Abeba AssegedThe Mexican Consulate held a joint meet and greet and celebration for the consulate’s first North Carolina Central University scholarship winner on Monday in the Alfonso Elder Student Union.
Senior athletic training major Emily Guerra received a $10 thousand scholarship, which is awarded annually to college students of Mexican descent.
In the past year, the Department of Diversity and Inclusion, along with multiple student organizations, has worked on several events promoting diversity on campus. They were instrumental in putting this event together.
Counsel General Remedios Gomez Amau was pleased to visit campus for the first time and praised the department’s collaboration with students.
“I am very pleased to see you have Afro-Latino initiatives. I think it’s very important that we all come together because we are all diverse,” Amau said.
Amau described the consulate’s role as “(helping to) build bridges between the hosting society, which in this case is North Carolina and South Carolina, and to build bridges with Mexico and Mexican communities here.”
“These collaborations have been wonderful, exciting and new to campus,” said Department of Diversity and Inclusion director Emily Guzman.
Guzman, who just completed her first year as department director, told the audience about the initiatives, past events, upcoming events and the different students organizations on campus. She highlighted four in particular: Raíces, for those who identify as Hispanic or Latino, Águilas Afro-Latino, Lambda Pi Chi Sorority, Incorporated and the Asian student organization created in April of this year.
In the past year, the department implemented a “mobile panel” that goes out to different Spanish-speaking classes within the community. Guzman explained that the program gives the class a full experience of the diverse Latino culture.
“We have more members (in Águilas) this year. Emily Guerra is a part of our executive board and I am excited to be here for her,” said Águilas Afro-Latino president Keyanna Gotay.
During her recipient speech, Guerra, a vibrant young woman who also has a minor in public health, said she was starting to get emotional because of the incredible opportunity the scholarship has given her. She said that she is also the first in her family to graduate from college.
“I want to impact the Latino community, the African-American community, the Muslim and Asian communities,” Guerra explained. “I don’t want to just impact one community because we are all diverse.”
