Among all the club and organization booths outside of the University Student Union is the very first Chicano and Latin American Studies Student Association (CLASSA) booth.
“I’m super proud of it, and the rest of the club members love it, which makes it that much more rewarding,” said Raymond Rey, vice president of the club.
The club, which was founded in the spring of 2015, serves as an involvement opportunity for students who are interested in being a part of the Chicano and Latino community on campus, contribute to the community and to represent the Chicano and Latino studies department.
“One of my big goals is to help the department grow, and I think by having the booth it will help expose more students to the organization,” Rey said.
The idea to build the booth began last semester when Rey and ZacarÃas González, club recruitment chair, were walking by the University Student Union and thought having a booth would help bring more people to the club.
There is a lottery in which clubs and organizations enter for a booth spot. Rey and González decided to take a chance and enter the drawing. Rey attended the lottery to represent the club and said he was surprised when its name was called.
“It came as surprise since there was a handful of other clubs that wanted a spot, but it was an exciting moment,” Rey said.
The next step was to meet with the club and begin picking colors and a logo. González said the club chose red to make the booth stand out and the front logo of three women wearing bandanas to represent current indigenous struggles and resistance.
“It can either be interpreted as three Zapatista women which is a modern indigenous struggle going on in Chiapas, Mexico, or it can be seen as three farmworkers,” González said.
He said the farmworkers movement is very important to the club because it is a part of the Chicano movement as well as the foundation of Chicano studies. He hopes, he said, the logo will spark interest and draw in students to ask questions and become educated about it.
Along with recruiting, the club is also using the booth to promote other Chicano/Latino student organizations such as Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano Estudiantil (MECHA) and Los Danzantes De Aztlan.
Club president Mayra Cano said she will be spending two hours a week in the booth this semester and hopes for the continued growth and expansion of the club.
“I am excited to see what new prospects and opportunities this booth will bring CLASSA as well as the visual exposure it provides for its department and its students,” Cano said.