The theme of Old Dominion University’s Hispanic Heritage Month, Sept. 15-Oct. 15, was “Pioneers of Change: Shaping the Future Together” and events were designed to highlight the leaders who paved the way for future generations.
Throughout the month, ODU News reached out to students and faculty/staff who planned and participated in events to learn about their perspectives about what it means to be Latinx on campus.
Adelante, the annual celebration, held on Sept. 27 in Webb Center, joined nearly 80 Latinx students, families, alumni and faculty to enjoy a buffet, DJ and a panel discussion.
Panelists included Selena Alejo-Arellano, Joseph Flores and Michelle Soto. They discussed the significance of cultural connections and emphasized the personal and familiar importance of graduating and achieving academic success.
Joshua Martin, assistant director for Latine Initiatives in the Office of Intercultural Relations (OIR), highlighted the importance of events like Adelante.
“We’re here for our shared culture, our heritage and our dialects. I know it can be hard to find your Latine community on campus,” he said. “It’s vital that we continue to support each other and to show up for each other in spaces such as this.”
Enrique Rangel-Rodriquez, assistant director for Latino and Hispanic outreach and recruitment in Admissions, helps prospective and transfer students navigate the college admissions process and connects them to campus resources.
“We want to show them that we have resources and a lot of great mentorship opportunities. The main thing we want to help them do is to find their family, or their familia, here on campus,” he said. “And we want to connect them to the different student organizations like The Latino Student Alliance, the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers, Multicultural Greek life, and WEPA, an organization that promotes Latin culture through dance.”
Mariela Romero, originally from Escondido, California, is pursuing a master's degree in clinical mental health counseling at ODU. As the graduate assistant for Latine Initiatives she focuses on organizing cultural programming.
Minutes before the Hispanic Heritage Month kick-off event, she happily talked about all that was going on including “tablings,” where organizations introduced themselves, T-shirt giveaways, pizza and a pinata smash.
“But most importantly, the students can connect with each other and connect to student organizations,” she said. “Our main goal is, not only for visibility, but connection. I feel like for a lot of the Latin students on campus, we know they’re here, but it’s sometimes hard to find each other. We want the students to see themselves represented on campus.”
She said the various organizations that took part share a passion for bringing everyone together and creating a sense of community.
“The statistics say that Latinos are going to school at record rates. Here, the community is growing,” Romero said. “We have really seen this community grow and connect with each other.”
She said new to campus this year are monthly events call “La Comunidad” that focus on professional development and student engagement.
Romero also pointed out the success of La Familia mentorship program, which has a peer track that pairs freshmen and transfer students with upperclassmen. The other track is community mentors who organize and market the events on campus.
“We have a really good group of people, and everybody is so willing to engage with each other, and everybody's so friendly and welcoming,” she said.
Joseph Flores, a junior from Bassett majoring in cybersecurity, is the president of the Latino Student Alliance and a member of La Unidad Latina Lambda Upsilon Lambda Fraternity Incorporated.
Flores, who is of Honduran descent, said the Hispanic community at ODU is diverse with students of many heritages including Mexican, El Salvadorian, Peruvian, Bolivian and Colombian, among others.
He said a cultural workshop held at the beginning of Hispanic Heritage Month brought everyone together to meet and highlight the Hispanic countries that make up the Latinx community.
“It’s important for me—for when Latino students come to this school, in a new environment with new people and new faces—to give them a semblance of home by throwing events with familiar food and familiar music, to gather around with people who speak the same language or to share that culture with the rest of the community. I want them to learn that there’s a space where we can express ourselves freely,” he said.
He said the fraternity was created to encourage minorities, particularly Latino students, to pursue a higher education. Their work focuses on the P.A.T.H.E. (Providing Access to Highter Education) Initiative.
“Our whole philanthropy is based on that, bringing underrepresented groups to higher education through scholarships, awareness and training,” he said, explaining that while he hadn’t planned on joining organizations in college, but the work the fraternity did inspired him to get involved and be a leader.
“Joining the fraternity gave me the confidence and the ability to put myself out there and to be a leader on and outside of this campus,” he said.
Marilin Ortiz-Osegueda, a junior from Woodbridge with roots in El Salvador, is studying elementary education.
She happily identifies as Salvadorian, Latina or Hispanic.
“I’m proud to represent where I came from, my background and my culture,” she said.
She celebrates her heritage through Sigma Lamba Upsilon/ Señoritas Latinas Unidas Sorority, Inc.. She is president of the sorority which focuses on female empowerment, community service, leadership, academic excellence and sisterhood. Previously she was involved with the WEPA dance performance team and the Latino Student Alliance.
Her suggestion for those who haven’t yet found a group of friends is to “just jump in.”
“If anybody feels a disconnect from being on campus and away from home, there a lot of organizations on campus, Latino and otherwise, and I would recommend dipping your toes in them,” she said. “You might not know it, but it might be an organization that you fall in love with. I recommend exploring.”
Jacelyn M. Ramos-Mercado, a junior studying tourism and hospitality management, now calls Woodbridge home though she was born and raised in Puerto Rico.
When she was in high school, her parents liked the proximity of Old Dominion and their family took a weekend to tour it.
“As soon as I had a tour, I was like, ‘I love this.’ And coincidentally, on the day there was a Latin event, so I saw the whole community. I saw, a lot of Latinos just walking around campus and being themselves. I wanted to be part of that,” she said. “I was looking for a place that I could be myself and find home away from home. And that's definitely what I got.”
Since then, she said she’s grown personally and professionally and is grateful for the opportunity to join Sigma Lambda Upsilon.
“We're encouraging Latinas to help each other develop in our professional and personal lives. I know it's very hard as women and especially Latinas, to make our voice heard, so it’s important to create that safe space to be yourself,” she said.
Ramos-Mercado is also on the WEPA dance team, the vice president of the Multicultural Greek Council and a member of the Latino Student Advisory Board.
Selena Alejo-Arellano, a junior from Richmond, is also highly involved on campus. She is the vice president of Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE), a member of the Blue Crown Society, a student leader in the office of Student Enrollment, Engagement & Services and the student leader of the Monarchs Give Back program.
She transferred to Old Dominion last year and took advantage of student organization fairs where she learned about the Latin Student Alliance and other clubs. At an engineering school event, she discovered SHPE and knew she wanted to take part.
“I wanted to be part of something that I could be proud of, because there's small population of Latin-Hispanic culture in engineering. So, it’s really important to me personally to have my community represented in engineering, especially as an electrical engineer and a female,” she said, noting that out of the 20 SHPE members, three are women.
Alejo-Arellano said SHPE events are centered on professional development, networking and hosting company representatives at their general meetings. Later this month, she will attend SHPE’s national convention in California for which she received a regional scholarship to attend.
As one of the 11 Blue Crown Society members, she attends official University events like the openings of new buildings and offices.
“It’s really cool to be a representative, not just for the engineering, but for the community as a Latin female at ODU,” she said. “I'm very happy and proud to be part of it.”