Health Sciences celebrates Día de los Muertos
Staff from the University of Arizona Health Sciences Office of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion enjoy the mariachi music during the UArizona Health Sciences Día de los Muertos celebration of life. (From left) Alma Aguirre, Med-Start program manager; Maria Hernandez, administrative associate; and Eliza Yellow Bird, PhD, director of student services, helped organize the annual event.
In late October and early November several colorful “ofrendas,” or altars, appeared around the University of Arizona Health Sciences campuses in celebration of Día de los Muertos. This celebration of life evolved out of the melding of pre-Hispanic Indigenous traditions in Mexico and the Christian All Souls Day. It is a happy, colorful celebration where death is honored and the deceased are remembered and celebrated with photos, gifts and food.
For the past 16 years, Alma Aguirre, Med-Start program manager in the UArizona Health Sciences Office of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, has built an ofrenda for the Health Sciences community to enjoy and remember loved ones who have died. The ofrenda started out small, in the corner of her office in 2007. In 2013 she was invited to create a larger ofrenda in the Health Sciences Library.
On Nov. 2, about 50 people gathered at the ofrenda for a short blessing by Joe Fitzgerald, staff chaplain at Banner – University Medical Center Tucson. Members of the Davis Bilingual Elementary Magnet School’s Mariachi las Aguilitas played music during the blessing and at the celebration afterward. The altar will be up until Nov. 21.
After the blessing ceremony, over 100 people gathered for food, refreshments, Mexican sweet breads and more mariachi music in the Hippocrates Courtyard.
Francisco Moreno, MD, a professor in the UArizona College of Medicine – Tucson and the UArizona associate vice president of equity, diversity and inclusion, welcomes guests to the UArizona Health Sciences Día de los Muertos blessing ceremony in the Health Sciences Library.
The Día de los Muertos “ofrenda,” or altar, is built each year by staff and student volunteers from the Health Sciences Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. Photos, flowers and memorial items are placed around the altar by those wishing to have a loved one remembered during the ceremony.
More than 100 UArizona Health Sciences staff, faculty and students joined members of the community for the Health Sciences Office of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion’s annual Día de los Muertos celebration of life.
Students from the Davis Bilingual Elementary Magnet School’s Mariachi las Aguilitas played during the UArizona Health Sciences Office of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion’s annual Día de los Muertos celebration of life.
Some members of the Davis Bilingual Elementary Magnet School’s Mariachi las Aguilitas painted their faces in traditional Día de los Muertos fashion when they played during the UArizona Health Sciences Office of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion’s annual Día de los Muertos celebration of life.
Staff in the UArizona Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health’s Nosotros Comprometidos a Su Salud (Committed to your Health) program set up a Día de los Muertos altar in their office to celebrate and remember loved ones who have died.
Alyssa Norris, a student in the Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health, helps decorate the Health Sciences Library as part of the Día de los Muertos celebration.
Students help decorate the Health Sciences Library for the Día de los Muertos “ofrenda,” or altar. The ofrenda will stay up in the entrance to the library until Nov. 21.
Members of the UArizona College of Medicine – Phoenix Latino Medical Student Association built this altar to honor loved ones who have passed away.
Joe Fitzgerald, the staff chaplain at Banner – University Medical Center Tucson, blesses the Día de los Muertos altar in the UArizona Health Sciences Library as part of the celebration of life hosted by the Health Sciences Office of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion.
(From left) Francisco Moreno, MD, a professor in the UArizona College of Medicine – Tucson and the UArizona associate vice president of equity, diversity and inclusion; Alma Aguirre, Med-Start program manager in the UArizona Health Sciences Office of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion; and Joe Fitzgerald, staff chaplain at Banner – University Medical Center Tucson, pause for a photo after the Día de los Muertos blessing ceremony in the Health Sciences Library.
Faculty and staff at the UArizona College of Nursing hang decorations over their Día de los Muertos altar in the entry hall to the college.
An elementary school student from the Davis Bilingual Elementary Magnet School’s Mariachi las Aguilitas sings during the UArizona Health Sciences Office of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion’s annual Día de los Muertos celebration of life.