Ofrenda at Aurora University helps students ‘reconnect with those we love’

Ruth Espanoza, 20, of Hanover Park, was busy on Monday on the Aurora University campus helping to erect an ofrenda in remembrance of her relatives and others who have passed away.

“I’ve done this altar two other years, and this is my third. I directed the project last year,” Espanoza said about the activity she and other members of the Latin American Student Organization (LASO) worked on this week. “I’ve enjoyed this. It’s more like a beautiful moment in that we get to reconnect with those we love and I think it brings us a little closer together as a community. We all have something in common.”

For years, students have come together to celebrate Dia de los Muertos ― the Day of the Dead ― which is traditionally celebrated on Nov. 1-2 in Mexico and across Latin America to honor loved ones who have died. The traditions include the building of ofrendas, which are altars in memory of those who have passed, often decorated with treasured keepsakes of deceased loved ones as a way of welcoming back memories of them.

Students at Aurora University continued the longstanding tradition on campus by erecting a personalized Day of the Dead ofrenda inside the Charles B. Phillips Library on campus on Monday.

Shoshana Frank, student engagement librarian, said she has seen a number of previous ofrendas and that having the tradition of building the altar “enhances the experience for students here at Aurora University.”

“We love having the ofrenda here in the library,” she said. “The library is already a gathering place on campus for our students and being able to honor and remember and celebrate loved ones, not only your own personal loved ones, but really being able to see the entire community come together is a really special opportunity.

“It also is great for students who don’t celebrate Dia de los Muertos themselves, so it may be a new cultural experience for them,” Frank added. “I think it is an opportunity for them to see how other people really celebrate their holidays and kind of remember or have different traditional elements of their lives.”

A new item added this year, Frank said, “was to encourage all of the Aurora University community ― staff, faculty and students ― to send in photos of loved ones who have passed so we can print them and add them in a beautiful archway to hang on top of the ofrenda to really bring in more of that community feel.”

Members of the LASO club gathered inside the library Monday and worked together sorting items for the ofrenda as well as erecting a backdrop over one of the library’s windows.

Alyssa Ugald, 20, of Aurora, said this was her first year helping build the ofrenda and reflected on her own childhood where her family celebrated the Day of the Dead with a family memorial.

“It’s definitely a way to remember all of our family members. Having that loss and then having that one special day where we get to put things up and celebrate their life and have them with us,” she said. “It’s something peaceful and gives us peace of mind.”

Brenda Hernandez Ortiz, 19, of Crystal Lake, also took part in creating the ofrenda and said she was a member of LASO a year ago and that for her, “I find it special being a part of this group and with the ofrenda we get to honor people we have lost without sadness.”

“It’s more of a celebration of life of the colors and the traditions that we have,” she said. “It’s really important for me to keep a part of my culture alive when I’m here at college. LASO gives me the opportunity to do that ― especially through this. I’ve lost a few people in my life, and it’s really nice to think about them at this point without that sadness.”

LASO members including Aaliyah Diaz, 19, of Joliet, spoke about the cross-cultural impact of the ofrenda on campus and agreed that having faculty or student photos included in this year’s effort was a positive thing.

“Not everyone is Hispanic and we look forward to explaining this to other people and I feel that a lot of people know this is for your loved ones. People know what it is, but we’re going to put up sheets of paper telling what it is,” Diaz said.

David Sharos is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.