The Latinx-Hispanic Student Union (LHSU) may be a young club on campus, but they have already made their mark on Elizabethtown College. LHSU first became an official group on campus in September 2021. With Etown being a predominately white institution, establishing a strong connection between Latinx, Hispanic and other underrepresented groups was already a challenge prior to the establishment of LHSU. LHSU President Ismerai Miranda took this as an opportunity to bring students of Latinx and Hispanic backgrounds together for a greater sense of community.

Ismerai got in contact with sophomore Sarah Moscoso—now LHSU’s current Vice President— regarding her interest in starting a Union. Moscoso expressed her excitement to be a part of this new initiative. Before officially being established on campus, Miranda and Moscoco had to take the next steps of finding other students of Latinx or Hispanic background to be a part of the cabinet. This ended up becoming one of their biggest challenges.

“That was the lightbulb moment for Latinx Hispanic Student Union—the fact that two upperclassmen on campus weren’t able to really think of many other students who identify as Latinx or Hispanic,” Moscoso recalled.

Flashforward five months later, the Latinx Hispanic Student Union now has a complete cabinet along with an advisor and recently hosted their first event. This event was a game night where they led games of cultural significance such as Loteria, Dominoes and Briscas. Each of the cabinet members brought a game that was significant to them, and direction sheets were provided for all students to learn how to play. The intent behind the LHSU game night was to provide an educational opportunity for students to learn about aspects of the Latinx/Hispanic culture in a fun and engaging way.

Moscoso described their first event as astounding and said it opened her eyes to how receptive the campus really is. “The original intent of the game night was just to have a few games and it ended up turning into this big feel-good event where people were playing games, chatting, joking around, dancing, eating snacks and sharing stories about how these games have impacted them,” Moscoso said.

The event was a big success—students from all different backgrounds came to support LHSU and their mission as an organization. “I thought it was fun to get to interact with other students and explore a culture different than my own through games, activities and experiences,” junior Alex D’Amico said.
Moscoso recalled there to be at least 20 students in attendance, some of which weren’t even a part of LHSU, but just came to have fun and open their eyes to other cultures. “Our president, she was actually tearing up when she started seeing how many people came and it was really sweet,” Moscoso said.

LHSU is currently in the process of planning for an upcoming fundraiser in hopes to obtain a larger presence on campus. In the future, they would also love to reserve the Bower’s Center demo kitchen so they can teach students how to cook different types of Latinx/Hispanic foods. Moscoso says to “Keep your eyes peeled because the Latinx Hispanic Student Union will definitely be providing something fun and cool for the campus to enjoy.”