New affinity group celebrates Latino culture

Latinos Unidos aims to share more of Latino identity with the community

Noor Qureishy, The Rubicon Managing Editor|November 30, 2016

Members+of+the+new+affinity+group+for+Latino+students+hold+first+meeting+on+Oct.+28.+From+left+to+right+Advisor+Max+Delgado%2C+Peter+Kilborn%2C+Hana+Martinez%2C+Eva+Garcia%2C+Advisor+Molly+Holguin%2C+Isa+Saaverda-Weis%2C+Gabby+Harmoning.

Noor Qureishy

Members of the new affinity group for Latino students hold first meeting on Oct. 28. From left to right Advisor Max Delgado, Peter Kilborn, Hana Martinez, Eva Garcia, Advisor Molly Holguin, Isa Saaverda-Weis, Gabby Harmoning.

Latino students, like many other minority groups at school, comprise a small but important portion of the student body. St. Paul Academy and Summit School had never had an affinity group specifically for Latino students until seniors Hana Martinez and Maggie Gallagher decided to form Latinos Unidos this October.

“I hope that [Latino students] feel welcome in the club…at SPA Latino culture is something that a lot of people share [amongst themselves] but don’t share with the rest of the community — we hope that [Latinos Unidos is] a place where people feel safe to share their culture,” junior Peter Kilborn said.

Latinos Unidos’ advisers are Upper School English teacher Molly Olguin and Dean of Students Max Delgado. Although the club’s first meeting was just held on Oct. 28, the members already have an idea of the direction they want to take. Latinos Unidos hopes to bring attention to holidays that are culturally significant for Latinos, such as the Day of the Dead, Cinco de Mayo, and Three King’s Day. Although the group is comprised of Latinos with a variety of backgrounds, the Day of the Dead is part of a culture most of the members can relate to. Martinez plans on bringing Mexican candy and food for next year’s celebration.

“It’s a student group I can relate to and that I feel like I’m a part of,” Kilborn said. “You can meet other people that share your culture and that’s pretty cool.”

The fact that there are only sixteen Latino students in the Upper School makes it even more important for their culture and identities within SPA to be represented, according to Martinez.

“There’s very few of us at the school, and we’re not represented in any other way normally, so it would be cool to bring us all together and be in that environment,” she said. “We feel like we need to represent all Latinos because there’s so few of us.”

The group is still in its preliminary planning stage, but the members and advisers are excited to see how the group will progress from here on out.

“I’m really excited to see where the specific people in the group take it,” Olguin said.

This story was selected as a BEST OF SNO Feature.