Light, love and community: Celebrating Día de los Muertos at Regis

From Oct. 29 to Nov. 3, 2025, the Regis community celebrated Día de los Muertos (the Day of the Dead), the annual Mexican celebration of light, life and those who have passed away. As a federally designated Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI), Regis University is proud to recognize this holiday alongside the students, faculty and staff and neighbors that make up the Regis community. 

The celebration began on Oct. 29, where students, staff and the community gathered for food, fun and crafts at Regis’ Student Center.

Assistant Director of Teaching and Learning Excellence, Jonnia Torres Carolan, Ph.D., invited her students to the festivities to make their own nichos. These small shadow-box dioramas evolved from Catholic retablos and hold images or objects representing loved ones, or are made purely for fun. Torres Carolan, who has taught virtually at Regis since 2023, had her first in-class experience with her Spanish students this fall.

“I felt like for the first time I had the opportunity to make Día de los Muertos a part of my curriculum,” said Torres. “I’m able to build community with my students and have my teaching be more culturally responsive.”

That evening, a special Mass was held at Regis University’s St. John Francis Regis Chapel, celebrating life and the traditions of Día de los Muertos. At the same time, the Mariachi Los Correcaminos of Metropolitan State University serenaded the campus with a unique showcase of mariachi music at Regis’ Claver Recital Hall.

Following the events of the previous week, on Monday, Nov. 3, students from Denver Public Schools visited campus, bringing “mini-altares,” memorializing celebrities, family and friends. These miniature versions of the traditional ofrenda offer the spirits of the dead food, drink and a place to rest after making their journey to the world of the living.

After setting up their mini-altares in Main Hall, the students toured Regis’ campus. In the afternoon, students went to the Regis Chapel for a friendly competition of reciting Calaveritas Literarias that they had written. These satirical epitaphs are composed for Día de los Muertos, bringing humor to how someone – living or dead – would have died.

Regis’ institutional recognition of Día de los Muertos reflects the values and mission of the University, as an HSI, Jesuit-Catholic university and community partner. Torres Carolan concluded that Regis is an actual "Hispanic serving" institution through the culture of “servingness” – regardless of federal designation.