I noticed Jessica Lee mentioned the Latin American Student Association (LASA) in the column “Cultural clubs unintentionally exclude” (Oct. 22).
First of all, I would like to extend an apology from our organization if any of our members, myself included, approached her at any of our meetings in a manner that wasn’t welcoming.
Secondly, I would also like to respond to the article, which I believe may also unintentionally suggest that Latina/o-based organizations are exclusive to only Latina/o students.
Raza organizations were mentioned in the article, without note of the importance of cultural groups or a history of the emergence of cultural organizations on campus.
It is important to note that inclusiveness of students within cultural organizations, including Raza cultural organizations, stems from an appreciation of particular cultures and groups of people.
LASA, for example, welcomes all students regardless of race, class, origin, gender and sexual and political orientation so long as they come into our space with an appreciation for the diverse and rich cultures of Latinoamérica.
A long history of migration, trade and colonization within various countries in Latin America has created different cultures that have historically encompassed different racial and ethnic backgrounds.
Filipino migrants were brought as slaves by Spanish colonizers to Mexico; the Chinese populated Panama to work on the Panama Canal; the Japanese escaped poverty to Brazil for work in coffee plantations; black peoples of Brazil and the Caribbean arrived as part of the Atlantic slave trade from Spain and Portugal (to name a few).
These histories are what make all of our cultural organizations special and encourage us to welcome all students so that we all learn from our struggles and from the beauty of our diverse cultures.
As such, LASA requires that all members have an appreciation of not only their own culture, but also more specifically those of Latinoamérica, an aspect of our organization that does make us exclusive, but only to all students interested in learning about Latin America with us.
This unique form of exclusivity is important for our Latina/o communities on campus because of the lack of inclusiveness of students of color at UCLA. This is reflected in the university’s low admission and retention rates of black and Latino students in particular.
What does it say about the university when so many of our students aren’t graduating and continue to drop out, or more accurately stated, continue being pushed out by the university?
Because of our low numbers here at UCLA, we need these various organizations (whether they be social, cultural, political or greek) to unite our students to feel like there is a place where they belong on this campus.
We need a place where we are comfortable speaking the non-English languages we speak at home, especially when we have no outlet to learn or speak these languages in our daily courses.
We need a place where we can explore our cultural identity without shame, especially when media outlets portray our communities and cultures as corrupt.
We need a place where we can empower ourselves and each other to think critically about factors that affect our retention rates.
This allows us to actively address retention rates so UCLA can meet our needs ““ an important task because the recent tuition fee increases affect our low-income students and those not eligible for financial aid.
These organizations end up serving as a support system that we can be a part of, and they allow us to succeed in our academics and in our post-grad endeavors.
Often times the public school system and the university do little to prepare us as high school graduates for the obstacles we will face in college.
We are hardly exposed to the resources that are available to us as college students, especially first-generation college students who don’t have family members to show them the ins and outs of college life.
Cultural organizations may be exclusive to an extent, but this doesn’t mean we are or should be intolerant.
We should never arrive at a point where students from different backgrounds feel unwelcome to be part of a different cultural family on campus.
Carlos Juarez
Fifth-year sociology student