Copy by Chip Chandler, 806-651-2124, [email protected]

CANYON, Texas — West Texas A&M University will lead a community celebration of lost loved ones with its annual Día de los Muertos activities.

Deadline is 5 p.m. Oct. 24 for community members as well as WT students, faculty and staff to sign up to create an ofrenda display in Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum. Ofrendas, or private memorial displays honoring loved ones, will be installed Oct. 29 and on view through Nov. 4.

The activities are hosted by WT’s Terry B. Rogers College of Education and Social Sciences.

“Día de los Muertos is a time to expand our cultural knowledge and horizons and remember loved ones who have passed on before us,” said Dr. Eddie Henderson, dean. “It is a time to honor traditions and even create new ones.”

Ofrenda often incorporate sugar skulls, marigolds and the favorite foods and beverages of the departed. WT and PPHM generally host about 100 displays, which will be judged for prizes.

Register for the competition here: forms.gle/kCwFQ5kmJBa6Tdwu7.

While they are on view, area schools will send classes for tours and art activities; in 2021, more than 1,600 students experienced the display.

Region 16 school districts may still register for tours, which will be conducted from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily Nov. 1 to 4. Space is limited; schools should email [email protected] to register.

Museum admission for those classes is paid for by the College of Education and Social Sciences.

“This exhibition means that we have an opportunity at WT to open our doors to our community and our kindergarten through 12th-grade students,” said Dr. Beth Garcia, assistant dean and Sylvia Nugent Professor of Education. “It is a time for us to come together and celebrate cultural diversity and education.”

WT is a Hispanic Serving Institution, and serving the demographics of this region is a key goal of the University’s long-range plan, WT 125: From the Panhandle to the World.

That plan is fueled by the historic, $125 million One West comprehensive fundraising campaign. To date, the five-year campaign — which publicly launched in September 2021 — has raised more than $110 million.