Group of Hispanic/Latino people taking a big group selfie outside

All About Hispanic Clubs and Community on College Campuses

Hispanic clubs support diversity on college campuses by building community and celebrating cultures. Here are the types of Hispanic clubs you could join!

It’s National Hispanic Heritage Month! And we need to talk about clubs and community on college campuses. What truly makes a college diverse is the culturally diverse community that’s built from the students who attend. Hispanic students bring incredibly rich heritages from a wide range of countries, providing other students with a more global mindset. Here’s what Hispanic diversity looks like on college campuses in the US and the organizations that students can join to support and celebrate many incredible ethnicities and cultures. 

Hispanic diversity on college campuses

Hispanic students come from 20 Spanish-speaking countries, including Argentina, the Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Mexico, Panama, and more. According to the US Census Bureau, the US Hispanic population hit nearly 60 million in 2018, with the largest representation of Hispanic individuals coming from Mexico. The representation of Hispanic individuals on college campuses shows a dedication to equity and access to education for this large and diverse population of people. It’s so important that the Hispanic Association of Colleges & Universities honors schools for their dedication to Hispanic students by designating them as Hispanic-Serving Institutions if 25% or more of their students are Hispanic, allowing those students to find and attend schools that represent them well. In fact, the Hispanic-Serving institution with the highest percentage of Hispanic students, at 95%, is Texas A&M International University, according to U.S. News & World Report.

But a diverse population of Hispanic students is nothing if they don’t feel supported and celebrated on campus by both the college administration as well as your fellow students. One crucial way for students to feel welcome on campus is through representation in college clubs, groups, and organizations dedicated to cultural awareness, professional development, and more—making it easy for Hispanic students to connect and build community with others. The best part is that everyone on campus can get involved!

Related: List: Public Four-Year Hispanic-Serving Institutions

Supporting Hispanic students as a non-Hispanic student

While there are clubs exclusively for students of Hispanic descent to support them in their academic and professional successes, there are also plenty of organizations and groups that welcome students of all backgrounds to join and learn more about their Hispanic friends and peers. Learning about new cultures is a mutually beneficial experience for all students, helping everyone to feel heard and valued as well as become more global and understanding. If you’re a non-Hispanic student, don’t be afraid to inquire with Hispanic-centered groups on your campus to find out if students of all ethnicities can join.

Types of Hispanic clubs on college campuses

There are four main types of student groups dedicated to Hispanic students, two of which often include non-Hispanic students as well: cultural appreciation clubs, activist and community service organizations, pre-professional groups, and Hispanic Greek life. If you’re wondering what type of Hispanic-centered clubs may be best for you, think of this as your starter guide.

Cultural appreciation clubs

The purpose of Hispanic cultural appreciation clubs is obvious: to highlight the valuable contributions and rich, complex beauty of Hispanic cultures. Clubs like this include Iona University's Organization of Latinx American Students, which encourages students from all ethnic backgrounds to join and participate in fun events like Salsa and Bachata dance classes or comedy nights as well as community service projects like fundraising for the recovery of Puerto Rico. Another great example is Alianza, an intercultural group at Columbia College (Columbia University's undergraduate school), which is dedicated to ensuring that underrepresented Latinx students have a space to express their beliefs and experiences with their fellow students.

Activist and community service organizations

Activism is more important than ever in our society today, and there are many ways to get involved in causes you’re passionate about. Hispanic-centered activist and service groups dedicate themselves to helping the Hispanic/Latinx community through service and leadership. One such group at the University of Central Florida is Destino UCF, which encourages students to become leaders that create a positive impact on their campus and in their communities that aligns with their religious faith. If you’re looking to help others, look for service groups like Destino UCF (religiously affiliated or not) on your school’s campus. 

Pre-professional groups

Pre-professional groups are dedicated to helping students in their pursuit of a lucrative and successful career—and Hispanic-centered pre-professional groups focus on making sure Hispanic students have access to as many opportunities as anyone else. For example, the Association of Latino Professionals for America boasts 160 student chapters nationwide. This organization helps Latinx students in the development of leadership, management, and other valuable professional skills to take to the working world upon graduation. If you’re a Hispanic student looking to be supported and championed in your professional development, then a group like this could be great for you! 

