ASU’s Spanish Language and Culture Club rang in Mexican Independence Day with a mariachi band, piñatas and battle cries.

A crowd of students, staff and members of the Hispanic community came to celebrate the club’s debut event Monday night at Taylor Place at the Downtown Phoenix campus.

“We wanted to invite the Hispanic community into ASU and invite ASU into the Hispanic culture,” said Carmen King, the Spanish Language and Culture Club faculty adviser.

The Mexican Independence Day celebration included plenty of traditional entertainment, activities and raffles. There were live performances from the mariachi band Los Reyes de Phoenix and the folklores dancing troupe Ballet Folklórico Esperanza.

Students competed in a contest to see who could deliver the best “El Grito,” or yell, in honor of the Mexican revolutionaries who literally screamed for independence.

The highlight of the evening was a reenactment of Miguel Hidalgo’s independence speech, “El Grito de Dolores,” which he delivered on Sept. 15, 1810. Hidalgo is credited with initiating the Mexican independence movement.

Another reason for hosting this celebration was to introduce the club to the Downtown campus and recruit new members, said King.

“Our purpose is to enrich the ASU students’ academic experience and to build bridges between our immediate Hispanic community and ASU,” said King.

King, a lecturer of Spanish at the Downtown campus, said the club is making a sincere effort to establish a relationship with the Hispanic community by opening up the club’s events to residents in the community.

“We want to create an environment so that people can practice their Spanish in a more natural setting and to learn more about the various cultures,” said the club’s vice president Miaka Golden.

The linguistics and Spanish senior said the club will meet three times a month for a conversation hour, where students can converse freely and openly in Spanish.

“We are doing this as a way to use our Spanish and to interact with students and people in the community who speak Spanish in a casual and fun way,” said President Jonathan Randle, an English linguistics and Spanish junior.

The conversation hour is open to students who want to expand their use of the Spanish language by speaking about topics that are relevant to a student, said Golden. Students do not have to be fluent in Spanish to attend.

The club will also show a popular movie or independent film from Latin America once a month to educate students about Hispanic culture, Golden said. Anyone with a basic understanding of the Spanish language is encouraged to come and enjoy the featured film, she said.

The club is planning another cultural event in October to celebrate Dia de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead. The event will also take place at Taylor Place and is open to anyone in the neighboring community.

Reach the reporter at lauren.gambino@asu.edu.