The Student Organization of Latinos at Southeast Missouri State University hosted Latino Night on April 30.

Latino Night was open to all of the Southeast community and included food, music and dancing of Latino origin. The event was held in the Student Recreational Center-North from 8 p.m. to midnight Tostadas, a traditional Mexican dish, were served to promote Latino culture. The DJ played Spanish dance music, which resulted in Spanish dancing styles, including the cumbia and salsa.

The purpose of Latino Night and all other events and services hosted by the Student Organization of Latinos, is both to educate and enrich the population of Southeast with Latino culture. Events held by the group this year included a myth-busting presentation given by Latino students about Latinos and their culture, as well as a fundraising event to provide relief to victims of an earthquake that occurred in Ecuador. According to Dr. Debra Lee-Distefano, Southeast Spanish professor and the Student Organization of Latinos group adviser, it originally was started in the 2010-2011 academic year and faded away in 2014 after the former president enlisted into the Marines and was deployed.

“When we first started, the intent of the club was to bring all Latinos together, but also focus in on Americans of Hispanic descent,” Lee-Distefano said. “A lot of our American students have also gotten involved to practice Spanish and familiarize themselves with Latino culture.”

The group was renewed during the 2015-2016 academic year because of the current president, senior Alma Villalobos. Villalobos said she saw Latino representation was not strong on Southeast’s campus and wanted to change that.

“I was looking for a Latino group, and could not figure out why Southeast did not have one,” Villalobos said. “I spoke with Dr. Lee-Distefano about having an active Latino organization, and as the group adviser, she made me the president. From there, I started finding Latinos around campus little by little to join, and now we currently have about 30 members.”

Villalobos is graduating from Southeast on May 14, and there will be elections held for a new president. Lee-Distefano said that in the future she would like to focus on organization and promotion of the group. With these new goals in mind, she predicts more people will have knowledge of the organization and will get involved.

“We need to push towards getting more people on campus to know about us and what we do,” Lee-Distefano said. “One of the main purposes of our organization is to bring awareness of the Hispanic people that are in our community. I am also hoping that in the future we could possibly start attracting more Hispanic people to Southeast. We want Hispanic people to know that they are welcome here.”

The Student Organization of Latinos already is making plans for the upcoming semester, particularly with events for Hispanic Heritage Month in the fall. For more information about this group or any other organization on campus, students may contact the Office of Campus Life at campuslife@semo.edu.