Ellie Frazier, MSS Intern

Reflection #5: LACOS First Official Meeting

Right before spring break, I convened the first official meeting of
LACOS. I was unsure about trying to call a meeting the week leading up to
spring break, seeing as it is generally stressful for students; however, we
needed to hold a meeting before budgets were due, and they were
unfortunately due the day we returned to campus. I created a Doodle poll in
an attempt to maximize the number of students who could attend.
I had never acted as Treasurer of a student group before, but I did help
to prepare the LACOS budget based on records from previous years that
Vincent provided me with. Looking at prior budgets from OHLAS allowed me
to ballpark expenses for things like a Hispanic/Latino Gala, hosting a speaker,
throwing a Feliz Navidad party, and holding catered member meetings. For
other upcoming events I have planned (i.e. Tamales Party this April), I used
estimates for recipe ingredients from Weis and used the Bucknell catering
guide. Altogether, I felt that the budget I drafted was reasonable and
promising for a successful upcoming year of LACOS events. But since I will
not actually be in the group beyond this semester, it is crucial to get other
students on board this semester, particularly those who demonstrate
enthusiasm for leading in the coming year. This initial meeting, therefore, was
centered on generating enthusiasm for what this group could be, laying the
foundation for a cohesive community of students, and making sure the
budget and events I am setting in motion reflect the needs/wants of students
who will inherit the tasks of carrying them out.

Despite the last-minute nature of this meeting, the turnout and the
energy of the students who attended was remarkable. As students trickled in,
most recognized the Celia Cruz album I was playing from my phone and
started singing along, and a few of them recognized each other from previous
encounters on campus. To further break the ice, I had everyone complete a
short quiz of fun facts highlighting various Latin nations. It was fun to see
how everyone reacted to the questions: to some, it was obvious how many
states are in Mexico, while to others, it was a given that pupusas are a
Salvadorian cuisine and that Ricky Martin is Puerto Rican. The activity
accomplished what I intended it toit didnt spark deep conversation yet, but
just helped students scratch the surface in terms of acknowledging and
appreciating the diversity within the Hispanic/Latino population represented
at Bucknell.
I was certainly curious about the personal and broader cultural
narratives represented in the room. When a few of the students had emailed
me about joining a couple weeks prior, they included that they were
Guatemalan/Mexican, or Cuban, and that they wanted to share their culture
with others. So, the meeting agenda was made intentionally flexible so we
could have some time to get the ball rolling in terms of appreciating one
anothers cultural heritage. We all went around and shared our ethnic
background, from Salvadorian, to half Panamanian, to Mexican/Guatemalan.
There was immense diversity in cultural backgrounds, but for the most part
the reasons for joining this club were the samenamely, students wanted to
have a supportive group of students who understood (or genuinely wanted to
understand) their heritage, explore new cultures, and put on fun and

interesting events for the community. The last person to share was a
phenotypically black male. He was visibly surprised when I prompted him to
respond. At the beginning of the meeting, he expressed that he was just
interested in learning more about Hispanic/Latino culture, and I gathered that
he might not identify with that cultural background. However, in the context
of this circle, I encouraged him to share his cultural background as well. I did
this for a few reasons: first, I wanted to put one of the core tenets of the
group into action, that this group is inclusive and everyone has a place in
discussions about cultural identity. To me this means that no one should leave
any part of their identity at the door and everyone should feel valued. I would
like to establish a multicultural approach to group discussions in the context
of this group. I also didnt want to assume from his looks that he did not have
Hispanic/Latino heritage. I explained that I have met Afrocubans, black
Dominicans, and black Panamanians, and others in the group chimed in and
concurred. The Hispanic/Latino population encompasses many ethnicities and
races. To me, this was a really cool moment to have in the early stages of this
group. Im glad to have set this precedent for challenging students to unpack
their cultural identities and have more candid conversations about race and
ethnicity. I sensed that the group is willing to do so, as long as everyone
approaches the conversation respectfully and is genuinely curious about
learning from their fellow students.
Ultimately we did make it through the whole agenda, which including
going over the budget, going through officer position responsibilities and the
election process (which will happen the following meeting), and highlighting
upcoming events (i.e. Union Tanguera and Tamales Party). It was really

encouraging to see how many students were willing to step up and lead the
group. But discussions with Vincent about the advent of student groups have
taught me to have a healthy skepticism of students who dream of being
leaders because everyone wants to be chief, but no one wants to be the
boss responsible for making things happen. So while it is important to grab
the interest of as many students as possible, it is even more important to
establish a core group of students that will continue this work in the future
and take on the challenges of executing student visions.