Marigolds, candles and framed photos of well-known figures glowed softly inside La Casita as students gathered around an ofrenda honoring the dead — not with mourning, but with music, laughter and color.
For attendees, including 18-year-old UF health science freshman Jackie Ramirez, the Mexican American Student Association’s celebration was a tribute to loved ones.
Meant to remember family and friends who have died, Día de los Muertos is a two-day Mexican celebration. Those who celebrate create altars, or ofrendas, to honor family members and participate in parades and feasts.
MASA’s commemorative altar reminded Ramirez of her own family’s tradition. Starting college meant spending her first Día de los Muertos away from home, where her family set up their own ofrenda and ate together every year. To her, the annual holiday is an opportunity to celebrate rather than grieve.
“You're mourning, but in a way, you're kind of coming to terms, accepting it and recognizing it's a circle of life,” she said.
MASA hosted its Dia de los Muertos celebration Monday at the Institute of Hispanic-Latino Cultures, or La Casita.
For the last three years, MASA’s Día de los Muertos celebration was a UF Student Engagement Signature Event, receiving funding and support from the university. This year, the celebration’s status was not renewed, leaving MASA to fund the event itself.
Fabian Estrada, a 21-year-old UF biochemistry and biotechnology junior and president of MASA, said that the event lost its entire $15,000 budget, prompting the club to fundraise and reach out to other organizations for support.
Despite these challenges, Estrada and the MASA executive board decided to proceed.
“Deep down, the event is just a tradition and where we all come together and celebrate love and life, and we can do that with $0,” he said.
The celebration included food, music and a variety of cultural activities. Attendees played Lotería, a Mexican game similar to Bingo, and created papel picado, or paper decorations strung together to create garlands.
Estrada still fondly remembers his first Dia de los Muertos celebration on campus with MASA.
“I had felt like I was in ‘Coco,’ that's how amazing it was,” he said, referencing the 2017 Pixar film about the holiday. “And I just loved that I, as a UF student, was able to find a space to continue to celebrate and honor the tradition.”
As president, he faced the challenge of navigating a reduced budget. A Florida law, passed in 2023, banned public universities from funding diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. Two years later, the event’s Signature Event status was not renewed.
For Anabel Kirkland, a 19-year-old UF political science freshman, the lack of support feels isolating. The removal of funding sent a message to the multicultural club, she said.
“It just seems really clear that sometimes the broader community isn't as supportive of our heritage and our traditions, like this one,” she said.
Even Bo Ying Chen, a 20-year-old UF economics junior, who added he disagrees with DEI in hiring and admissions practices, believes funding should be looked at on a “case-by-case” basis.
Chen, who immigrated from Taiwan, attended the celebration with his friends and thinks of MASA and other multicultural organizations as important spaces for immigrants..
“I know how it feels to be in a foreign place,” he said. “So I think having places like this is definitely good for people who are immigrants, or people who speak a different language, or even people who are born here.”
Pamela Miguel, a 20-year-old UF health science sophomore, spoke to the importance of uniting as a community despite the event’s smaller scale, with around 150 attendees. As a two-year MASA member, she saw both versions of the event.
Miguel is a member of the MASA dance team, Pura Pachanga, which performed a routine at La Casita that blended a variety of traditional Mexican styles of dance, including huapango and zapateado. Dance is a way of connecting to her culture, she said, and MASA is an outlet for her to do that.
“This is full of Mexican tradition and keeping our culture here, especially far away from home,” she said. “It's like MASA overall gives us a second home.”
Another two-year MASA member, 20-year-old UF criminology junior Christyan Chazares, said he doesn’t think the lack of funding for the event impacted the club’s unity.
Despite the downsizing and venue change, he said, the spirit and intention of the celebration is the same.
“I don't think any of us really come because it's super fancy or anything like that,” he said. “We come for the community and to feel a little bit closer to our home.”
Over 1,500 miles away from Mexico, students continue to bring their culture a little closer to Gainesville and celebrate the moments that matter to them.
Contact Juliana DeFilippo at jdefillipo@alligator.org. Follow her on X @JulianaDeF58101.
Juliana is the Fall 2025 Avenue editor. She is a second-year journalism student and spent her first two semesters with The Alligator as an Avenue reporter. In her spare time, she can be found reading, updating her Letterboxd account, or doing crossword puzzles.
