Penn Latinos have come a long way since the first Latino student, Joseph Urquiola from Cuba, graduated from Penn in 1829. Today, there are 24 Latino organizations under the umbrella of the Latino Coalition.
La Casa Latina — the primary hub for Penn’s Latino community — celebrated this progress last night with an exhibition to commemorate its 10th anniversary. The exhibit showcased the presence of Latinos at Penn from Urquiola’s graduation to the present.
After the unveiling of the exhibition in Claudia Cohen Hall, there was a panel discussion led by founders of La Casa Latina, Penn alumni, faculty members and students.
Luz Marin, one of the founders of La Casa who has been at Penn for many years in the Women’s Studies Department, spoke of the importance of community.
She emphasized that before La Casa was established on Sept. 21, 1999, Penn was ready for the change. Latino students desired a place to speak Spanish comfortably among people they could relate to in an environment where they could feel at home, she added.
Lilvia Soto, another La Casa founder, reflected on her new minority status upon arriving on Penn. She also highlighted the 4-percent Latino undergraduate population at Penn when La Casa began.
Although the number of Latinos at Penn has increased since then, there is still a push among students for more Latino representation, Soto said. This leads many students to be involved in organizations like La Casa, she explained.
Wharton junior Heidy Medina said when she discovered La Casa, “I felt like I finally found something. I was out doing something.”
This statement applies to many Latino-born students who call La Casa their home and who call Maritza Santiago-Torres, office coordinator of La Casa for the past 10 years, their “mother.”
“I come to all La Casa events,” Wharton sophomore Pedro Reyes said. “They make things happen and work so hard getting things Latinos need and looking out for us.”
