Society for Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS) offer students a place of community and educational advancements through events on campus.
SACNAS is a national organization with a chapter at NC State. Mili Jimenez, a fourth-year studying human biology and president of SACNAS, said the goal of the organization is to uplift students identifying as Native American, Chicano or Hispanic to pursue higher education or proficiency in STEM fields.
“What I tried to do with my organization so far is to uplift others to pursue going to graduate schools, medical schools and anything for higher education, since that is also what I’m trying to pursue,” Jimenez said. “And since I have learned these things along the way, I would rather have the undergrad students learn from our mistakes and pave the path slightly smoother for them as they come to apply for any type of research programs that they want to anything that they need.”
Jimenez said she wants to teach students how to reach out for the resources they need to advance their studies and pursue the careers they want.
“Some resources students don’t know how to reach out to those resources, or they don’t know how to apply for this, because they have never been taught,” Jimenez said. “I would rather bridge the gap, make the gap smaller for everybody.”
SACNAS holds several events for students to attend throughout the year. Most of these events are about community and connection like one held recently called Cooking with SACNAS. Jimenez said they also hold events teaching students things like how to get research experience on campus, but creating a sense of community for students is most important to the organization.
“My favorite event that we have had so far was Cooking with SACNAS,” Jimenez said. “It’s because I got free food, and also because I got to meet one of the faculty in the Department of Chemistry who made the empanadas for us, and they were really kind enough to show us how to make them because it was a family recipe.”
Jimenez said she enjoys planning community events for SACNAS, especially as a fourth-year.
“As far as being the president, I think making events for students has been one of my favorite parts,” Jiminez said. “I think especially this semester, just because we focus much more on the social aspect. … Sometimes you want something to decompress yourself, especially right now as a senior. I would rather have a fun event than one that takes me weeks to organize.”
Jimenez said NC State’s chapter also got the chance to attend SACNAS’ national conference in Puerto Rico last year and hopes the organization can make attending the conference a yearly thing.
“I got to present my research in Puerto Rico as well,” Jimenez said. “And we were also fortunate enough to get grant funding for a bunch of members to go to the SACNAS conference in Puerto Rico. We hope to do that again.”
Jimenez said SACNAS is open to anyone at NC State, not just those who identify with the organization’s name because they want people to feel included and experience a sense of community.
“Everybody’s welcome to come to our events, be part of us, be part of the community as well and help us out reach out to others as well, because we’re a small organization,” Jimenez said. “It’s slightly difficult to find others because our community is so small at NC State, like the percentage of Latino Americans and even Native Americans are so small.”
Follow SACNAS’ Instagram page to get updates on their next event and check out their Get Involved page for more information.
