While working as orientation leaders this past summer, sophomores Molly Gramm, Aylin Avalo and Victor Cruz Castro heard the same question from freshman students time and time again: is there an organization for Latine students at Suffolk University?
Gramm knew of Suffolk’s Latinx Student Alliance from her freshman year, but could not attend meetings due to her busy schedule. She hoped to join the organization the following year, but found the group dissolved after students in the club’s leadership graduated.
In a conversation with freshman Karla Rivas Brea, one of her orientees, Gramm saw the limited options for Hispanic and Latine students to engage with their cultures on campus.
“[Brea] was talking about wanting to have a Hispanic culture club, but there wasn’t one besides, technically Pasíon Latina,” Gramm said. “We wanted to have that platform for Hispanic students to really have a community outside of a [Performing Arts Office] opportunity.”
At the Center for Student Diversity and Inclusion’s 1913 Diversity Welcome Reception Sept. 4, Gramm and sophomore Valentina Tolentino were approached by Bea Patiño, the director of CSDI, about bringing a Latine student group back to Suffolk for the new year. The two were eager to lead the revived organization after the high volume of interest from students.
“Because there was already a foundation to begin with, we just had to rebrand it and find people that had the same level of commitment and passion,” Tolentino said.
As the newly formed Latine Student Alliance, Gramm and Tolentino took on the roles of president and vice president, respectively. Castro became the group’s treasurer, Brea the secretary and Avalo does public relations.
The e-board aims to foster a place for students that feels like a home away from home, with the ultimate goal of establishing a stable, inclusive organization that works alongside Hispanic and Latine communities in Boston.
“We want it to be a space that people can rely on and consecutively come to, but then also take the space to live their lives and be involved in other things and bring that to our space, and hopefully that’ll help flourish our community overall,” Castro said.
The leadership said they would prioritize education about different Latine cultures through events like an upcoming jeopardy game Oct. 17 and skull painting Oct. 31 for Día de los Muertos.
As the organization grows, they plan to collaborate with other cultural groups on campus to learn from other communities and promote inclusion.
“We’re hoping to have some collaborations and maybe have bigger events where we can attract other communities as well, because we want to be open to other communities, and we want to be a space that everybody can just enjoy and be comfortable in,” Avalo said.
The e-board has seen passionate interest from students since they posted the group’s mission statement on Instagram Sept. 30. They said that excitement has been encouraging as a fresh organization and hoped the fervor would follow through to help establish the club as a permanent fixture of Suffolk.
“We want to keep that up and not have students wondering, ‘oh, where’s the space for me?’” Castro said.
Gramm said that having a campus organization reflect your identity was essential to students feeling like they belong, especially in the first year of college. The opportunity to celebrate holidays and eat food from your culture while away from home can bring a sense of comfort to students, she said.
“It just can make people feel more [at] home at college when it already can be a difficult time for any student, but when the college life isn’t reflecting of your culture or your identity, that makes it even a more difficult component,” Gramm said.
Avalo and Tolentino said they hope the club can be a comfortable space for students of all backgrounds to embrace Latine culture. Both Castro and Avalo are Diversity Peer Educators and emphasized the importance of having strong cultural communities at a predominantly white institution.
“I want it to be a part [of Suffolk] where people don’t have to think twice about its presence, where they can just kind of come in, and it’s really in the institution,” Castro said. “Being able to establish that we’re not going anywhere.”
The Latine Student Alliance (@suffolk.lsa) meets biweekly on Thursdays in Samia 216 5:30-7PM. The first meeting will be Oct. 17.
