The beginning of the school year brought many new clubs to campus, including LatinX, a club that celebrates Latin American culture. Club president and founder, second-year Jennyfer Gonzalez, hopes to promote a safer campus and more inclusivity at New College.
“Last year, my roommate and I were talking about the new Disney princess that’s coming out and we got very angry because it is a very stereotypical version of what a Latin woman is like and it was just very frustrating that we had to deal with these micro-aggressions all the time,” Gonzalez said. “So my roommate decided to leave school and I feel like this was a reason to it. And I just didn’t want other people to leave because of that.”
Gonzalez is eager to begin working toward the club’s goals.
“The mission statement is to combat stereotypes that are perpetuated in everyday society and to unite all the students who identify as LatinX,” Gonzalez said. “And you do not have to be LatinX or speak Spanish to be part of this club.”
The club had its first official meeting on Tuesday, Aug. 15. Twenty-six members were in attendance. It also elected its first board, which includes Gonzalez as president, second-year Lorraine Cruz as vice president, first-year Dani Patarroyo-Avila as secretary, and thesis student Garrett Murto as treasurer.
“I wanted to be an active member of LatinX, and I’ve been talking to Jenny about the club,” Patarroyo-Avila said. “I was very interested before we officially met…and secretary seemed like a very good fit for me.”
LatinX has already begun enthusiastically planning upcoming events such as hosting keynote speakers, forum posts highlighting current events in Latin America, Latin movie screenings, and Hispanic Heritage month.
“For Hispanic Heritage month, [Ana “Xime” Pedroza] and I are in charge of making food, so I’m really excited to make food, because I have never gotten to make LatinX food, so now I get to learn how to make it and it’s really exciting,” first-year Ana Bez commented.
LatinX Club will be meeting Tuesday evenings, 8:00-9:00 p.m. in the Old Mail Room, and anyone interested in joining is welcome to either email Gonzalez or simply show up to the meetings.
“This is new so I want everybody to be included, this isn’t my own club, it’s everybody’s club,” Gonzalez said. “So please come, I really do need the help and I really appreciate the ideas.”