After a two-year hiatus the Monmouth University Spanish Club is back.
The purpose of the Spanish Club is to increase Monmouth University’s awareness of the Hispanic culture by putting together a variety of events to promote student involvement.
The organization also encourages students to become involved with the surrounding Hispanic community through community service, and to provide opportunities for both language and social development for Spanish majors and minors.
The club has been very busy this year planning events forthis semester and the next year as well.
On Apr. 4 the Club co-sponsered a salsa dancing workshop with latin sorority Lambda Theta Alpha.
The intention was to make memories and to teach the dance as well as the art behind the style and history of it.
Like the salsa event, the Spanish Club is working hard to create their presence on campus. They have recently created an instagram and have had multiple meetings to discuss what’s next.
Having a larger presence and involvement at the Foreign Language festival has also been a primary goal of the Club.
Dr. Julia Riordan-Goncalves, Director of Spanish and International Business and Spanish for Business Minor, and the advisor of the club, said, “We have a really great and motivated group. They are really passionate about the language and culture and they are doing really well at getting people interested.”
The organization wants to invite more guest speakers, and do more promotional advertising for events such as tabling, and promoting themselves through social media.
The Club also encourages all cultures and languages to participate in the event, not just Latin cultures; this is in order to unite, celebrate and educate attendees of the event on multiculturalism and the benefits of experiencing another’s culture.
Treasurer of the Spanish Club, and senior business administration student Alexis Knowles is excited about the future of the club, and is happy to be in an organization of people who share her interests.
She said, “Although the club is small now, I love it because we are all a group that have an interest in Spanish and enjoy the culture, food, and traditions.”
In addition to helping out with the Foreign Language Festival, the Club also wishes to hold Zumba events throughout the year.
Rooted in Colombia, Zumba creator Alberto Perez started the dance exercise by accident, when playing salsa and merengue music at an aerobics class he was teaching, after forgetting his original music at home.
These classes will be offered at least once a semester and are open to everyone to join and participate, especially if they enjoy dancing, exercising, and experiencing a culture other than their own.
One of the primary goals the Club wishes to incorporate in their planning is inviting more culturally diverse authors to the Visiting Writers Series at Monmouth.
They hope to bring in more Latin authors in order to give perspective on what it is like to be of Hispanic descent. These authors will have the opportunity to share their work and their stories and enlighten the student body.
Club Vice President and junior Spanish student, Stephanie Vela wants to give people insight into her own culture and she believes the Spanish Club is the perfect place to do just that.
Vela said, “Growing up in a hispanic household and being a spanish major I’ve been very immersed in the Hispanic culture and I think it would be great for other people to learn about it as well.”
The Spanish Club welcomes all to join and are excited for everything they have planned in the future.
For more information contact any member of the Club and follow them on Instagram at mu_spanishclub.
