The San José State Chicanx/Latinx Student Success Center, otherwise known as Centro, hosted its annual fall semester welcoming event, La Bienvenida, in the Student Union Ballroom on Wednesday night.
La Bienvenida is an event Centro holds to introduce themselves to freshman and transfer students who are new to campus and to welcome back all returning students to SJSU.
Centro staff presented information about themselves at the beginning of the event, such as where they are located on campus and what resources they have available to students.
SJSU chicana/chicano studies professors Christina Vega and Johnny Carlos Ramirez and MLK librarian Essy Barroso-Ramirez spoke to the audience about how the Centro community works.
Ramirez has been an assistant professor at SJSU for 3 years and specializes in areas of research concerning the paradigm of youth of color being labeled as “troubled” in the educational and criminal justice system.
Ramirez has been connected with Centro since his first year at SJSU in 2021.
“La Bienvenida is so important because it creates a space of community and connection at the university,” Ramirez said. “It’s a way for us to say we’re gonna come and claim this space, and feel like we’re a part of SJSU, unapologetically. We’re gonna play salsa music and serve comida cubana [cuban food], it’s us bringing our cultural identities and being accepted.”
Student Success Leader and chicana/chicano studies senior Carolina Archundia-Medina was the emcee of the event and has been with Centro for a year.
Archundia-Medina said her experience with Centro has been positive and has prompted her to grow her social, academic and leadership skills. She was introduced to Centro through a previous La Bienvenida.
“I think La Bienvenida is just one of those events where we put our name out there, especially for a lot of first year and transfer students that don’t really know about us yet,” Archundia-Medina said.
“I’ve had people that have come to our space and they’re like ‘I didn’t know about you guys until I came to La Bienvenida and just because of La Bienvenida I’ve been able to make a ton of new friends,” she said.
Adriana Sanchez, also a student success leader at Centro, is a transfer student and experienced her first time at La Bienvenida by being a part of Centro.
“I found it really difficult to find clubs because I came at such a weird time,” Sanchez said. “But I signed up for the Centro newsletter, and I saw that they were hiring people for my position. So my first thought was I want to make friends and be a part of my community. I also want to help other students who are in the same position as I am, who don’t know how to get around campus, don’t know about organizations here, or don’t have friends.”
Software engineering senior Catherine Hernandez and the co-chairman of the Society of Latino Engineers and Scientists (SOLES). She, with other group members, had their booth up and ready at La Bienvenida to meet and connect with students and potential group members.
“We get a lot of students who overlap with being visitors and participants of Centro,” Hernandez said. “But I think this is my first time actually tabling at this event, we’re really trying to reach out more to students outside of STEM too.”
Jacqueline Bergman is a professor from the nutrition department at SJSU and is the faculty advisor of Luna.
Bergman said Luna is a new club that focuses on holistic wellness and community engagement of the Latinx community. She also said Centro was instrumental in the formation of Luna.
“The thing I love about the Centro community is you can have a vision or desire to start a club or want to go out to the community,” Bergman said. “Your first stop should be Centro because they are already very connected to the community. They know the resources, and can help.”
One of the performers of the event was music group Mariachi Oroazul de SJSU.
Juan Ramos, Member of the mariachi group and business administration junior said he felt overjoyed to see big crowds of Latinx students while he performed.
“I’m really happy to see so many Latinx and Hispanic students here,” Ramos said. “Normally when we’re out on campus, no se ve la Raza [I don’t see many people of my culture]. So it’s good to see that there are people like us here on campus.”
Business administration senior Xochilth Aceves is a music director for Mariachi Oroazul de SJSU. Aceves said she thinks La Bienvenida could bring more community support to Mariachi Oroazul de SJSU.
“I think this event will help spread the word and encourage people to come out to our performances,” Aceves said. “We work really hard to prepare for our big performances. So it would be nice to get a lot more support from students and the community.”
Ramos said the event offered a safe space for Latinx and Hispanic students to bond with their culture and helped increase visibility for the community.
“It’s a good way for us to stay strongly connected to our roots,” said Ramos. “A way to spread our culture to those that don’t see it because they don’t know where to find it.”
