Small white crosses lined the grass around the rock on Farm Lane.

On each of the crosses, which stood no more than a foot off the ground, students wrote the name of a loved one who passed away.

A little altar has been built near the crosses, with offerings of bread to the spirits of ancestors.

The scene was set up Friday at midnight in celebration of Dia de los Muertos, the Mexican Day of the Dead celebration this weekend.

It remained there when a group of students gathered to participate in a march which led to the Kalamazoo bridge, where another march also culminated. The second march started from Kalamazoo Avenue and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.

The events were sponsored by Movimiento Estudiantil Xicano de Aztlan, or MEXA, Culturas de las Razas Unidas and the Capital Area Cesar E. Chavez Commission.

MEXA adviser Lauriano Aguirre said the march was to gain support for a campaign hoping to change the name of Kalamazoo Avenue to honor Cesar Chavez, a Mexican leader and farm worker.

“He was one of the great leaders of our community,” Aguirre said. “It’s only fair that the city, being the capital, remember such a leader.”

Accounting freshman Andie Gonzalez said she attended the events of the weekend to commemorate a holiday that is meaningful to her.

“I wanted to support our community and what we stand for as Mexicans,” she said. “It was very spiritual.”

Three students chose to show their support by staying the night in a tent protecting the display at the rock.

“It’s the coldest I’ve ever been in my life,” finance freshman Eric Villarreal said.

His friend, Jorge Sigala, chimed in that the low temperatures wouldn’t stand in their way.

“It was worth it,” the computer science sophomore said. “Through cold, through winter, through hurricane, whatever. We’ll be there.”