Latino students march in D.C.

In an expression of cultural pride, College freshman Katie Zapata proudly waved the Colombian flag during a rally of more than 50,000 Latinos in Washington, D.C. over fall break. Zapata traveled with a group of more than 50 Penn students -- representing a variety of campus groups -- to the first National Latino March. Groups included Penn's Latino fraternity and sorority and the Asociacion Cultural de Estudiantes Latino Americanos, or ACELA. "It was good for Latinos on campus from different organizations to come together for this common cause and stand up for the goals of the march," said second-year Sociology graduate student Raphael Zapata. College senior Karla Lozano said Latinos from across the nation united in Washington to protest police brutality and "unfair, degrading and unacceptable treatment" of legal and illegal immigrants in the U.S. Raphael Zapata said Penn students and others also rallied against discrimination, and in support of a higher minimum wage and increased health care. "Students need to rally around the issues that tie us together," he added. Immigrant rights struck a personal chord with Katie Zapata, whose father is a Colombian immigrant. She said she expressed "my pride in my heritage" at the march. "But I was also showing pride in my father and all his accomplishments," she said. Like Zapata, many who went to the march are children of immigrants. "Even though most of us were born here, we feel pride for our parents' places of birth," Lozano said. Lambda Upsilon Lambda fraternity President Freddy Godoy, a College senior, said 10 members of his fraternity attended the march, joining more than 500 members of the fraternity from across the nation. "Our fraternity tried to mobilize Latinos at Penn to participate," he said. "It was very reassuring to see people striving for the same kinds of things we were." Students made up nearly half the marchers, according to College junior Kevin Canete, a member of Lambda Upsilon Lambda and ACELA. Canete said the fraternity "assumed the leadership role" in organizing Penn students to attend the march. "We wanted to? foster a greater sense of unity among Latinos and Latino groups here," he added. The trip was a part of Latino Heritage Month, which took place from September 15 until October 15. And Lozano said public figures including U.S. Rep. Nydia Velazquez (D-NY) and TV personality Geraldo Rivera attended the march.