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One of the campus projects of the student club the Latino Dons is the production of the annual Las Mananitas ceremony every December.
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Club Brings Students, Professors Together to Help Latinos Succeed
A USF club is helping Latino students succeed in academic, extracurricular, and professional life by creating a support network of faculty, students, and alumni.
The goal of the 5-year-old club, the Latino Dons, is to promote the academic success of male Latinos and encourage leadership in the community, according to Marlon Morales and Jason Cienega, co-presidents of the student club.
“It’s important that we work together and help each other out,” Morales said. “We want our members to succeed and graduate.”
Support for Latino men is important because of cultural differences and the inhibiting experience, for some, of attending college for the first time, Cienega said. When he first began attending USF, Cienega said he felt disconnected—a common-enough freshman experience but one that can be more styming for Latinos trying to participate in mainstream campus culture.
Any USF student, staff, or faculty member can participate as a mentor or adviser. The club hosts various meetings and retreats for its members and recently organized a campus boxing club. Members are also encouraged to do volunteer work and attend educational lectures.
Cienega said these activities also give Latino males a chance to be more integrated in the USF community. “My motivation (for joining the club) was to get to know people and make connections,” he said. “We don’t just make connections with other students, but also with high school students and alumni. We try to get ourselves out in the community so people can see that they have this support, and that it is a tradition they can be a part of.”
The Latino Dons are known for their annual signature event, the Las Mañanitas ceremony in December. This traditional Latino Mass celebrates the appearance of the Blessed Virgin of Guadalupe before Juan Diego, an impoverished Mexican peasant. The Latino Dons started the Las Mañanitas ceremony to provide a spiritual outlet more specific to the USF Latino community. “We want people to recognize something that is a part of their own culture here,” Morales said.
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