Did you know -- NAU was named an Emerging Hispanic Serving Institution by the U.S. Department of Education? Here at our Flagstaff campus, Latino students comprise 21 percent of our total enrollment. Our NAU-Yuma location which was designated as a Hispanic Serving Institution in 2007, enrolls 71 percent Latino students.
Between September 15 and October 15, we will be observing Hispanic Heritage Month and celebrating the contributions of both Hispanic and LatinX Americans. From the sounds of mariachi to campus events honoring our diversity, we're taking you inside NAU to find out what LatinX heritage month means to our students, faculty and staff.
First up, we hear from the President and Vice President of NAU's LatinX Student Union who share with us who they looked up to growing up, the lessons their parents imprinted on them, what folklorico figure gives them chills and what NAU's LSU wants you to know.
Special thanks to NAU Mariachi Mar y Sol for the music you heard this episode, Emily and Vanessa from NAU's LatinX Student Union, Destinee King, our Inclusion Coordinator in IMQ and all those who shared why celebrating LatinX heritage month is important to them: Bekka, Jose, Leslie, Margarita, Marcela, Ruby and Dani.
Thanks for listening! Want to be on our podcast? Share your idea with us and be a guest on LumberChats.
Did you know -- NAU was named an Emerging Hispanic Serving Institution by the U.S. Department of Education? Here at our Flagstaff campus, Latino students comprise 21 percent of our total enrollment. Our NAU-Yuma location which was designated as a Hispanic Serving Institution in 2007, enrolls 71 percent Latino students.
Between September 15 and October 15, we will be observing Hispanic Heritage Month and celebrating the contributions of both Hispanic and LatinX Americans. From the sounds of mariachi to campus events honoring our diversity, we're taking you inside NAU to find out what LatinX heritage month means to our students, faculty and staff.
First up, we hear from the President and Vice President of NAU's LatinX Student Union who share with us who they looked up to growing up, the lessons their parents imprinted on them, what folklorico figure gives them chills and what NAU's LSU wants you to know.
Special thanks to NAU Mariachi Mar y Sol for the music you heard this episode, Emily and Vanessa from NAU's LatinX Student Union, Destinee King, our Inclusion Coordinator in IMQ and all those who shared why celebrating LatinX heritage month is important to them: Bekka, Jose, Leslie, Margarita, Marcela, Ruby and Dani.
Thanks for listening! Want to be on our podcast? Share your idea with us and be a guest on LumberChats.
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Speaker 2:greetings from lumberjack country. Welcome back to our third episode of lumber chats inside Nau. If you haven't already, hit that subscribe button and follow along as we take you inside of what our university has to offer. I'm Mackenzie McLaughlin from Nau social and this episode we're celebrating Latinex heritage
Speaker 1:[inaudible].
Speaker 2:Did you know Nau was named an emerging Hispanic serving institution by the US Department of Education here at our Flagstaff campus, Latino students comprise 21% of our total enrollment are Nau Yuma location, which was designated as a Hispanic serving institution back in 2007 enrolled 71% Latino students between September 15th and October 15th we will be observing Latinex heritage month celebrating the contributions of both Hispanic and Latin x Americans. These dates may seem random, but they are quite significant. September 15th is the anniversary of independence for Costa Rica, El Salvador,[inaudible], and then Mexico and Chile. They celebrated their independence days on September 16th and September 18 perspectively from the sounds of Mariachi to campus events honoring our diversity. We're taking you inside nau to find out what Latinex heritage month means to our students, faculty, and staff, and how we will all be celebrating
Speaker 1:[inaudible][inaudible]
Speaker 2:the next heritage month is important to me and because it gives me an opportunity to celebrate with folks that I wouldn't necessarily often have the opportunity to celebrate with growing up as somebody who identifies as Chicana. I'm third generation. I'm not fluent in Spanish. However, I can understand that my Nona is mad at me. Um, it offers me a unique opportunity to not only learn more about my heritage that maybe I wasn't taught, but it also gives me a chance to see that I'm not the only person who grew up this way and experience to their identity this way. Every moment is a chance to change the world according to your Dolores Huerta and Latin x heritage month. Similarly is our chance to share how Latin x folks have done exactly that and reflect on those moments in history and figure out ways in which we can change the trajectory of what it means to be Latin x in the United States to porn to remember where you came from. So when I saw Labree, I'm remembering my grandparents, my great grandparents, great, great, great grandparents, um, and just remembering their journey and what they have done to provide for my family and me. We're sitting down with Emily Fairleigh and Vanessa Urbina
