The Beta Xi Chapter of Hermandad de Sigma Iota Alpha, Inc. (SIA) hosted a mexican food stand outside the College of Humanities and Social Sciences April 24 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. in celebration of SIA week. 

Kathy Ochoa, a senior health science major from Little Rock, said the event highlighted the sororities philanthropy projects — particularly with the Children’s International.

“What we do with them is we foster a kid in Guatemala, His name is Kaleth. We send him money for book supplies and toilet paper, shampoo, whatever he may need,” Ochoa said.

She said, as a latin based sorority, they like to introduce the campus to latin foods for students to enjoy. They served fruta en vaso (fruit in a cup), agua frescas, horchata, and elote en vaso (corn in a cup) – the prices ranged from $2.50 to $5. 

She said organizing events and making their presence known is a priority for the sorority.

“By hosting these types of events, we feel like we can correlate with whoever we come in contact with,” Ochoa said. “If they bought food from us today, they can be like, ‘yeah we bought food from the SIAs last year,’ and it brings a happy memory to them.”

In addition, she said doing this will hopefully help with the campus knowing there are more sororities on campus that are not just the NPHC.

“We really just want to make a name for ourselves on campus,” Ochoa said. 

Henrry Perez, a first-year marketing major from Judsonia, Arkansas, said he first heard about the event through the SIA account on Instagram. He said he is good friends with some of the members, so when he saw their post he wanted to come and buy some “good Mexican food” after class. 

“I got the elote which is corn in a cup and horchata which is like milk with cinnamon made from a rice type drink and it’s really sweet,” Perez said. 

He said events like these are really good as they can spread a meaningful message and create a statement.

“It’s a good way for people to learn more about different cultures, specifically what other cultures eat,” Perez said. “Also just take some time to maybe learn about it as well, just to see what they could get from it, really dive into the culture.”

Shayaan Sayed | Special to the Herald contributed to this report

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