Student life at USC offers great opportunities through departments and organizations. El Centro is proud to house and serve as headquarters for many of the Chicano/Latino based student organizations. Although, they are physically housed at El Centro, the organizations remain autonomous and self governing.

Most of the listed student organizations have mailboxes at El Centro and many hold their general body meetings in our lecture hall. For more information, please feel free to contact the organizations directly, leave a message in their box or call us at 213-740-1480

This is only a partial list of organizations available for students. For a complete listing, please go to: www.sait.usc.edu/stuorgs.

Student Organizations

Annenberg Latino Student Association
“Uniting the Latino Community of the School for Communication through social, professional and political activities”
Contact: Isaac Cuchilla and Manny Miranda, Executive Directors
Email: isaac.cuchilla@gmail.com and manuelmi@usc.edu
Organization Email: usc.alsa@gmail.com

The Annenberg Latino Student Association is committed to promoting career and academic opportunities
for Latino students in the fields of communication, journalism and public relations. The organization is also
designed to provide a social network outside of the classroom. It also provides students the opportunity
to volunteer in the community through its various outreach fieldtrips. This association hosts bi-weekly
meetings with guest speakers, workshops, networking mixers focused on supporting and advancing the
career of Latino media students.

Ballet Folklorico de USC
“Preserving our culture through dance and performance”
Contact: Vanessa Alvarez, President
Email: vjalvare@usc.edu

The Folklorico is currently looking for student dancers interested in helping revive the group.

USC Caribbean Students Association
Our purpose is to promote an understanding of Caribbean culture while providing support to each other and
our homelands.
Contact person: Indira Persad
Email: persad@usc.edu
Contact Email: usccsa@usc.edu
Web: http://www-scf.usc.edu/~usccsa

If you are from the Caribbean or you love Caribbean culture, this organization is for you! We are under the
umbrella of the International Students Assembly, but we are a fairly new organization so there is a lot of
room for your input and new ideas. With your participation and enthusiasm, we can increase our presence
in the USC community and bring awareness about the culture we love so much. So come on out and let’s
celebrate Caribbean culture together!

Chicanos/Latinos for Health Education (CHE)
“Sanando la comunidad/Healing the community”
Contact: Jaime González
Organization Email: clhe@usc.edu
Web: http://www-scf.usc.edu/~clhe

The purpose of CHE is to promote pre-health student interest leading to improvement in healthcare in
underserved communities. We create support for pre-health students in areas such as retention, academic success, career opportunities, and politics of medicine. CHE members participate in various community service projects, including an annual trip to Tijuana, Mexico to provide free health services with doctors. CHE members also create friendships with one another through participation in social activities, such as dinners and ice cream socials.

Chicanos for Progressive Education (CPE)
“Empowerment through Education”
Contact: Amanda Compadre
Email: compadre@usc.edu
Organization Email: cpe@usc.edu
Web: http://www.cpedeusc.org and www.myspace.com/usc_cpe

Chicanos for Progressive Education is organized around three main goals: high school outreach,
mentorship, and scholarship. CPE works towards these goals by visiting local high schools on a bimonthly basis, fundraising for its scholarship fund, and working on a mentor program with local high school seniors. CPE’s main focus is increasing the number of underrepresented students at USC and in higher education by visiting high schools in order to motivate them and answer questions about admissions and university life. CPE also hosts conferences where hundreds of students from local high schools come to USC to attend workshops, take tours on campus, and gain valuable exposure to a college campus.

Hermanos Unidos (HU)
“Fuerza en la Hermandad”
Contact: Bertrand Perdomo
Email: bperdomo@usc.edu
Organization Email: huusc@usc.edu

Founded at USC in 2002 as an organization that supports academic success, community support and social interaction for Latinos. Hermanos Unidos is a male support group rooted on hermandad. A group where hombres can converse on a more personal level and in an environment that promotes the achievement of personal goals, as well as the collective goals towards achieving ‘El Nuevo Hombre.’

Event Spotlight: Operation: Heads Up. Hermanos Unidos provides a one-to-one mentorship with local high school sophomores to promote higher education.

Hermanas Unidas (HaU)
“Poder de la Mujer”
Organization Email: haudeusc@yahoo.com

Hermanas Unidas (HaU) de USC aims to provide a familial network for young women (predominately
Latinas) through participation in academic, community service, and social events which impact our women
as well as our surrounding community. We emphasize the importance of hermandad and support for each other in our individual quest for success and in our transition to and from college.

