If you think you have not seen the Latin American Student Union around campus, you have. Maybe you sampled their involvement in the Taste of Latine event at Sadler, where the dining hall was overtaken with delicious Latin American dishes. Or, perhaps you witnessed the Carnaval on the Sunken Garden, where they honored food and festivities from Brazil and different Caribbean countries.
LASU provides a space to represent the less than 10% of students of Hispanic and Latinè origin at the College of William and Mary, and to fundraise for causes that affect Latin Americans as well as the Williamsburg community. Their mission kick-started in 2009 when the student founders observed a lack of community among Latinè students at the College. Now, the “LASUmilia” has more than 180 dues-paying members and even more who attend weekly meetings on Thursdays at 7 p.m.
In its constitution, LASU defines its goals as engaging with community service, uplifting Latin American identity via fine arts and increasing awareness about contemporary issues affecting Latin Americans or Latinos in the United States.
“LASU has come a long way from a much more divided community to a place that hopefully is a home for all,” Nico Giro-Martin ’27 said.
The organization’s goals are progressing with their weekly immersive campus events for Latinè Heritage Month, spanning Sept. 15 to Oct. 15. Some of these events include Norteña Night, Colors of Carnaval, Taste of Latinè and History of Masa. These were educational, artistic and cultural celebratory events where members could learn about traditional folk dancing, the biggest Brazilian festival of the year and centuries-old Latin cooking techniques.
“I personally worked hard with my Co-President, Carlos Juarez, to get History of Masa done,” Co-President Nico Giro-Martin ’27 said. “That required researching culinary history within Latin America, as well as organizing cooking groups and ensuring our final product is something worth giving to our audience. The rest of our events were spearheaded by different members of our exec team. This requires trust and understanding that we are all also students, who have other things in our lives, but at the end of the day, we want the best for LASU.”
LASU organized the notable Taste of Latinè event at Sadler, collaborating with the Student Center for Inclusive Excellence, Political Latinxs United For Movement And Action in Society, Association of Latino Professionals for America, Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers and Hermandad de Sigma Iota Alpha.
“For the most part, with these other organizations, what we try to do is just not copy off of each other,” Juarez said. “And so, when there are events, they’re kind of larger scale, and they want to collaborate through certain things.”
Being on the executive board for a large-scale cultural organization on campus, especially during Latinè Heritage Month, requires efficient time management and communication.
“Everyone on exec is very open and communicative about what they need and what type of things they need help with, if that makes sense,” Juarez said. “So, it’s nice with that atmosphere.”
For many members of the executive board, LASU is dear to their hearts, and they deem it a home away from home.
“I’m a first-generation student, so I’m the first one in my family to attend college,” Juarez said. “I came, and LASU just became my second home. LASU has provided me [with] such great opportunities and mentorship. I remember telling one of my best friends freshman year, I was like, ‘I’m going to become president of this org one day,’ and here I am now, the co-president of LASU.”
The first goal stated in the organization’s constitution is its commitment to serving the community, and they plan frequent fundraisers to achieve this goal. In the past month, LASU collaborated with Vox: Planned Parenthood Generation Action to raise money for the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Justice.
“VOX graciously came to us with the opportunity to fundraise for this cause, in a way to find their place in Latinè Heritage Month,” Giro-Martin said. “We were so excited for the opportunity and to connect more with our service roots. Reproductive justice is such a hot-button topic, as well as the mere existence of being Latinè in this country. It’s important not only to have these conversations but also to help in any way.”
The National Latina Institute for Reproductive Justice’s goal is to build activist bases around the country to fight for reproductive rights in the United States, and it has found its way to Latinè activists here in Williamsburg. LASU decided to take on this subject, not only to commit to community service, but also to educate its members on contemporary issues disproportionately affecting Latin Americans.
“Although LASU is a very social organization, we try our best to tap into the philanthropy side of it whenever possible,” Juarez said. “Vox, they baked brownies and muffins, [and] we sold a lot of those. I’m very, very happy with that, because Vox has always been a good connection we’ve had in the past.”
LASU has also held events that combine its social and philanthropic nature. They recently ran a blanket-making social, where members could create blankets together to donate to a local family resource group in Williamsburg.
Cardona-Hernandez works with this resource group, which provides a monthly educational discussion for Latinè moms while volunteers entertain their children. Last year, LASU and PLUMAS held a fundraiser for this group and raised about $840.
“With those $840, we bought so many toys and gifts for these children, and it was a beautiful event that we had last year,” Juarez said. “It took up all my energy, but it was more than worth it.”
Though Latinè Heritage Month is coming to an end, LASU’s plans are not. They still have many exciting events coming up, including big-little pairings.
“Bigs and littles is one of our most impactful projects of the year,” Giro-Martin said. “It further connects our general body members and offers not-as-active members a family.”
Additionally, Itty Bitty Mart, in partnership with International Mini-Mart, will be a pop-up event highlighting popular Latin American snacks and drinks. The event will run Tuesday, Oct. 7, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the Student Center for Inclusive Excellence. This is a new event for LASU where members can share what Giro-Martin called their unique confectionery culture.
“We’re excited because it’s new, it’s never been done before, and so we would love to just highlight different snacks and drinks from different countries,” Juarez said.
CORRECTION (10/17/2025): Article was updated by the Associate Standards & Practices Editor to correct the name of the person the first quote was attributed to.
