The Organization of Latin American Students (OLAS) at UIS strives to promote awareness, culture, and history regarding the Latin American student body at the university by hosting events and attending conferences such as the U.S. Hispanic Leadership Institute (USHLI).

This year, the USHLI conference convened from Feb. 18-21. According to their website, this convention is a meeting which “has become the premier Hispanic leadership conference in the nation, attracting a complete cross section of our leadership community and involving all ancestry groups. Over 6,500 present and future leaders representing 40 states will attend various events throughout the four days.”

According to Cynthia Rodriguez-Garcia, a senior majoring in criminal justice, the students attending took part in workshops and seminars, listened to guest speakers, and learned everything from “help with leadership skills” to “what to wear to interviews, and how to eat properly.”

For Rodriguez-Garcia, interviewed before the event, the conference is a chance to go and learn with a group of people she described in terms of a second family.

It’s the latest activity for OLAS, which, according to Rodriguez-Garcia, “strives to promote awareness and understanding of Latin American culture” through events and speakers.

Last semester, OLAS held several events in association with Hispanic Heritage Month, including a Flag Ceremony, which, to quote the event description on the webpage, “opened [Hispanic Heritage Month] with the raising of the flags from four Latin American countries.”

There was also an ECCE Speaker Series event, “U.S.-Cuba Relations: Will This Thaw Continue?” with Dr. Frank Argote-Freyre, as well as several fundraisers to raise the money for USHLI.

But while these activities are the outward expression of the group, they seem to be only a part of the story. The less obvious part of the story can be further subdivided into two halves: First, increasing awareness, and second, uniting.

The first half seems rote, but Rodriguez-Garcia sees it in a very clear way, saying, “everyone assumes Latino Americans are Mexican. So many people from places all over object to being ‘Mexican.’”

The point is not that being called Mexican is, in and of itself, somehow offensive, but rather that using the term as a catchall generalization of people for whom the term may not be applicable is to deny them a significant part of their identity.

“Everyone has a different story,” Rodriguez-Garcia said.

Thus, when she says “we really don’t close doors to anyone” it is not an abstraction, as OLAS is a celebration of many different cultures all at once.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, two percent of the Springfield population is of Latino or Hispanic origin, and while culture shock may be a popular culture trope, that doesn’t mean it isn’t real.

“Everything closes early; big cities are always busy, but here everything closes at 10 or 11,” Araceli Ariza, a senior majoring in criminal justice, said.

Ariza added, “I like Latin music, but there’s nothing here in Springfield where you can go dance until you’re 21.”

OLAS meetings are, to Ariza, “a small Latino group. It’s nice to go to meetings and speak some Spanish here and there.” And “be a family.”

Both Ariza and Rodriguez-Garcia have been members of OLAS since they first came to UIS, and they say it has been impactful in that it provides a support group where they can discuss their week and form friendships.

The group, they both say, gives assistance to its members in a combined social and educational context, including checking up on members and coming to the aid of a member should they run into academic difficulty.

OLAS meets every Wednesday at 9 p.m. in Founders Residence Hall 153 for approximately half an hour.

They are planning a gala in May sometime around Cinco de Mayo to recognize students and alumni who have been leaders within OLAS and the community.

On Feb. 25, they will be sponsoring “Afro-Latinos: Status and Struggle” with Dr. Hinda Seif from 4-6 p.m. in Brookens Auditorium.

All students are welcome to attend meetings, and contact [email protected] if interested.