When keynote speaker Ana Rizo stepped behind the lectern at the Dia de la Mujer Conference, she slowly began clapping. The crowd quickly joined in until the clapping resonated throughout the room.

Rizo explained that this "Chicano clap" is used by Chicano union workers to show unity. She is the national coordinator of the Student Labor Action Project in Washington, D.C.

The Saturday conference was held in the Kellogg Center and is an annual celebration of womanhood and Chicano and Latino culture. Dia de la Mujer means "Day of the Woman," and the theme this year was "Women in the Struggle, Sisters for Liberty."

In her speech, Rizo encouraged the women at the conference to unite behind workers.

"If you don't defend your rights, you are teaching your daughters not to fight for their rights," Rizo said.

"It's about our community; it's not about ourselves as individuals," Rizo said. "Don't ever forget your community."

The conference attracted about 600 participants for the all-day event.

"It's such a great turnout," said committee chair and social work junior Angelita Navarro. "We have 80-year-olds to 12-year-olds."

This year, the conference cost about $30,000, which was raised by the committee with help from area businesses.

Between two keynote speakers and two meals, the conference participants had the chance to attend a variety of workshops.

In one room, Nora Chapa Mendoza, 1999 Michigan Artist of the Year, unfolded pages of an ancient 260-day calendar of and offered to interpret horoscopes.

A floor below, Yanira Merino, immigration coordinator with Laborers International Union of North America, discussed the struggle for immigration reform in the United States.

"Every time you eat a strawberry, think about the worker that picked it," she told her audience. "They have to have basic civil liberties."

No-preference sophomore Elana Elkin attended Merino's workshop.

"The laws are so complicated and oppressive," Elkin said of immigration laws. "They need to be reformed."

Elkin said she has friends who are immigrants and is frustrated with the lack of rights they have.

"She can't vote," Elkin said of her friend, and added that immigrants still pay taxes though they don't have the same rights as citizens.

The second session of events included a panel of biracial students discussing their experiences.

"I thought in college I'd have to choose," said panelist Misty Staunton of her black and Latino heritage.

She said, however, that she has found ways to accept both pieces of her life.

"People who are biracial should be so proud," the family community services senior said. "You're the product of what the past wouldn't allow."

After each of the four panelists explained her background, audience members were invited to ask questions and the discussion soon turned to interracial dating.

"Dating someone from your race is so much easier," said 2003 alumna Samantha Luna, pointing to possible differences in religion and family expectations as reasons for why people date within their race.

Because she is Latino and is dating a black man, Luna said she came to the panel to hear how biracial students had dealt with their experiences.

"If I were to have a child, this might help me understand maybe stuff they may encounter," she said.

One of the final workshops was a class in specializing in a variety of dances, such as merengue, salsa and cumbia.

Participants of all ages formed lines behind the instructors and mimicked the foot movements and spins.

Eventually, the lines broke into pairs and people danced their own versions.

"Music is a big part of Hispanic culture," said committee member and social work junior Ana Sauceda. "You just grow up with it. You naturally feel the music."

One of the guests at the conference was Elva Revilla, the Deputy Chief Operating Officer of Administration for Gov. Jennifer Granholm's office.

Revilla said she tries to come every year and has led workshops for the conference in the past.

"It's an opportunity to encourage young people," she said, adding that she sees a lot of energy and creativity in youth today. "I feel like I'm a student again."