Speaker 3:president and vice president of NHS Latinex student union, also called LSU. Ladies, can you tell us a little bit about how you celebrated Latinex heritage month growing up? Emily, why don't you start? Well, I think, I can't really think of anything specifically, but everyday I guess we celebrate line next, you know, heritage month. Um, from the moment we wake up to smelling the homemade tortillas too, when you go to sleep, you know, when we all gather around, I think, yeah, every day it's a celebration. What about you, Vanessa? That was a pretty solid answer personally. It was, um, something that my mom always made sure to remind me of before I walked out of the house. You know, like remember who you are, remember where you come from because you're about to go into a world where there's all kinds of people. So just remember the language you speak and who you're representing. And Vanessa, do you have any favorite folktales or traditions that have been passed on? All right, so this one's kind of a really common one. A mom's like I'm Latin x and it's still folktale but you don't know. Firstly, my family loves to tell that story and how, um, at one point I lived in Mexico, so every little city I lived in everybody was like afraid of that. You don't know cause she was so prominent and she was everywhere all the time apparently. So that was a really fun one to hear. What about you, Emily? I can't really think of any except by your on. Yeah, I think it's very common. It's interesting because each state in Mexico has their own side of the story. So it's essentially a folk tale, like a woman who Johns are kids and parents tell that to their kids in order to get them to behave. So that she has someone that I can think of that. What about any traditions you feel like your parents have passed on? Any, anything that you feel like you'll bring forward to the future? For tradition? I'm not so sure. It's just um, at least personally my family, Mexico, they love to host parties. That's like a big thing for them. So that's something I definitely want to do just to keep that culture there. Yeah. Yeah, I agree. Um, in my family, the idea of family is very important. So having parties, welcoming people whether you know them or not is very for sure. Very prominent. Yeah. For me growing up, one of the traditions is making posts on left, right Christmas. And so I was always like, you just sit in the kitchen, don't get in the way. But you watch for the past couple of years I've actually been the one making the of that's really exciting tradition. I always love to celebrate. Um, Emily, can you tell us what Hispanic figure you looked up to when you were younger and who do you look up to now? Oh, there's a lot. Um, Dolores Huerta, I think she was always someone that I thought was very, very strong and who always spoke your mind. And I still look up to her now for you to Calo I love her. She is unapologetic unapologetically her. Um, yeah. And I still look up those people, my mom of course. And then my mom came to the u s with nothing but$10 in a dream, you know? And so seeing my mom as you seen Mexico champion, the lift each and every day, I think it gives me strength continue and provide for my family. What about you? Vanessa Gallo is a big one for me too. I learned a lot about her during high school. I mentioned I studied her art and all about her. She was very diverse and very open about herself, which I really appreciated. And also, um, Shuchita of the artists because on top of like be very proud of who she is. She worked a lot of humanitarian organizations, so that was a big one for me. And those two are still prominent to this day, honestly. Yeah. And Emily, you're the president of LSU here at Nau. How did you get involved with this organization and how did you end up in your leadership role? Okay, that's, that's a good story. I was a freshman second semester and I remember I went to a mentor and I said, there's no one like me. I miss my family. You know, I grew up in central falls. It was a tight knit community. We mostly all spoke Spanish. It was all Latin x members. And so I wanted to have that, that feeling again, that comfort here at Nau. And my mentor said, you know, there's a club called the LSU and they just started, um, you should go into that. And I did. I remember I walked in 20 minutes late and I was scared, but then they all said, you know, come sit down, let's talk. And, and duty is to be a mentor. And