EOT 442 No Kings + Fiesta Latina

Raleigh, Durham and Apex saw a fourth round of No Kings protests on Saturday, raising awareness for the upcoming midterm elections in Central North Carolina.

Then, Autumn Smith speaks with Julietta Cantuna from NC State's Association for Latino Professionals of America chapter to discuss the recent Fiesta Latina event and how ALPFA fosters and promotes Latin culture and identity across campus.

Eye on the Triangle is a podcast produced by WKNC 88.1 FM HD-1/HD-2, student-run radio from NC State University. Like what you hear? Consider supporting it with a gift to the WKNC Enhancement Fund. Visit our podcast page to hear more and follow us on all social media platforms @WKNC881. Thanks for listening.

Creators and Guests

Host

Autumn Smith

Public Affairs Director (2026-2027)

What is Eye on the Triangle?

"Eye on the Triangle" is your source for local news, reviews and interviews. Roughly an hour of programming, this block is essentially the NPR of WKNC. Tune in to hear about news and events around Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill and the surrounding communities. To find out more about our program or learn how NC State students can join the team, email us at [e-mail].

00:04
Autumn Smith
You are now listening to Eye on the Triangle, WKNC's weekly public affairs program from the campus of North Carolina State University. Any views and opinions expressed during Eye on the Triangle do not represent NC State or student media. This is WKNC 88.1 fm hd1 raleigh. Hello and thank you for tuning in to Eye on the Triangle. This is Autumn Smith with WKNC. Stay tuned for an interview with NC State's ALPFA or "Alpha" Student Chapter about the recent Fiesta Latina event on campus.

00:38
Autumn Smith
Multiple No Kings rallies were held in the North Carolina Triangle this past Saturday on October 17th. According to ABC11, the demonstrations took place in Apex, Durham and Raleigh, encouraging people locally to vote in this year's election.

00:52
Autumn Smith
Pivoting from the previous focus on criticizing President Donald Trump's administration, the protests in Durham also reportedly highlighted issues surrounding women's rights, immigration reform and rising prices for American consumers. This is the fourth time no Kings has organized grassroots protests in Raleigh, with the first taking place on June 14, 2025 at Lake Johnson. Local demonstrations followed a larger movement of peaceful protests across the United States as a response to rhetoric from Trump deemed authoritarian and monarchical in nature, with the first wave of protests in 2025 taking place during a parade for the US Army's 250th anniversary. But this time no Kings focused heavily on the upcoming midterm elections. According to USA Today, demonstrations this past Saturday focused less on critiquing the current presidential administration and more about fighting against it through a high voter turnout.

01:43
Autumn Smith
The efforts have merit, as WRAL reports that early voting numbers in North Carolina through the first three days are significantly higher than the previous 2022 midterm election, which saw Republican Ted Budd win the Senate vote over Democrat Cheri Beasley by roughly 121,000 ballots. Early voting started October 15th and runs until Saturday, October 31st at 3pm with election day taking place on Tuesday, November 3rd. North Carolina State students have access to voter resources such as shuttles from Talley Student Union and Centennial Campus to the Business Service Office on Western Boulevard, NC State campus's sole early voting site, as well as stamps for absentee ballots, general election information and more. To access these resources, listeners can visit packthepolls.dasa.ncsu.edu.

02:29
Autumn Smith
As we wrap up National Hispanic Heritage Month, NC State campus celebrated Fiesta Latina on October 9th courtesy of the association of Latino Professionals for America, also known as "ALPFA" i. n collaboration with Poole Student Affairs and Advocacy. The student chapter at State hosted Fiesta Latina at Harris Field and featured performances Food and vendors that highlight and celebrate Latin culture. Joining this episode is Julietta Cantuna, the Director of Marketing at ALPFA NC State, to discuss the organization's efforts and the success of last week's event in celebrating Hispanic identities. Please tell us your name and a little bit about yourself.

03:06
Julietta Cantuna
Yeah, so my name is Julietta Cantuna. I am a senior here at NC State. I'm studying Business administration with a concentration in marketing. And my journey with ALPFA has been a great one so far. I've been on the team for a little over a year now. I am their Director of marketing. It's been a great time. I love my team. I love my little marketing team as well. We have a great time. And yeah, I used to be Director of Social Media, but now that I'm Director of Marketing, it's just been a great journey being on this team and watching it grow since what it's been before.

