By: Nastassja Posso
NIAGARA UNIVERSITY, N.Y.- Previously known as the Bienvenidos Club of Niagara University, the spanish speakers club has changed their club name to “Latinos Unidos.” With new officers and newly elected leaders in the club, Latinos Unidos has made several exciting updates and changes.
The president of the club, Christopher Rogers shares his reasoning behind changing the name of the club. “We switched to ‘Latinos Unidos’ because it’s more inclusive to our mission statement for the school,” Rogers said. “The other name singled out people that understood the language and excluded students that were interested in learning and joining.”
Aside from creating events that represent the latino community on campus, Latinos Unidos will participate in raising money and collecting items for natural disasters that have occurred recently. Some other causes the club will focus on are the recurring issues that still affect countries in South America. Some of the organizations that Latinos Unidos will focus on this year are the international fundraiser for Hurricane Dorian Relief, the “My heart with Venezuela” organization and possibly work with “Voluntario Global.”
Aside from all the changes already mentioned, the club is also in the process of creating a brand new logo and is working on making a higher social media presence. Through partnerships with the Office of Multicultural Affairs, the Campus Programming Board and other clubs, Latinos Unidos will also focus on advocacy and creating a community at NU. “As a club we are trying to stay away from traditional Chipotle fundraising we usually hear from on campus,” he said. “We will do this by having more interactive events where they will learn about culture in a fun way, making it beneficial for us and the student actually spending the money,” Rogers said.
Events such as the “NU CUP,” “Dine with OMA,” “Salsa with Sarah,” and the more frequent mixers that happen in the Gallagher Center are purposely open to all students because they are events that students have enjoyed throughout the years as well as learning experiences. In “Salsa with Sarah,” students are taught about different life lessons they learn through salsa. Some things students learned with Sarah in their last event was verbal and nonverbal communication, respecting spaces, and more.
For the “La Fiesta” event, entrance fees cover food and all the activities involved as the student learns about influential latinos. According to Rogers, spending money recklessly is not the idea, it’s about getting something out of it.
The Latinos Unidos Club hopes to see a positive impact made on campus after the few changes made in the club and invites everyone on campus to The National Hispanic Heritage Dinner Celebration “La Fiesta,” on Oct. 4.
Niagara Wire 