History

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  • Latinas Unidas started in Fall of 2004. At the same time it was not a registered organization. There was not a meeting room; instead the ladies would meet in the Multicultural Affairs Lounge on Wednesday afternoons.



  • There were six ladies that started the organization: Annaliza Rangel, Naomi Leos, Cecilia Gamboa, Tiffany Borrego, Minerva Carrasco, and Raquel Soto. At the time, the ladies did not call the meetings meetings; they instead referred to them as gatherings.



  • The original, three advisors were Dr. Stella Silva, Beverly Oberle, and Greta Contreras-Fenley. These advisors were influential in getting Latinas Unidas recognized as an official organization on campus. Today there are two graduate advisors: Clarissa Capra and Erika Gomez.



  • The gathering consisted of discussing topics that affected the then members, i.e. homesickness (missing family, friends, and/or food), the stress of transitioning into college life, the challenges they faced as first-generation, Latina college students, and how they missed seeing and interacting with people form the same cultural background. It soon turned into a comforting environment. One of the original founding members, Raquel Soto, remarked, "I keep going back because I feel comfortable talking to these woman. I felt like they were my family - my sisters, cousins, aunts - which I was talking to."



  • In the Fall of 2005, after a year of gatherings, Latinas Unidas became an official organization. Since then, we have established an atmosphere of empowerment and support among our members.