Latina/o Student Assembly changes name to Latinx

Lorraine Wheat | Daily Trojan

The Undergraduate Student Government Senate voted to change the Latina/o Student Assembly to Latinx Student Assembly in a unanimous vote on Tuesday night. LSA Executive Director Karen García and co-assistant directors Catherine Bedoya and Cindy Cox attended the meeting to witness the vote.

The term “Latinx” has become more popular in recent discourse due to its gender neutrality. The Spanish language traditionally splits nouns into feminine and masculine categories, ending in either “a” for feminine words and “o” for masculine words.

García said it is an important step to eradicate this binary, as people who do not identify as male or female felt that the name “Latina/o Student Organization” did not represent them.

“In the name change, we’re providing a space for gender-nonconforming folks,” García said. “That’s something that wasn’t provided before as LSA.”

García, Bedoya and Cox were pleased that the name change was finalized, as they have been attempting to change the organization’s name since last year. Cox said that this move is a step in the right direction for LSA.

“I think in the previous years, LSA has been very passive about a lot of issues that affect our community,” Cox said. “I think we have really tried to step forward and advocate more for our community, whether it takes place in a protest or something else.”

Bedoya explained how the vote failed before making it to USG last year.

“We actually tried to pass this a year ago, but it was denied through our organization because it needs to be voted on before we bring it to USG for a final vote,” Bedoya said.

García said the process of approving the organization’s name change was challenging due to some members’ concerns about the connotations of the term “Latinx.”

“There were a lot of concerns of it being too political and that it would change the language,” García said.