03:39
Autumn Smith
Absolutely. Okay, so what is ALPFA?

03:43
Julietta Cantuna
So ALPFA, here at NC State, we are a professional development organization. We focus a lot on career growth, leadership opportunity, mentorship, and community. We host a lot of professional development events, a lot of social events. We're pretty much just an organization where anyone can come in and just find their community, find that group of people who is willing to focus on their growth and just watch each other grow. And yeah, that's pretty much what ALPFA is.

04:10
Autumn Smith
That's incredible. You work as a Director of Marketing at ALPFA. How did you get started with that position?

04:14
Julietta Cantuna
I first went to my very first ALPFA event. It was their GBM in the spring of 2024, I believe. And from there I immediately knew, like, I really want to be involved in this organization. I was seeing it at the point of time where it was starting its growth. So I really saw that and decided that I wanted to be a part of that. So. So I really was attending every event. I was attending every committee meeting that they had, and I was really just trying to show face at any chance I could. So from there, I then became the Director of Social Media that second semester that I was a part of ALPFA, and from there I worked as the Director of Social Media for about a year.

04:54
Julietta Cantuna
I had a team of three, and we did very well together, the three of us. We worked and collaborated a lot on our socials. And from there we definitely built a platform that was just like perfect for our marketing now. So from there, I was able to then become the Director of Marketing this past summer. And it's been great. I've been taking on a little more responsibility and kind of being a little more organized when it comes to preparing our meetings, preparing our social content and just kind of all the responsibilities that come with marketing for ALPFA.

05:26
Autumn Smith
That's incredible. How has that leap been from social media to director of marketing?

05:31
Julietta Cantuna
It's been honestly great. I feel like a lot of the requirements are the same so I'm still running our socials and stuff like that. But like I said, I feel like I'm very, a lot more organized with the way that I go about it. Now I'm building content calendars for the semester so it's kind of just like easier to work with my team and kind of like know what needs to get done for the week. So I would say that just like that organization that grew from being the director of social media to now being the director of marketing has just made the overall experience so much better, just easier, smoother. But yeah, no, it's definitely been great.

06:06
Autumn Smith
Of course, of course you speak about the growth of the organization as well over the last two years that you've been there. There's been definitely a very large growth. How has that experience been like bringing in all those people into ALPFA?

06:18
Julietta Cantuna
I would say that more than anything, it's just incredibly inspiring. I feel like from the first meeting that I went to and kind of seeing how it's just grown so much and how people are, people truly find like their friendships there. People truly find like their best friends, their friend groups. So I feel like just being able to feel rewarded in the fact that people are truly building bonds and getting what they should be getting out of this organization. It's just been incredible to see and just watch it over time for sure.

06:50
Autumn Smith
Yeah, it sounds like a very healthy student organization.

06:52
Julietta Cantuna
Yeah.

06:53
Autumn Smith
So among ALPFA's outreach efforts in the NC State community, one of those events that you guys like to host is the Fiesta Latina, which took place last Friday, October 9th. What was your involvement with that event?

07:06
Julietta Cantuna
Yes, so me and my marketing team, were meeting pretty frequently leading up to the event. I definitely worked on the organization of content calendar because like I said, I am still running our social. So kind of just figuring out what exactly needs to go out, how to kind of communicate it in a more easy to understand kind of way. Just like that simple language that makes all the information that's coming out just kind of simple and easy to understand for people that are just scrolling on Instagram or whatever. And I would definitely say also this was also a team effort because we did have a of lot of our eboard members in our videos. But we also did take a content creation day where we filmed reels and just kind of collaborated on content. And that was also just a super fun experience.

07:54
Julietta Cantuna
It's always fun making funny, silly little reels with my team where we have a great time together. So yeah, I would definitely say that was so much fun when it comes to preparing for Fiesta Latina and I also. One new thing that we decided to implement for this Fiesta Latina was creating stickers. So that was a lot of fun. Created some stickers. We was able to kind of figure out the whole department of the Wolf Express, so shout out to them. I was definitely down there for a couple of hours honestly trying to figure it out, but that was so much fun. And just like the whole lead up to the event was were just so excited and just could not wait for it to go.

