Students loaded up their plates with food from Alpaca Peruvian Charcoal Chicken and sat down roundtable-style at Multicultural Student Affairs’ Latinx Chat ‘n’ Chew to unpack questions like, “Do you see yourself represented within our campus community?” or “How is your balance? How are we coping?”

The Chat ‘n’ Chew created a space for conversation Wednesday as students discussed topics impactful to the NC State community.

“I think the biggest thing is that there’s so many different positionalities, backgrounds, belief systems, and everybody has a different lived experience, but it’s cool to be able to have everybody come together and find commonality,” said Gavin Bell, assistant director of Multicultural Student Affairs. 

Jennifer De Leon, a third-year studying history and current president of NC State’s Mi Familia, was a part of the head committee that helped facilitate this year’s Latinx Chat ‘n’ Chew.

“I just did [the event] out of pure passion to be able to see people come into a safe space and be able to enjoy good food, but overall, being able to share those experiences that I didn’t have here,” De Leon said.

De Leon said Latinx events such as these bring visibility to Latinx spaces and communities on campus.

“I feel like events like these are super necessary to show that we can come together as a community,” De Leon said. “I wish people would know we’re here. We provide these safe spaces, not just for this month, but for the rest of the year and to kind of give ourselves ánimo to be able to come here and enjoy the spacing.”

Daysa Franco-Villalobos, a first-year studying engineering, said it was valuable to hear from others in a welcoming space. 

“I was hearing advice about not having to be the first [in everything], and someone had mentioned you don’t have to feel that burden,” Franco-Villalobos said. “I heard a lot of wise words, and I feel like I can walk away from this event a little lighter. It just feels warm when you walk into the room where you can have shared experiences and be able to talk your broken Spanish or Spanglish.”

Daniela Suarez, a third-year student studying sociology, said as a transfer student and a student who commutes to campus, she wanted to get more involved with the Latinx community on campus.

“I kind of wanted to find a way to make more friends and be more involved at school,” Suarez said. “Existence is resistance and representation at NC State. If you’re a person of color and you’re not very vocal about your position at the school, it’s okay to not be, you being here is.”

Bell said all students and faculty are welcome at Chat ‘n’ Chew events, regardless of their background.

“Whether there’s people that are from that community or not, we set community expectations anyway for all of our programs,” Bell said. “Primarily, because we want different cultures and different identities to come and hear and not just be so nervous about ‘messing up’ that they don’t say anything at all and don’t actually engage in any type of learning.”

Multicultural Student Affairs’ next Latinx Heritage Month event is Noche de Pijamada on Thursday, Oct. 5 from 8 to 11 p.m. in Talley. If interested, RSVP here.

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