Latino Honor Society (LHS)
“Recognizing scholastic excellence and dedication to the Latino community since 1997”
Email: ecc@usc.edu
Web: http://www.usc.edu/student-affairs/elcentro

Latino Honor Society was established at USC in the Fall of 1997. LHS is an academic program sponsored
and coordinated by El Centro Chicano. The society was founded in response to the need for a program that encouraged, stimulated, and recognized, those who maintain excellence in scholarship in addition to
serving as positive role models in the community. LHS recognizes all Latino students at USC for their outstanding commitments to academic excellence and efforts in developing the Latino community through community service.

Latino Business Student Association (LBSA)
“To develop young men and women into business leaders of tomorrow, through professional exposure,
community involvement and social interaction”
Contact: Kenny Colon
Email: kcolon@usc.edu
Organization Email: lbsa@usc.edu
Web: http://www-scf.usc.edu/~lbsa/

LBSA is comprised of students from a wide variety of majors who have come together to enjoy their college experience, while preparing for their future endeavors. We strive to enhance the college experience
with a vast amount of events that allow for both educational and interest-filled opportunities. LBSA works
for its members and that is why every person involved in the organization becomes part of the LBSA “family.”

Event spotlight: Every semester, LBSA hosts a Corporate Luncheon for all USC students. Students submit their resume and get the chance to network with several corporate sponsors ranging from various career fields. Last year, 15 students received summer internships from companies like Ernst and Young, Target and Goldman Sachs.

Latino Association of Policy, Planning, and Development (LAPPD)*
“Harnessing leadership for the advancement of the community”
Contact: Jorge Madrid, President of LAPPD
Organization Email: lappdusc@yahoo.com or lappd@usc.edu
Website: http://www-scf.usc.edu/~lappd/

The mission of the Latino Association of Policy, Planning, and Development is to provide social and
professional opportunities to all the members of the SPPD community interested in the Latino culture and
issues affecting the Latino community. The intention is to cultivate dialogue between community members
in order to enhance awareness and network opportunities. LAPPD is dedicated to mentoring incoming
SPPD students with the goal of creating a pipeline for future policy makers, planners and administrators.

Event Spotlight: Fall Pachanga - annual social event to welcome new students and celebrate Latino heritage.

Latino Graduate Student Association (LGSA)*
Contact: Michael Nolasco (mnolasco@usc.edu) or Cruz Sanchez (cgsanche@usc.edu)
Organization Email: lgsa@usc.edu

LGSA Commits to:

• Enchance the intellectual and social community for Latina/o graduate students
• Advocate for support networks for Latina/o graduate/professional students, faculty and other members of the USC community
• Promote the recruitment and retention of Latina/o graduate students
• Develop research and publication opportunities to further the professional development of Latina/o graduate student.

Latina/o Social Work Caucus*
Contact: Luz Castellanos, Secretary or Aracely Miron, Secretary
Email: lmcastel@usc.edu and amiron@usc.edu
Organization Email: latinosw@usc.edu
Web: http://www-scf.usc.edu/~latinosw

The Latino/a Social Work Caucus at USC is a student organization that promotes leadership, self-help, and solidarity among all USC Latino/a Master of Social Work students towards the betterment of all Latino/s cultures and people. We strive to accomplish this through: Academic Excellence, Professional Development, and Empowerment for social justice.

Latina/o Student Assembly (LSA)
Contact: Joseph Zuniga
Email: jzuniga@usc.edu
Organization Email: lsausc@usc.edu
Phone: 213-740-5656 (Program Board)
Web: http://www-scf.usc.edu/~lsausc

The Latina/o Student Assembly is a non-profit umbrella group for Chicana/o, Hispana/o, Latina/o student
organizations at USC and has been in existence for approximately 16 years. LSA is composed of an executive board of 5 elected officers, 1 appointed officer and 1 representative from each member organization. LSA receives funds from Student Senate and is overseen by Program Board. LSA allocates funds to organizational members as well as other USC student organizations.

Society of Mexican-American Engineers and Scientists (MAES)
Contact: Joel Ulloa, MAES President
Email: julloa@usc.edu
Organization Email: maesusc@usc.edu

MAES is not just an organization for engineers, but a club that welcomes all who are interested in taking an active part towards developing our own skills as leaders as well as guiding the next generation of students into a college oriented mind set. MAES is in its 3rd year of its Mentoring Program at Oscar de la Hoya Animo High School in Downtown Los Angeles, and we are always looking for new mentors to make a difference in a young students life.

