The Latino Student Union is celebrating 50 years of being a student organization at BGSU.

As a current member of LSU, this is very important to me. Right now, I hold the Vice President position and Public Relations Chair.

Being a part of LSU has allowed me to find a group of people that I can identify with. To me, LSU is a community for everyone to come together and support each other. I have made many friends through being a part of this organization and even more connections.

Recently, I got the opportunity to speak on the panel of current LSU members for the Latino/a/x Issues Conference. I shared my experiences and thoughts about this student organization.

At this conference, there were panels, presentations and a keynote by Dr. Jade Power-Sotomayor. 

I attended the LSU Alumni panel, and it was very inspiring and motivating to hear from past members. They talked about what each of their experiences was like during their time with LSU.

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Dr. Luis Moreno and Ana Brown moderated, while five alumni spoke on the panel. Juan Pimiento specifically caught my attention when he shared his thoughts on LSU.

“Through that work of course, just educating the people of other ethnicities, of other backgrounds just about our culture in general because there’s so much to know.” Pimiento said. “That we are very much a spectrum of all kinds of context and beliefs and experiences that people don’t know about.”

I was also very interested in hearing their advice for current members; each alumni talked about different ways to help our recruitment process.

Due to COVID-19, myself and the executive board have had trouble with getting members to join and stay consistent.

With the people that come to our meetings, we do have fun. We like to start our meetings off with having what we call Familia Time, or family time to get everyone engaged before we talk about the presentation for the day.

After hearing what the alumni said during their panel, I see how LSU has changed. LSU was founded in 1972, and one of the original founders spoke on the panel. Although there are differences, LSU will always be a family community that embraces and advocates for its members, and that is why I love LSU.

Overall, this experience was great and I am glad to be able to help continue and grow LSU’s legacy here on campus.

My advice to anyone interested in joining something on campus: do it. Being a part of a student organization or club allows for your own community within the BGSU community. It is a great way to build friendships, get support and bond with people who may be experiencing similar things as you.

Like our saying goes, “Not Latino? Not a problem!”

Our next meeting will be at 9 p.m. on April 6 in 314 BTSU. Follow our Instagram for more information @bglsu.