Bienvenidos: Marquette welcomes Latinx, other diverse students
By: Marquette University
Tags: Back To School, Diversity And Inclusion, Engagement, Marquette University, Latinx

Bienvenidos: Marquette welcomes Latinx, other diverse students

Bienvenidos is an event that provides Latinx and other diverse students a fun chance to connect on campus. Marquette University Follow Sep 9 · 4 min read

Students gather Aug. 28 for Marquette’s first-ever Bienvenidos — a welcome program that provides Latinx and other diverse students a fun-filled evening ahead of the school year.

By: Michael Vazquez, graduate assistant in the Office of Institutional Diversity and Inclusion

The Office of Engagement and Inclusion at the end of last month hosted its very first Bienvenidos event.

Bienvenidos is a welcome program that provides incoming and returning Latinx students at Marquette an evening filled with food, laughter, music and good company.

The event featured a DJ from Werk Latin Dance Company, the Chilango Express food truck, churros and giveaways for students. Throughout the evening, students danced to Latinx music, mingled and enjoyed tasty food.

Several Latinx-based student organizations, such as the Latin American Student Organization, Hispanic Professionals of Greater Milwaukee, Sigma Lambda Beta International Fraternity, and Sigma Lambda Gamma National Sorority attended and invited students to become members.

Sarai Sanchez and Jose Ortiz, presidents of Marquette’s student chapter of Hispanic Professionals of Greater Milwaukee, invite students to join the organization.

In addition to hosting Latinx organizations at the event, some faculty and staff attended so that students could meet individuals who have a similar social identity.

Besides Bienvenidos, this year’s orientation weekend included other multicultural welcome events, many of which were offered for the first time.

“We figured that since our welcome event for Black and African students went so well last year, we are going to do more affinity group welcomes moving forward,” says Tiffany Fulford, coordinator of Cultural Engagement in the Office of Engagement and Inclusion, adding that this meant offering programming not only to Latinx and Black and African students, but to Asian, Pacific Islander, Desi American, and Native American and Indigenous students, as well.

“The vision behind these events was really my experiences at and benchmarking of other institutions that have strong multicultural student of color populations,” Fulford says. “The University of Toledo, the University of Cincinnati and Illinois State University have welcome events during their orientation week that promote a student of color presence and sense of belonging.”

These respective institutions, Fulford noticed, were successful in their welcome events, and she wanted to provide students of color at Marquette with a sense of belonging from the time they start at the university.

After a virtual school year, starting classes as a new college student, or even returning to school in general, can be nerve wracking. Bienvenidos is an opportunity for students to place their nerves to the side and be in a space that makes them feel right at home.

One rising sophomore says she had mixed emotions — excitement and nervousness — participating in an in-person event after such a long time away from campus. In the end, though, she was glad to have gone to Bienvenidos because she says it allowed her to speak with other students and feel connected despite being a commuter from the south side of Milwaukee.

For me (the writer), entering my first year of a master’s program at Marquette has brought several emotions as well. There has also been much excitement and nervousness as I embark on a journey in finding my place on campus. I, too, as a commuter student, feel more physically distanced from campus and must make an extra effort to attend events — and the pandemic did not make that any easier.

I know when I heard about Bienvenidos, I really looked forward to being there. I saw this event as a way to surround myself with other Latinx students. It was comforting to see the intentionality behind the creation of Bienvenidos as Fulford and the rest of the OEI provided Latinx students with a unique chance to express their social identity freely and authentically.

Bienvenidos and other OEI welcome programs were some of the first of many in-person experiences for students like Stephanie Catalan this year.

“I am looking forward to being in class this semester after a long year of online courses,” says the rising sophomore majoring in biomedical sciences in the Klingler College of Arts and Sciences. “I am ready to get that experience and actually attend real labs.”

Likewise, Cynthia Cantú, also a rising sophomore in biomedical sciences, says she is most looking forward to being in a full classroom of students and having in-person conversations.

“It has been a while since I last had a one-on-one conversation with a professor that is not through email or Microsoft Teams, and I am excited to have it,” Cantú added.

For her part, Fulford anticipates the future of Bienvenidos.

“My hopes are really for it to grow as much as possible and for it to serve as a mini–Organization Fest,” Fulford says. “O-Fest can be a little overwhelming for students to find an organization that makes them feel like they can belong.”

Fulford says she sees welcome events like Bienvenidos providing students with ways to naturally make connections with people who come from similar backgrounds and be introduced to organizations that can serve as a second home.

As Latinx rhythms played throughout the night, another successful welcome event was officially in the books for the OEI. Now, we are all looking forward to what else this year will bring.