This story was originally published on November 3, 2025 in The Daily Pennsylvanian.
Writer: Liya Ma
On Oct. 30, La Casa Latina hosted a Día de los Muertos event for local high school students to celebrate the holiday and be introduced to college readiness resources.
Held at the ARCH, the event was attended by around 60 high school students from George Washington Carver High School of Engineering and Science and Howard Furness High School, as well as around 50 Penn community members. The event featured cultural celebrations as well as college insights from current Penn students and Emmanuel Martinez, the associate director of Scholarly & Professional Development at Penn First Plus.
Día de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, is a tradition celebrated in many Latin American cultures to “commemorate the lives of the dearly departed and to welcome the return of their spirits,” according to an article by the National Museum of the American Latino.
The Penn event, titled “Remembering Our Past, Building Our Futures,” began with an introductory presentation by Krista Cortes, the director of La Casa Latina. El Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlan, a Mexican American-focused student organization, and Istmo y Vos, a Central American-focused student organization, sent volunteers to the event to talk with high school students.