The UVU Student Association or UVUSA released an official apology on Tuesday for including Disney’s “Coco” in the movie lineup for Parking Lot Insomnia, this year’s socially distanced iteration of the Halloween dance.
“We want to express our sincere apologies for our choice in including Coco in our lineup for our insomnia event,” the official announcement said. “We recognize the sacred holiday that is Dia de los Muertos and its distinctions from Halloween.”
The apology comes after student feedback condemned the choice – and has revitalized the conversation regarding the sacred holiday.
Thomas Mata, a UVU student who has spoken previously regarding his celebrations of Dia de los Muertos as a member of the Latinx community, referenced such distinctions.
“For Halloween, a lot of people are scary and stuff like that, but for Dia de los Muertos, it’s supposed to be more beauty and remembering those people that passed away,” Mata said.
UVUSA emphasized their goal of maintaining “a safe and welcoming campus community,” and encouraged all students to “open the conversation so we can continue to improve and better ourselves, our community, and UVU.”
As of Oct. 22, UVUSA had not released the updated lineup. But the event, which is advertised as a socially distanced parking lot party and drive-in movie will take place Friday, Oct. 30 and Saturday, Oct. 31 at 7:30 p.m. The scheduled movie for the first night is “A Quiet Place.”
For more information on the Insomnia event and to purchase tickets, visit the UVUSA website. The full apology can also be found on Instagram @uvustudents.
The UVU Review previously published a feature about the distinctions between Halloween and Dia de los Muertos. You can find the rest of Thomas Mata’s thoughts and the full article here.
