Originally known as USC El Centro Chicano when it was first established in the fall of 1972, the Latinx/Chicanx Center for Advocacy and Student Affairs homebase just got a a fresh makeover. Construction began on the fourth floor of the Student Union building at the end of last semester. La CASA was originally based in the southwestern corner of the Student Union's fourth floor and has now been moved to the northeastern corner. The entire floor reopened to the public on Sept. 18.
During construction, La CASA was temporarily relocated to the first floor of the Student Union building alongside the Center for Black Cultural and Student Affairs as well as the LGBTQ+ Student Center.
Micaela Zamora, a sophomore majoring in biopharmaceutical sciences and minoring in stem cell biology and regenerative medicine, works as one of the Undergraduate Culture Ambassadors for La CASA. The RCA’s and Graduate Cultural Ambassadors at La CASA are responsible for manning the La CASA space. They also plan games and events for the Latinx community as well as the Latinx Graduation.
A LA native with both Mexican and Filipino roots, Zamora opened up about adjusting to life at USC when she first joined as a freshman.
“I come from a lower-income and predominantly Latinx neighborhood [...] [USC] is known to be a predominantly white institution,” Zamora said. “It was an adjustment and I did definitely go through a lot of imposter syndrome the first semester of me being here.”
Zamora said that La CASA pulls from a diverse range of different cultures outside of “Mexican-centric” LA.
“[On] our staff we have a Guatemalan, we have a Peruvian, and before we had a Cuban, Puerto Rican [and a] Salvadorian,” Zamora said. “For the people that come in [to La CASA] they’re all different types of ethnicities, identities and I think that’s so important because everyone should learn about those new things.”
To celebrate Latinx/e Heritage Month, the University organized a Latinx/e Heritage Month kickoff event at Tommy's Place. Zamora — alongside RCA’s Adrian Salguero Guevara and Nidya Jurado — worked at the check-in booth for the event.
The celebration started off with a pre-recorded message from various students, staff, faculty and alumni who discussed what the month’s theme — Unidad, ProSperidad y Cultura — meant to them.
The topics touched upon in the video ranged widely from scholarships for Latino students to research on the American immigration system to personal stories of what being a part of the La CASA and broader Latinx community meant to the speakers personally.
Guevara, who is a senior majoring in political science and minoring in Spanish, believes that having La CASA and events such as the Latinx/e Heritage Month kickoff celebration are important to show that Latinx students do have a presence on campus.
“I really wanted to work here [at La CASA] to be a part of the community,” Guevara said. “We obviously host a lot of events for Latino students and I just want to be a part of that and [to create] that safe space and that environment for Latino students to have.”
Jurado, a sophomore majoring in international relations, said that the move was long overdue and that she is excited about the new space.
“If you ever need a community or you know, people to talk to, we have many counselors,” Jurado said. “The overall environment and community that we have there, I feel like [there’s] nothing [like it] in comparison to any other organization.”
Zamora said that La CASA is not a typical student organization. There are no membership fees or applications required to participate. Instead, she views La CASA as an open resource for all students.
La CASA’s new space will have study areas and nap pods as well as a larger kitchen, a refrigerator and a freezer — alongside other new amenities. Additionally, there will be two Latino identifying embedded counselors, career chats, financial literacy talks and for the first time ever, a class will be hosted within La CASA. The one unit course is called Thrive: Foundation of Well-Being and it focuses on exploring "themes of thriving including well-being, self-care, and connection, as they relate to and intersect with Latinx identity." La CASA is open from 9-to-5 from Monday through Friday except for Wednesdays and Thursdays when it will close at nine p.m. instead.
“Now with so much space, bring all your friends,” Zamora said. “Even if they aren’t identifying as Latinx, I think everybody deserves to learn about our culture and we also deserve to learn about anybody else’s.”