The Latin American and Hispanic Student Organization held its third Unity Banquet to start conversations about diversity on campus Feb. 24 in Feldman Horn Art Gallery. LAHSO worked with other affinity groups such as the Black Leadership Awareness and Culture Club and Gender and Sexuality Awareness club to advertise the event, and invited the entire community to attend.

Janine Jones speaks about people of color challenges

To begin the banquet, Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and Associate Director of Admission Janine Jones spoke about the challenges people of color face and how students can support each other. Students discussed these topics in pairs and came together toward the end of the event to talk as a group.

A student shares her thoughts

Alexandra Du Manoir ’21 said her favorite part of the event was learning about Latinx representation in the media, which helped furthered her goal to support her community.

“It was really great to come together and speak about how the affinity groups can work together to create dialogue for the underrepresented voices in our community,” Du Manoir said. “I feel like I learned so much about how to be a better leader and be a better ally for other affinity groups.”

LAHSO leader Josue Martin ’20 said he was proud of the event’s turnout, particularly the participants’ engagement throughout the banquet.

“I really loved that all of the participants were willing to be vulnerable for all of us,” Martin said. “[The banquet ] really helped me be more aware of the different experiences we all face, especially in the world we live in today. Topics like diversity and racism are really hard to talk about, so being able to contribute to this discussion was an awesome experience.”