Junior communications and media studies major Victor Valle, who has been involved with MEChA since its inception last year, brought to light some of the resources minority students are asking for, mainly a place to go when trying to figure out how to balance personal life and schooling and more gender inclusive bathrooms.
A student-organized demonstration called attention to the lack of resources and support available to diverse students at USF, and encouraged the community to start talking about diversity in terms of experience, not in terms of numbers.
With a Latino student movement club, Movimiento Estudiantil Chican@ de Aztlán (MEChA de USF), leading the organizing efforts, a number of USF’s culturally focused student clubs — the Black Student Union, Latinas Unidas, and Queer Alliance to name a few — united to put together an educational protest at Gleeson Plaza during dead hour last Thursday.
Students and professors took the mic to tell their own stories and frustrations as members of the diverse community to about 60 audience members. Elizabeth Cruz and Jessica Melendez, co-founders of MEChA de USF and the main organizers of the protest, believe that issues such as bullying students of color and LGBTQ students, and the difficulties navigating around USF’s financial resources for these same communities, don’t get talked about enough on campus or through social media.
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