said. “But when you see people out here enjoying this, I think it’s a start of growth of diversity on campus.”

The event was held after Student Government Association and other organizations on campus have made efforts to expose a lack of diversity on the TCU campus. Two weeks ago, SGA’s commission on diversity released a 26-page report on the matter.

Co-chair of the commission Pearce Edwards said the report showed the presence of underrepresented ethnicities and a singular image that TCU promotes.

Students tasted authentic Latino cuisine, swayed alongside traditional dance performances by dancers of all ages and were treated to the rhythm of live mariachi music.

First-year political science major Erika Simonson said it was the dancers that drew her in while she was walking by the Brown-Lupton University Union.

“I never really see a lot of culture on campus so this was really cool,” she said.

First-year kinesiology major David Jones Jr. said events like Fiesta en Carnival allowed students to experience a culture and traditions unlike their own. He said while there is potential for ethnic organizations on campus to promote themselves, they seem to lack the initiative to do so. 

Trejo said the annual event and the organization have experienced tremendous growth in a short time and that interest improves cultural awareness and diversity on campus.

He also said ULA doubled in membership over the past year, which helped Fiesta en Carnival to triple in size and support a much greater turnout than the previous year.

“My hope is that everyone got to experience something new about the Latino culture, and that next year we will have an even bigger event,” Trejo said.