DeKALB | The Latino Student Alliance aims to provide students with diverse performances for another year of La Alianza, a student-run, performance-based event.

“La Alianza” which translates to “the alliance” in Spanish, made its debut last year in celebration of Latino Heritage month and returns 7 p.m. Friday in the Holmes Student Center, Carl Sandburg Auditorium. The free event is an opportunity to get involved and build a sense of community outside of groups students are comfortable with.

The Latino Student Alliance is switching things up to focus on the performance aspect of the event this year.

Roberto Flores, senior electrical engineering major and president of the Latino Student Alliance, said he hopes this event will serve as a platform to bring students together.

“There are [organizations] that only stick with and communicate with each other, [and] we want to break that,” Flores said. “We want to have more programs to have minority students be more united, and we should all be sticking together.”

Flores said La Alianza will have at least eight organizations performing this year. Greek Organizations like Tau Phi Sigma and Sigma Lambda Beta will be participating as well as Supporting Opportunities for Latinos.

Sophomore psychology major Alicia Gonzalez said performance opportunities are not limited to the Latino community.

“The Latino Student Alliance’s mission is to be the umbrella organization for all Latino organizations on campus, and this is our way of putting our mission into practice, but it doesn’t just stop there,” Gonzalez said.

Karina Perez, senior general studies major, said the goal of the show is to showcase how diverse NIU’s campus is.

“People will get more from seeing the organizations performing because they can see what they can do,” Perez said.

After the performance, attendees will be able to talk to all of the organizations that performed and get more information about them to join. Flores said this year’s event differs because the focus is not just on Latino-based organizations but any organization interested in performing.

“Just because it’s Latino Student Alliance doesn’t mean you have to be Latino to be a part,” Perez said. “We want to build unity amongst all organizations.”