she's the one who hosted jested after she left that semester for me to stay in the president role. And so that's, hey, I was[inaudible] I did and I got in. Awesome. Awesome. And Vanessa, can you tell us a little bit about who can join LSU? Some students may identify as lackey next, but they don't necessarily speak Spanish. Is that okay? Yes. Um, in my mind, even as just a member in my heart, anybody can join and anybody can become educated on these topics. If anything, I encourage everybody to join because often during our meetings we do have a certain discussions about current events and I would much rather prefer people become educated and anybody come in, especially, you know, those who say, you know, how to speak Spanish. So I probably shouldn't go, you know, at an identify as Mexican. Like people are gonna say, it's not okay. It's okay. You don't have to speak Spanish, it's all good. You just come here, we're just gonna have a talk and, you know, bring that sense of community. So, and what events is LSU hosting for lacking next heritage month? So, um, one of them was coming up on September 28th. We have our goodness Ella tended to also, um, one of our sister clubs at a, my last is actually going to have a dance on October 4th. So those are the ones that come to know. And what are you looking forward to most? I don't, I'm looking forward to probably go to this other, yeah, I love me some food free food. Before we end, we're going to put you both in the hot seat. So real quick, Vanessa, what is your favorite Latin Song and artist? There's this, um, she's like Olivia singer. Her name's, um, she's in this group called[inaudible] Meta and the song is called[inaudible]. It's a really good song. It's been, it has like sad lyrics, but like the songs that sound like can be danced to it was just such. What's wrong? What about you? I'm like, um, I love it. I get bone and currently I like the song called[inaudible] by j Balvin and bad bunny. She has that. Honey. What's your favorite dance style? Favorite dance style might've been implied a little earlier, but Ulvaeus I love Columbians. What about you? I'm like, I like to dance to go to those and yeah. Nice. And what is your favorite food from your home move? I haven't had it recently. It's been a hot minute. I miss it. But it's called theater[inaudible]. Yes. And what about your favorite Latinex book? Yeah, I forgot the author, but I read it when I was a young girl. It's called Esperanza rising. Yeah, you'll love it. I recommend it. This is actually gonna seem very stereotypical, but you know, I'm sure many people know this, but it's actually like[inaudible]. I read that in high school and I actually really liked it because we got into depth with it and just kind of took it apart and it was a really good read. Thank you so much for being here. Thank you. And you guys are welcome to come out to our kindness, Salah again. It's on September 28th from 10 to two in the amphitheater on the pathway, right on the Petway. Awesome. Awesome. Thank you.
Speaker 2:Are listening to the sounds of Nau as Mariachi band,[inaudible] Esau, a club on campus. If you come to the IMQ office, you're likely to see performances by them and other musicians.
Speaker 1:[inaudible].
Speaker 2:So I am here with destiny king, the inclusion coordinator for the office of inclusion and to celebrate Latinex heritage month, the office of inclusion puts on a lot of different events and things like that. So, um, tell me a little bit more about the Latinex heritage month and what students can expect.
Speaker 4:Our office is coordinating with, uh, LSU, which was our Latin x, um, student union and also with Hermanas for change. Um, I know we're having dance lessons, um, in the next few weeks. So we're going to have some Dutch instructors come in to some traditional Latin x dance styles for anybody to come in and tend, we're also trying to get to where we're going to have a shuttle so we can shuttle students to the Taco festival, which will be held in the next couple of weeks. Um, and then we're going to be doing a lot of diversity dialogues as well at our office. Um, where we're going to have some of the professors in the ethnic studies department come and talk about like, you know, Chicano studies and like kind of the history behind Latin x heritage month.
Speaker 2:And what are you most looking forward to from your Latinex heritage month lineup?
Speaker 4:Um, I believe the dance lessons are going to be really fun. Um, I remember last year when we had them, so many people were in here just you know, like grooving out. Um, even though you know, you may not be, have that rhythm, cause I know I don't. Um, but it was a lot of fun to be able to learn about different dances like the salsa and um, uh, Bachata and all that stuff we got to learn and participate in. So I think those will be a lot of fun.
