MUSCATINE, Iowa–Feb. 4, Muscatine’s Collegiate Council of the League of United Latin American Citizens, or LULAC, elected their officers for the year. President Paula Castillo, Vice President Nayela Verdinez, Secretary Catherine Arellano, and Treasurer Jennifer Solis will oversee the club’s many community building activities in the months ahead. This election represents the fourth election in a row for the council to select a completely new group of officers.
According to LULAC of Iowa State Director Nick Salazar, a Muscatine resident, each LULAC chapter works to help improve the lives of local Latino communities. “Generally speaking, LULAC focuses on issues that affect Latino communities, such as education, housing, and economic opportunities,” he explained.
Based out of Muscatine Community College, Muscatine’s Collegiate LULAC Council particularly focuses on issues that affect students, especially first generation college students of Latino heritage. In the past year, the council has created their own LULAC room at Muscatine Community College, which Salazar considers a positive achievement, as they can now use it as a place to, “support each other, do homework, and have meetings.”
Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Collegiate Council would take an annual trip to a larger LULAC leadership conference in Washington, DC, which included getting to meet with national representatives. As the COVID-19 pandemic begins to subside somewhat, Salazar hopes students can resume attending the leadership conference in the future.
Additionally, Muscatine’s collegiate LULAC council raises funds for scholarships to give to local students interested in pursuing higher education. To boost their fundraising, the national LULAC organization matches 60% of all the scholarship money they raise. As an added perk, Muscatine Community College does a 100% match for any student that uses a LULAC scholarship to continue their education there. “We really get bang for our buck with our scholarship program,” stated Salazar.
This year, the scholarship fund received an additional boost from LULAC Council 10 in Davenport, the largest LULAC chapter in the nation. They donated $2,500 to the collegiate council out of funds left over from previous Viva Quad Cities events.
Currently, Muscatine has three LULAC councils, one for adults, their collegiate council for college students, and their youth council for high school students. West Liberty also has a LULAC council as well. LULAC welcomes anyone to join. “LULAC is for anyone who wants to serve the community,” said Salazar. “If the Latino community or any part of the community isn’t doing well, the whole community isn’t doing well.”
Anyone interested in joining LULAC may do so by visiting their website and using the directory to find the chapter that makes the most sense for them, location and age-wise. Alternately, they may call Salazar at 563-506-2813.
With their new officers installed, Muscatine’s collegiate LULAC council looks forward to working with the community in many ways this year. Though they have not announced plans for all their projects and activities this year, Salazar hinted that they may have a Cinco De Mayo festival this spring and he hopes the community will join in this celebration when the time comes.
