By Michael McCarthy, Staff Editor
The din of conversation at plenary went silent as members of the Alliance for Latin American Students (ALAS) took to the microphones. “The Latinx community on campus finds it unacceptable that Haverford College has not taken the initiative to prioritize making a space for its Latinx students,” their speech began. They continued to describe in full detail the convoluted process of applying to live in La Casa Hispanica (referred to as La Casa) and create a Latinx center. The administration ignored their requests at almost every turn.
The move to make La Casa a Latinx center for students on the Haverford campus began in the second semester of 2019. Victoria Merino (Haverford ’20) and Joseph Spir-Rechani (Haverford ’20) frequently attended events at La Casa their freshman year but saw its use decline over the next two years. Hoping to revive La Casa, Merino and Spir-Rechani, along with three other students, planned to apply for La Casa, but the application to live in La Casa was buried so deep in the Spanish Department’s website that they were unaware they had to take action before room draw. When they learned the deadline had passed, they appealed to administration to demonstrate interest in living in La Casa. The administration informed them that La Casa would be sold in the near future and that they should dream big and draft plans for a new Latinx center on campus.
Thus began the long process of planning a new Latinx center. “I feel like I became an architect,” said Victoria Merino (Haverford ’20). Administration put the responsibility of outlining a future Latinx center on ALAS, requiring students to outline the remodeling and renovating process for a new Latinx space. The ALAS board decided on Parker House as the location for a new Latinx center. Located behind James House, Parker House is used only infrequently by the Fine Arts Department.
Though ALAS emailed Dean of Residential and Community Life and Associate Dean Nathan Diehl, Dean Martha Denney, Senior Vice President Mitchell Wein, and Provost Fran Blase, they received an amount of emails vastly disproportionate to the number of emails sent to themmet with administration only once in April of last year. “Meeting will all those administration members just felt like a dead-end,” Merino said. “At no point has the administration been transparent about their choices with what they’re thinking of doing with anything that’s related to the Latinx affiliation.” Only when ALAS contacted President Wendy Raymond, who has supported renovating La Casa since she was informed of the issue, did they begin to see a response from administration.
With a Latinx center, ALAS intends to host a variety of events to promote Latinx culture. These events include but are not limited to ALAS and other affinity group meetings, Latin Dance socials, monthly Latinx-themed dinners, and professor-student discussions. Spir-Rechani pointed out that a library for Hispanic, Latin American, and Chicanx books ALAS hoped to build in La Casa’s basement would provide an invaluable resource for academic research.
As of now, ALAS has been reserving rooms throughout campus to host their meetings, often leading to 50+ attendants crowded in a single classroom. Merino notes that while Swarthmore has a space for its Hispanic and Latino organization, UPenn its own La Casa, and Bryn Mawr a room for mujeres, “we have nothing.” Additionally, the prospects for an entirely new building for a Latinx center are exceedingly slim. “What I thought was really interesting,” Merino said, “was that they weren’t necessarily willing to put in the time and money to fix La Casa, which was culturally and historically significant, and that they would rather just find a different space on campus and build something form scratch, which requires a lot more money.”
Months of gridlock and frustration led to the demonstration at Plenary where ALAS asked the assembly of students to email Michael Elias, Dean of Student Engagement & Divisional Initiatives, asking only “Where is the Latinx center?” Mr. Elias received over 250 emails, demonstrating strong support from the student body. Spir-Rechani remarks that while the abundant support from students is heartening, “Why does there have to be a protest? Why does there have to be something so public in order for us to get some attention?”
Nevertheless, the attention garnered by the protest has forced the administration to be more communicative. Administration says La Casa might not actually be sold after all, so ALAS has returned to its original goal of reviving it as a Latinx center. They say that this will require renovating the building to suit the needs of students and adding a bridge so students with disabilities can access the building. La Casa is separated from the Haverford campus by East Railroad Ave; a bridge similar to the one connecting Yarnall House (Nerd House) to campus would be needed.
Both Merino and Spir-Rechani have hope for the future of La Casa, especially in terms of creating “some sort of institutional memory,” as Merino put it. Both of them are graduating at the end of this semester, but the movement for La Casa includes Latinx students of all class years who will keep the cause alive. Additionally, Merino hopes the example set by ALAS will help other affinity groups gain recognition from administration.
This Tuesday, six members of the Latinx Center Committee (LCC) met with Dean Elias, Vice President Wein, and President Raymond to discuss the future of a Latinx center. In an email sent to the Haverford student body, President Raymond said, “we have identified a number of campus spaces that could serve as a Latinx Center for meetings, events, and other programmatic activities, with an eye toward finding a permanent, residential option on campus.” She concluded the email by stating, “I am grateful for the sustained and focused commitment to this project across the student body, which I find inspiring. I am confident that this collaborative, thoughtful work, led by students in ALAS, will advance our abilities to build inclusive community.” This might just mark a permanent change in the talks between ALAS and administration and begin a new chapter in the effort to provide a space for Latinx students.
ALAS will be hosting a protest to allow students to live in La Casa on Monday, March 2 from 9:30–10:30 pm at La Casa. ALAS encourages students of all backgrounds who support La Casa as a space for Latinx students to attend.
Image credit: Haverford College
