Masters prides itself on its vast diversity of culture, nationality, and history embedded within the community. But with Latin American students still serving as a minority within the Masters community, it becomes difficult to provide a sense of home and familiarity. While this culture differs across country borders and even within individual nations, Latinos Unidos has served as a site of cultural appreciation and unification for the Latin American students of Masters, along with allies, in addition to creating a warm, comfortable environment for members in search of a “taste of home”.

“I feel very passionate about providing a safe space for a very small minority group in our school,” Co-President Gabi Seguinot said. Each week, Latinos Unidos is open to all members and allies of the Latin American community at Masters. During each meeting, Seguinot, along with Co-President Sebastian Sawhney and Secretary Lawrence Azzariti, leads discussions about what it means to be Latin American, both within the Masters community and in the world in general. She added that another major component of each Latinos Unidos meeting is the traditional food from various Latin American countries: “A lot of the students are boarders, and don’t get the opportunity to sit with their families and have traditional meals,” she said. “We want to bring them a taste of home.”

Latinos Unidos is currently working to plan school-wide events that celebrate Latin American culture, such as movie screenings and celebrations of Latin American holidays, such as Día De Los Muertos and a traditional Latin American Christmas. She included that the club leadership is attempting to host a screening of Coco, a new Disney movie that follows a boy’s journey through Dia de Los Muertos, or Mexico’s ‘Day of the Dead’. “[Coco] touched a lot of our hearts because it was nice to see that representation in a Disney film,” Seguinot said. She added that the date for the screening of Coco is still pending and that students should stay tuned for further details.

The club is also working to expand their discussions beyond their weekly meetings: “I want [Latinos Unidos] to be a place where kids can collaborate and think about what they can do for their culture,” Seguinot said. She added that the main reasons she hopes members will do this are by organizing charity events that support Latin America and Latin Americans and express their concerns about Latin American issues within the Masters community.