More than 150 students attended the seventh annual Latino Youth Conference at American University this weekend. Thirty AU students donated their time to the gathering, which encouraged the youth to work hard toward a college education. The students attended workshops and heard from various speakers about preparing for their futures.
The event was sponsored by the Latin and American Student Organization, which has shown that it has its priorities straight, having had outstanding programming as of late. While the Hispanic community may be a small part of the larger student body, it has certainly made its presence known, and we hope it continues to do so.
Hosting the event at AU certainly helped reiterate the availability of opportunities to the youth, as did the presence of Latino undergraduates. The students also got to hear from California Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez, a 1984 graduate from Kogod's MBA program. Sanchez is a good example to today's Latino youth that the possibilities truly are endless. She represents a largely Latino district in Orange County and has advocated for the involvement of the Latino community in politics and society.
For her contributions, Sanchez was awarded the Latino Youth Conference's Lifetime Achievement Award.
The conference organizer, Moises Flores, and his staff deserve all the credit that is due them for this very successful and uplifting event.