08:34
Autumn Smith
A lot of incredible efforts. So did you attend Fiesta Latina and how did it go?

08:38
Julietta Cantuna
Oh, absolutely, I attended. I would have. I don't even know what I would have done if I wasn't there. I had to have been there. It is literally our most anticipated event of the year. And yeah, when I was there, I was working pretty closely with my director of content creation, AD Alberto. We were on the scene getting content as the day was kind of going on, which was a lot of fun. Also we decided to get a best fits of yes, Latina kind of vibe or like what people are wearing at Fiesta Latina. So that was a lot of fun. Like kind of scouting around who has like a really cute fit on and like asking them, talking to them, meeting people. That was a lot of fun. And then also my. Our director of professional media, Alondra, she created like a.

09:22
Julietta Cantuna
A cardboard cutout for Fiesta Latina. So we kind of went around, asked people to take pictures with the frame and it was so cute and so fun. These videos will be coming out on our Instagram soon, so if you're looking to that ALPFA NC State on Instagram. But yeah, so that was. Those were a lot of fun to film and just like the dancing and everything was just so. It was exactly what we wanted it to be. So it was just a great experience for sure. This was a great Fiesta Latina for.

09:47
Autumn Smith
Us with Fiesta Latina being a sort of capstone event during National Hispanic Heritage Month, something that is championed by NC State. How would you guys say that this event and your outreach throughout the year impacts the local community and campus?

10:01
Julietta Cantuna
I would say that on campus events like Fiesta Latina it kind of just shows that there is a community there on campus who is, like, willing to come together, have a good time, and kind of just celebrate, hear our voices, and just like, have a good time together. I feel like it definitely just shows people that you can find your place. And, like, here is like, we're here showing love, we're showing just, like a great time, that community aspect. So I feel like it just definitely is a great way to bring people together and just for people to meet new people, build new circles, kind of just, you know, expand the horizons.

10:34
Julietta Cantuna
Just that community aspect, just showing people on campus, especially the fact that it is on such like a very visible, busy, active part of campus, to just see and hear the music that's going on as well. Because it's not just the things you see, not just the smells of the taco trucks. It's. It's really everything. It's the dancing, it's the music, it's the organizations that are there supporting ALPFA. It's really just everything. I feel like it just shows that this is an organization that is here to benefit you and just create that community that we love to create.

11:03
Autumn Smith
Absolutely. Is there anything else you wanted to talk about with highlighting ALPFA as an organization? The people that work there, upcoming events you're planning on?

11:11
Julietta Cantuna
I mean, I guess I could talk a little bit more about my experience joining ALPFA, if that's okay, and kind of like the how that community aspect always. Absolutely. So, like I said, I first joined ALPFA spring of my sophomore year, and it genuinely changed my entire life. I feel like if I could recommend someone to join any organization on their campus, if ALPFA is on your campus, join that organization or just as much as you can, just get involved with ALPFA because it's given me so many opportunities. Same with, like, their national convention. You meet so many incredible people and it's just. It really is an organization that you'd go and at your first meeting, you can tell, like, this is a group of people who is here for your benefit. They are here to support you.

11:55
Julietta Cantuna
There was just that sense of community that I felt immediately walking into the room and that I've been feeling that way ever since I joined my sophomore year and now I'm a senior. So I've just watched that community aspect grow in such an incredible way. And I feel like that is one of the main things that we focus on as an E board is just making sure that everyone is feeling welcome at our events and kind of just reaching out and talking to people that we usually wouldn't talk to. I would just say that ALPFA is such a great organization. They really truly do put us first and it like you will get out of ALPFA what you put in. So if you go to the events, you can go to a social event, have some fun, meet some people, build that connection.

12:36
Julietta Cantuna
You can go to a professional development event where you will genuinely be developed professionally. I feel like there's such a great balance that ALPFA has to offer and I would definitely recommend ALPFA to anybody who asked.

12:52
Autumn Smith
This has been Eye on the Triangle from WKNC 88.1 FM HD1 Raleigh. Thank you to Julietta Cantuna from ALPFA for joining this episode. Our theme song is City Lights by BerryDeep, licensed under Creative Commons. To re listen to this or any other episode, visit wknc.org/podcast or subscribe to Eye on the Triangle on your favorite podcast site or app. Thank you for listening.