The Latino Student Alliance launched Advocacy Week Monday, aiming to raise awareness among members of the University about the difficulties of becoming a U.S. citizen.
The week coincides with LSA’s #IStandFor campaign, which encourages students to voice societal concerns both related and unrelated to Latino issues or issues of citizenship. Responses will be posted on LSA’s social media outlets, said second-year College student Hannah Beaman, LSA community outreach co-chair.
“We wanted to engage a wide range of people and see how different issues are connected,” Beaman said. “People who are passionate about Latino issues are not only passionate about those issues. There are a wide range of things that affect across borders of ethnicity and other barriers in society.”
Advocacy Week events will continue through Friday, and will include a trivia night on Wednesday, which will focus on questions from the U.S. Citizenship Exam, as well as a screening of the film “Los Graduados” Friday, said fourth-year College student Daniel Ponton, LSA advocacy co-chair.
“[The trivia] creates a sort of empathy for the struggle that a lot of immigrants go through that the regular American doesn’t go through," Ponton said. "All these things are trying to increase an understanding or awareness of struggles that Latinos go through, and it’s not just Latino immigrants — there are a lot of immigrants all over the place.”
Though LSA has held advocacy weeks in the past, this is the first year it has been structured around issues of obtaining citizenship, said fourth-year College student Carina Rodriguez, Ponton’s advocacy co-chair.
“We want to translate the message of how difficult [the naturalization process] is,” Rodriguez said. “We want to have the University step in the shoes of a student that is applying for citizenship.”
Advocacy Week is not the first campaign LSA has organized this year. Earlier in the semester, the group placed flags from Latin American countries on the south end of the Lawn to raise awareness about issues surrounding immigration.
Beaman said advocacy is important for the group, and immigration represents only part of the picture.
“[LSA has] definitely ramped up advocacy efforts to make it a more cohesive and visible aspect of LSA’s work,” Beaman said. “In general, we want to promote advocacy for all groups and all causes that are worth standing for.”
Advocacy Week, as well as the #IStandFor campaign, will happen again in the spring semester.
“Hopefully this becomes somewhat of an institution or event that people keep doing yearly,” Ponton said.
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