Parents join LaCasa Latina 'family' at weekend gathering

College freshman Gabriel Roybal likened the enthusiastic gathering to a large family dinner at his home in Pojoaque, N.M. And Victor Duenas, father of Wharton freshman Lynnette Duenas, referred to the event as "part of something being born" to support Latino members of the Penn community. Indeed, as part of Penn's family weekend, La Casa Latina did its best to emulate a traditional family atmosphere as it welcomed Latino students and their families on Saturday to the newly established Center for Hispanic Excellence located in the Westminster House at 37th and Chestnut streets. An estimated 120 people attended the reception, including 10 prospective students visiting the University through the admissions office's minority open house. Wharton senior and BiCultural InterGreek Council President Ramon Marmolejos co-organized the event with La Casa Latina Director Lilvia Soto and co-founder Jorge Santiago-Aviles, an Electrical Engineering professor. In addition to providing Latino families the opportunity to learn about La Casa Latina, the event organizers sought to create a supportive Latino parent network for current and prospective students. According to Soto, because Latino students comprise only 3 percent of Penn's undergraduate population, there is a "danger [Latino] students will feel isolated." A formal Latino Parent Group, Soto said, would improve the Latino experience at the University by making parents involved "partners in the educational processes of their children." The family reception marked the first of its kind for Latinos at the University, and it seems certain not to be the last. Nursing junior Nancy Calderon, co-vice president of El Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlan, is confident that the large turnout for the reception will help La Casa Latina succeed in the future. "Parents feel comfortable at La Casa," Calderon said as relaxed adults engaged in conversation and surfed the Internet on a computer in one of La Casa Latina's living rooms. "I like the people I have talked to," added Ada Duenas, Lynette's mother. And Soto agreed. "[The event] succeeded beyond my expectations," she said. "I feel great optimism for the future of the Latino Parent Program and for the future of Latinos at Penn." Although organizers were happy with the turnout, many Latino Coalition upperclassmen were unable to attend the family gathering because of the annual East Coast Chicano Student Forum held at Harvard University this past weekend.