The Hispanic American Student Community Alliance is an organization dedicated to showcasing Latino culture and promoting diversity and Hispanic awareness through leadership, events and community outreach.
In the spring of 2015 they started participating in leadership workshops and round tables with other community leaders to better improve their organization and outreach.
Every year, HASCA both hosts and participates in big events including El Carnival, Casino Night and the Multicultural Showcase. Many people around campus who attend these events always enjoy the festive music, fun dancing and great food. A main focus of their Casino Night event is alcohol awareness for students.
As a means of community outreach, members of HASCA go and perform dances from their cultures in senior living homes and local malls. At the senior homes, they believe the most rewarding aspect is seeing the smiles on the resident’s faces. They also enjoy face painting with kids and teaching them their dances during their performances at local malls.
The president of HASCA, junior Brandon Delgado, has been an active member since his freshman year at ETSU. Since he valued Hispanic culture and his ability to embrace that culture, he saw HASCA as his perfect niche.
“I originally got involved because I didn’t want to lose any of my Spanish speaking skills, but I have grown to love this organization and the community and work we do,” Delgado said.
HASCA is not only an organization exclusive to Latinos. Allies from all cultural backgrounds are welcomed with open arms.
“Our mission is to teach students about the Latino Culture,”Delgado said. “We are a family and we like to have fun, help the community, and do the best things we can during the process.”
Leadership and team building are some of the values that HASCA promotes.
“I’ve learned so much about the culture,” said junior Genevieve Hargrove, Community Liaison for HASCA. “Since I communicate with people outside of HASCA and try to get people involved, I’ve been able to improve on lots skills about planning and communication.”
In terms of leadership skills, junior and current vice president Rebekka Merrifield said that she’s learned how to delegate tasks and take everyone’s ideas into consideration.
“Everyone has great ideas,” Merrifield said. “In the end, it’s everyone’s event, so it’s important to listen to everyone’s input.”
Students looking to make friends that will last a lifetime can find them in HASCA like Merrifield did.
“HASCA is my family,” Merrifield said. “They are my people, and I love the camaraderie that we bring and the unique ways that we celebrate each other.”
