BY VIRIDIANA CAMACHO / VN STAFF WRITER
Student Edwin Jurado joined the LatinX Student Association (LXSA) because he “wanted to share his culture with the rest of the university.”
A junior majoring in psychology, he is now LXSA’s president.
Jurado said that when he started school here there weren’t many Latinos or Latinas.
“Coming together in a club where the members have the same upbringing and similar background to do community service and cultural events is helpful in educating and sharing the culture with the university,” he said.
He became president his sophomore year after LXSA had a meeting to obtain a new cabinet for the year to come.
Jurado hopes to share his culture with the university, along with having events and activities that represent Latin America and shed light on everything that goes on.
Gail Presbey is faculty advisor of LXSA.
“The student club has helped to support a variety of special events,” she said. “Most notably, they have helped every year at the UCA Jesuit Martyrs Scholarship Fundraiser Dinner.”
The dinner has raised about $5,000 a year – “sometimes up to $8,000,” said Presbey, “which is enough to support several university students on full scholarships at the University of Centroamerica, which is the Jesuit university in El Salvador.”
The group brought pupusas.
“It is a food dish very popular in El Salvador,” Presbey said. “They look like pancakes, but they are corn stuffed with cheese, chilis and sometimes chicken or beans… They come with a special tomato-based sauce and a side of spicy cabbage. Every year we feed about 100 people and I could not do the event without their help, both in supplying the food, carrying it to the venue and helping to serve the food. Attendees rave about the food.”
This year the dinner will be on April 4 in the ballroom, starting at 6:45 p.m.
Ana Lopez, another member of LXSA, is a sophomore majoring in biochemistry. She joined LXSA because she felt that there was something for her in the association.
“Having this group of people that share my culture is nice,” she said. “Especially in a school where I don’t know too many people, (this) was more like a comfort zone for me.”
Lopez said meetings bring members together.
“We get together for meetings, but it’s not just meetings,” she said. “We play games. We played loteria the other day. We share meals together. It’s nice to get to know each other and be friends. It’s more time to relax and not stress.”
To join the organization, contact Presbey at presbegm@udmercy.edu.