Hispanic Greek life

Greek life provides students with the opportunity to connect with other students in a deeper way through the bonds of brotherhood and sisterhood. Hispanic students on college campuses can be empowered and find a place to belong within the communities of Hispanic Greek life. For instance, the Pi Lambda Chi Latina Sorority was established in 1994 at the University of Colorado Boulder, the first sorority established at the University. Since its inception, 10 other chapters have been established on college campuses across the country. The organization dedicates itself to the “sisterhood, education, unity, and preservation of Latina culture” for all its sisters.

When in doubt, do it yourself

It can be frustrating to feel that your culture and heritage isn’t properly represented on your college campus—after all, it’s the presence of diverse students that makes for a well-rounded, open-minded, and supportive college experience. But you’re in luck! Many colleges offer the opportunity for students to start their own organizations on campus. If your school is lacking in Hispanic- and Latino-centered groups, reach out to your student activities office to see about starting a new club—who knows, you may even have the opportunity to charter a new branch of a nationwide organization like the Hispanic Alliance for Latino Enhancement, the League of United Latin American Citizens, the National Association for Chicano and Chicana Studies, and many more. 

Related: National Clubs Celebrating Diversity on Campus 

The value and importance of Hispanic clubs and organizations on college campuses cannot be understated—especially with today’s current social climate. Hispanic and Latino students bring a rich culture and history, passed on from their families, to college campuses all across the nation. And those cultures deserve to be celebrated and championed by Hispanic and non-Hispanic students alike. 

Happy National Hispanic Heritage Month! Stay tuned for more content next week to round out the month. In the meantime, check out our College Diversity section for more blogs like this. 

Connect with schools mentioned in this blog

Connect me with Iona! Connect me with Columbia! Connect me with CU Boulder!

Like what you’re reading?

Join the CollegeXpress community! Create a free account and we’ll notify you about new articles, scholarship deadlines, and more.

Join Now

About Kelli Dolan

Kelli Dolan

Kelli Dolan is the Senior Assistant Editor & Counselor Communications Coordinator for CollegeXpress. Her day-to-day includes editing and writing CollegeXpress articles, brainstorming ways to improve CollegeXpress content, and basically just doing all things CollegeXpress. When she’s not editing other people’s work, she's writing for fun, favoring literary fiction and fantasy stories and poetry. In her free time, you'll find her reading, playing video games, or hanging out with her dog and cat, Athena and Apollo.

 

Join our community of
over 5 million students!

CollegeXpress has everything you need to simplify your college search, get connected to schools, and find your perfect fit.

Join CollegeXpress

College Quick Connect

Swipe right to request information.
Swipe left if you're not interested.

Geneva College

Beaver Falls, PA


Kelly Nogueiro

Kelly Nogueiro

Counselor

For me, CollegeXpress has given me a valuable tool to use with my students to explore colleges easily beyond objective data. It helps me find colleges for students that fit their needs and wants that aren’t quite so black and white. It's a wealth of knowledge, and the Type-A side of me loves all the lists and the fact that I know they're coming from folks who know what they're talking about. I share it with colleagues and students alike, and it's always well received.

Casey Kammeyer

Casey Kammeyer

$500 Refer-A-Friend Scholarship Winner

I love the site CollegeXpress; it has been very helpful finding colleges and getting them to send me information. It has also been very, very helpful with finding tons of scholarships. Also, I told many of my friends about it and they love it as well!

Hannah Nelsen

Hannah Nelsen

High School Class of 2022

CollegeXpress has helped me look at colleges that fit my interests by taking my profile and matching it to colleges that have the programs I'm looking for. It has the ability to connect me to colleges so I can be contacted by them and look at them more in-depth to find what's right for me. Additionally, the scholarship database is super beneficial for getting scholarships for college. Not only does it help lift the financial burden of college but it shows all the opportunities available. Overall, CollegeXpress has been very helpful to me.

Farrah Macci

Farrah Macci

High School Class of 2016

CollegeXpress has helped me in many ways. For one, online searches are more organized and refined by filtering scholarships through by my personal and academic interests. Due to this, it has made searching for colleges and scholarships significantly less stressful. As a student, life can already get stressful pretty quickly. For me, it’s been helpful to utilize CollegeXpress since it keeps all of my searches and likes together, so I don’t have to branch out on multiple websites just to explore scholarship options.

Caio Matos

Caio Matos

High School Class of 2022

Starting the college admissions process as an international student was daunting. Thankfully, CollegeXpress was the first website I used for that cause and it helped me so much, from knowing where to start to deciding what my next move would be. I'll take a gap year, but I’m certainly using the website again when applying for fall 2023.