Casa Latina held their Fall Open House last Wednesday, kicking off their 10th year with music, dancing and a chance to meet a lot of new people.

“The members list is open to anyone who signs up as a member,” said Maria Moreno, chair of the Advisory Board. There are eight new Casa Latina board members this year. Along with Moreno, Mayerlin Fana will be the coordinator of the club. Lysete Frias is vice chair. Publicity and advertising is handled by Pedro Dominguez. Community outreach is headed by Lissette Olivera. Public relations will be coordinated by Westley Cineus. Francisco Santiago is the technology chair and the social and cultural outreach is chaired by Iraida Blanco.

Casa Latina is a diverse Latino run organization, dedicated to creating community at a University level for Latinos and other students, through cultural, social, educational, and other activities that foster the development of leadership among Latino students at UMass Boston. “Our overall focus is step-by-step. We want to get more acquainted with the school system and network with other clubs, and bring everyone together as a school body,” says Mareno.

Casa Latina’s club is organized to provide a central meeting place for students with common goals, to provide for a cohesive student group and programs that benefit faculty and staff and eventually the greater Boston area. Fana stated, “We’re trying to represent as many Latino cultures as possible, to gather as many people from different cultural experiences and bring them together under one roof… and put aside the differences.”

In addition to October’s being the center’s “Multicultural Month,” Casa Latina will be hosting a “really big” Halloween party sometime in the coming weeks. The date is not secure yet, but keep your eye out for announcements.

However, you won’t have to wait until then to get involved. Members of Casa Latina set out each week, for an hour between classes, to La Pinata, a youth center in Jamaica Plain to tutor one-on-one with children in various academic areas.

This semester’s major event falls on November 2nd in the Snowden Auditorium where Casa Latina will hold its Latino Multicultural Festival. Anyone wishing to come, just make an appearance.

There’s a lot of excitement with all that is going on in the next few weeks but be on the lookout for Casa Latina’s Annual Spring Festival as well. Be sure to check out Casa Latina’s book sale outside their office (room123) on the 4th floor of the Wheatley building while there are still books left.