Salt Lake Community College’s Latinx Student Union offers Latinx students the opportunity to get more involved with school by connecting as a group and working with the community through service projects for non-profit organizations throughout the semester.
Two years ago, the club had one of its members travel to the Standing Rock Indian Reservation to support the indigenous people living there during the Dakota Access Pipeline protests.
Randy Navarrete, a student at SLCC and president of the Latinx Student Union, joined the club about a year ago and feels the group offers an opportunity to connect with others at SLCC.
“College can be very isolating and it can be hard to find a place within it. People just come and go,” Navarrete says. “Finding this club really was a place where I can come in and meet people that carry the same politics that I do.”
Navarrete says being involved also helps he and other students commit to class and their studies.
“Getting involved in school really helps you to stay in school and be committed to it,” he explains.
Navarrete says being the president of the Latinx Student Union has also offered him the opportunity to be more engaged at school, including meeting and engaging with students and advisors from other clubs.
“My favorite thing about this club is the platform its given me,” he says.
Ceydy Garcia is a student at SLCC and the executive assistant of Latinx Student Union. She says her involvement with the group has made her experience at SLCC a positive one.
“I now have a place to go,” she says. “It’s nice to have people to help me academically and to keep me motivated.”
According to The Hechinger Report, a new research study indicates a growing education gap between Latino college students and their whites and black peers. Being involved with school can help Latinx students succeed in college.
The club, for example, holds weekly study dates to help students with homework.
“Latinxs have one of the highest percentages of college dropouts,” Garcia says. “Latinx Student Union gives students the resources to stay in college.”
They’re have been remarks and opinions that have came from high political figures regarding the Latinx community.
“Latinx people are really frowned upon and they’re seen as horrible people because of what political figures have said,” Garcia says. “This club helps Latinx students get through that and show other people that they can make a difference.”
Meetings are held every Thursday from noon to 1 p.m. at the Taylorsville Redwood Campus in the Student Center Basement Level in Den 2\.
