Latino Graduate Student Association vital for Latinx community


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The Latino Graduate Student Association executive board also helps run initiatives like the Undergraduate Mentoring Program, which help undergraduate students navigate college life. (Photo courtesy of Diana Greer)

When Diana Greer first arrived at the Rossier School of Education, she had trouble finding a Latinx community to connect with on campus until she discovered the Latino Graduate Student Association during her first year.

“I felt like I didn’t have a lot of Latinx friends in my cohort, or I didn’t see many, so I decided to start coming out to mixers and events,” said Greer, a second-year graduate student studying educational counseling. “[LGSA] just became like family instantly. To be able to hang out with students who look like you, talk like you, maybe eat the same food as you — it was very comforting for me, at a predominantly white institution, to be able to find Latinx students on campus.”

For Greer and many students like her, LGSA is a vital on-campus resource. The group is dedicated to helping Latinx graduate students find new and exciting opportunities in their fields and foster professional networks to support them after they leave USC.

A year after joining the group, Greer became its co-president. Along with co-president Laura Delgado, a third-year graduate student studying educational counseling, she plans programming that connects graduate students within the Latinx community. Some of the organization’s most popular events include Noche de Estrellas, an end-of-year celebration for members, and an annual Friendsgiving dinner for those who are unable to go home for Thanksgiving. 

Recently, the organization partnered with Graduate Student Government to host a general body meeting and discuss issues USC’s Latinx graduate student community faces. The two groups invited graduate students to voice their opinions and speak directly to those who effect campus policy. GSG Director of Diversity and Equity for Programming Xavier Hernandez said the town hall-style event was a huge success. 

“Seeing the [general body meeting] was a big step in allowing everyone to come together,” said Hernandez, who is studying integrated design, business and technology. “Being able to see all of us together in one space at one time, chatting about how we can empower each other and make our lives better … was really powerful.”

The Undergraduate Mentoring Program, or UMP, is one of LGSA’s larger initiatives. Undergraduates get paired with a graduate student mentor who can give them advice on navigating college.

Greer said that the team takes time to assign all 25 students on the roster to a mentor who shares their interests, looking for commonalities in hometown, major and background when choosing each pair.

Greer said LGSA’s events and programming initially drew her to the organization because she wanted a place to celebrate and connect with her culture. Greer, a mother of one, said LGSA also helped connect her to other Latinx parents on campus and helped her find a community at USC.

“Right away, one of the students came to my classroom and said there [were] a lot of student parents that come that [I] just didn’t know [were] parents,” Greer said. “He connected me to other student parents and from there I was able to create a single mother USC type of support group for myself.”

For Delgado, connections like these make LGSA so vital to the Latinx community on campus. As co-president, she hopes to facilitate these relationships throughout the coming year.

“[Our most important role] is to foster community,” Delgado said. “It’s a very different experience, being a graduate student compared to being an undergrad. We want to foster this sense of belonging.”