Chaffey College's Hispanic Heritage Month Kicks Off One Dance Step at a Time
By Alejandro Rojas
Chaffey's Rancho Cucamonga quad transforms into a plaza of rhythm and color uniting the campus community.
It was warm outside the day Chaffey College marked the start of Hispanic Heritage Month — the kind of California heat that makes the campus quad hum and conversations stick to the skin.
Still, the heat did not stop students, faculty or staff from crowding the lawn between classes. Plenty were drawn by the bright sound of drums and contagious smile of a woman leading an improvised dance circle.
Colorful skirts swept the grass, and for a moment the quad became a small, sunlit plaza of samba. Students who had come for the food stayed to learn the steps while faculty traded textbooks for footwork. It was clear from the laughter and clapping that the music — though rooted in particular traditions — belonged to everyone who showed up.
Between dances the crowd learned about instruments not usually seen on campus such as the "cajón" or "quijada". Each performance included a short story about a town, ritual or family — the dancers took turns explaining the significance behind each step.
One performer, smiling as she led the group, danced to honor Peru. The tune carried an old, steady pulse that made strangers step together.
Watching it all was Sadie Grantham, Chaffey College’s Director of Student Activities. She organized the event with a clear purpose: to create a space where identity could be embraced as loudly or quietly as a student needs.
“When I was in college I felt like it wasn’t for me,” Grantham mentioned during the event.
As the oldest of eight siblings, growing up as a first-generation student from a low-income household shapes the passion behind her work.
“I had a lot of imposter syndrome. I didn’t know how to navigate that space,” she expressed.
Grantham wants the student lounge and quad to be places where people who “look different, sound different [and] come from different backgrounds” to find a common rhythm. Her job is to open doors for students and then step back, allowing students to create an individual pathway.
She speaks about her motivations plainly and without fanfare. “Knowing I have a young woman looking up to me keeps me grounded,” said Grantham smiling.
She also pays homage to her family, team and the students themselves. “They make my work feel like it’s the best thing in the world,” she admitted, calling the sentiment “cheesy” before letting it stand as her truest statement.
The choreography that afternoon was simple and rhythmic: a few repeated steps, a flourish, a circle that widened until people at the edge (some hesitant at first) were pulled inward by the energetic crowd.
Creating a space with low barriers is exactly what Grantham seeks: a place where you can try something new without the pressure of being perfect, where culture is not a test but an invitation.
For many students, that invitation seemed to hit its mark –– like the campus had shifted from being a collection of classes to a welcoming environment where people truly acknowledged one another.
As the event wound down and the sun slid west, instruments were packed away and small groups of students lingered in the quad. Grantham continued to observe the quad through her office window above the student lounge, still listening to the echo of conversations.
“Every time I hear students connecting, I know I’m doing the right thing,” she said.
The day had been hot, noisy, imperfect and exactly what she hoped for: a patchwork of stories stitched together by music, a reminder that belonging can be learned one dance step at a time.