Speaker 2:I am Q is located on the first floor of the University Union fieldhouse so this will be second semester
Speaker 4:here in this location. What do you love about it and what do you think the community should know about this space? My favorite thing about this space, it's that it's so open, it's so open for students to come and hang out, do homework. A lot of students like the nap in here sometimes cause you know, it's just so much space and we have a lot of new comfy couches and chairs. Um, and I just love being able to come to work every day and seeing the new students who are exploring our office or people who come in just to see what's going on, you know. Um, we usually have popcorn, we have movies playing or music playing and always have something for students to be involved in. So I would like to students to know that anybody's welcome to come into our office. It is a student space, which is one of the reasons why we did a remodel it this way so we can have more student presence here. Your office has a new name. Can you tell us what it was before and why the change happened? Yes, of course. So we did go through a couple of name changes before we settled on IMQ. So originally we were inclusion and multicultural services. And then, or ims for short. And then we changed to inclusion, multicultural student services I MSS and now we are the office of inclusion and multicultural and LGBTQ IAA student services. Uh, I, so I am Q for Short. And the reason why we decided on this name was because we wanted to be more inclusive to what we specifically, um, we're working with, with the university and that is our multicultural and LGBTQ IAA, um, communities. And we wanted to be as inclusive specific with the LGBTQA community just because there are so many different communities within that community. Um, and yeah, so the name change was basically just to be more inclusive to the communities that we serve. Um, but with that being said, um, we don't just serve those students. So our office is for anybody. Tell me about the inclusion and diversity scholars program. You yourself were an ID scholar when you were a student. So tell us what, what does that program looking to do as an inclusion diversity scholar? What we're trying to implement with this new peer mentoring program. Um, so each pair, a mentor has about 50 students in each freshman residence hall just to kind of help them, guide them through their first year here at Nau. Um, rather than just being solely an academic support or solely like a residential support like the Ras. Um, the ID scholars are more there to make sure that the students are feeling like safe here. They're feeling included here and they're feeling like they can find a home here for any you like one of the biggest things that we do advocate as being id scholars is like student involvement and engagement. Um, whether it's joining like a club or organization joining another peer mentoring program or different leadership opportunities, things like that. We do strive to have our students do that just to make sure that they find their place here at Nau. And so that's like a perfect segue. How can students get involved, whether it be through the ID scholars or with IMQ in general? Yeah, I think the best way to get involved to just to come into the office. Our office is very open. All of our professional staff, most of the time our doors are open or their offices are made a glass. So you can always see whoever's in the office. We usually have events. Um, almost every day it's going to start picking up with, between the middle of September is where we're going to start off with our events or having another big party in October for'em coming out week, it's going to be rain booth. Uh, we did it last year as well. So yeah, just coming to our events, getting involved, meeting New People. Our doors are always open. I know, and it's always popping in here. I love it. I love it. There
Speaker 2:always so much action,
Speaker 3:so liberating letting eggs, heritage mom has been born to me because particularly for those of us who exist and live everyday in a culture that's different from the one we grew up with, it's important to connect or reconnect with who you are and the values and culture that you grew up with and celebrate it and remember it and honor it and share it with the people you come across. It's so important to remember our heritage, to remember where we came from and the Customs and cultures that we each have as this amazing, diverse Latino community. To be able to remember that and to celebrate it and be excited by all the great things that we have in our history that represent who we are and how we've come to be
Speaker 2:[inaudible].
Speaker 5:My wife and I, we've been away from our families for awhile. So being able to know that we have a family here, um, in a place that's not where we grew up as in parental, now that we have that family and that Latinex community
Speaker 2:here, our advice celebrate with us, stop by IMQ for dance lessons or any number of events going on during this month. Honoring the diverse backgrounds and cultures of our community celebrates the importance of individuality while bringing us all closer together from all of us here at Nau social. Until next time,[inaudible] special thanks to Nau Mariachi[inaudible] ESOL for the music. You heard this episode, Emily Fairleigh and Vanessa Urbina from LSU, destiny king, our inclusion coordinator and IMQ and all those who shared by celebrating Latinex heritage month is important to them. Becca, Jose, Leslie, Margarita, Marcella, Ruby, and Danny.