Jennifer Duenaz dances at the 2022 Weber State University's El Mercadito during Hispanic Heritage Month. OGDEN — The heart of Weber State University will be transformed into a multinational mercadito, or market, next week as vendors fill the Shepherd Union Building atrium with goods from across Latin America.
The market was not only a tool to help those students be involved in university events but also a way to show Hispanic and Latino communities are welcome at WSU. Rodríguez, for example, remembers seeing Latino students at last year's market bringing their non-Hispanic classmates to the mercadito and pointing out different items — Columbian coffee or a bag with Tejana queen Selena — that related to their own experiences growing up in Latin households.
"If we're truly living this mission, this goal, we have to be more approachable, more inclusive in the way we provide services. We have to be more genuine in the way how we say the university has an open door for everybody," Rodríguez said.