Mariachi Sur de California
Contact: Gabriela Martinez
Email: mariachi@usc.edu

Mariachi Sur de California was recently founded by a group of enthusiastic students avid to take part of such an authentic cultural experience. USC’s mariachi offers students, faculty, and staff, the opportunity to learn the different styles of mariachi music, take part in mariachi conferences, and become part of a very special group whose members are dedicated and passionate of the music. The mariachi also welcomes everyone to take pleasure in its fruits and encourages fellow Trojans to attend events the mariachi partakes in. Mariachi Sur de California is also up for hire for all type of events, both on and off campus all year long.

Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano/a de Aztlan (MEChA)
“La Union Hace la Fuerza”
Contact Person: Lewis Garcia Rico
Email: garciari@usc.edu
Phone: (213) 740-3242
Organization Email: mecha@usc.edu
Web: http://www-scf.usc.edu/~mecha

M.E.Ch.A began at the University of California, Santa Barbara in 1969, when students, faculty, and community leaders met in response to growing unrest on the state of Raza education. There was a consensus that the path to liberation would come from passionate students who were dedicated to empowering their neighborhoods and people. M.E.Ch.A is inclusive of all Raza and strives for the empowerment and liberation of our gente through higher education. Plainly spoken, M.E.Ch.A is of the community.

Event Spotlight: The MEChA High School Conference spans a history of well over a decade and has hosted over 10,000 students in the Los Angeles area. It is the intent of all MEChisAs to provide participants with a better understanding of the importance of achieving higher education. Accordingly, the conference is comprised of a variety of cultural and academic workshops as well as information about majors, field of study and/or careers from current USC students and alumni.

Nuestra Alma Latina (NAL)
“Strength through Unity”
Organization Email: nuestra@usc.edu
Web: http://www-scf.usc.edu/~nuestra

Spring 2007 Mission Statement: “We the ladies and gentlemen of Nuestra Alma Latina will establish in each member a foundation of support through the bonds of friendship, academic excellence, social awareness and to lead by example in our university and community.” Nuestra Alma Latina was established in 1995 by eleven Latina, female student leaders. Its purpose was to provide a support group for Latinas on campus that helps its members succeed academically and socially to reach the end goal of graduation. NAL welcomes all students who wish to be committed members to the organization. We sponsor community service events, such as Halloween event with young children at a nearby learning center and social events including monthly dinners. NAL’s alumni continue to be active in the organization and have recently met their endowment fund goal for the NAL scholarship.

Rites of Sisterhood
“Sisterhood is colorblind...Hermandad No Tiene Ningun Color”
Email: ros@usc.edu
Website: http://www-scf.usc.edu/~ros

Rites of Sisterhood (ROS) is a unique mentoring program that guides young women of color from the Los Angeles community on a year long rite of passage by helping them identify, confront, and then overcome barriers to their success. Rites of Sisterhood is an organization that values community outreach, higher education, and sisterhood. ROS mentees are promising young ladies in 8th, 9th, and 10th grade who attend schools such as Crenshaw HS, Manual Arts HS, Foshay Learning Center, 32nd Street School, and Dorsey HS. ROS mentors are passionate young women of all ethnicities who are committed to advancing the goals and vision of our founders. Completely organized and managed by undergraduate students at the University of Southern California, ROS has emerged as one of the premiere community service organizations in South Los Angeles. Using self-determination, self-responsibility, and self-discovery as our three core principles, ROS strives to strengthen the University of Southern California’s surrounding community by guiding young women of color through the uncertain years of adolescence.

Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers at USC (SHPE-USC)
“SHPE promotes the development of Hispanics in engineering, science and other technical professions to
achieve educational excellence, economic opportunity and social equality.”
Contact: John Valdovinos- President, Andy De La Rosa- Internal Vice President, Mercedes Perez- External Vice President
Email: johnvald@usc.edu, adelaros@usc.edu, mercedep@usc.edu
Organization Email: shpeusc@gmail.com
Website: http://shpe.usc.edu/cs/Default.aspx

The National Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers was established in 1974 with goals focusing on
outreach to the community as well as networking among all Hispanics. SHPE-USC was one of the first
established student chapters in the nation, founded in 1975. Here at the University of Southern California,
we do our best to provide our members with the right tools to become successful individuals who also give
back to the community. In addition, we also have a long heritage of successful SHPE alumni who help us in successful completion of our goals. Event Spotlight: The SHPE Conference is the major event for the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers, Inc. and the largest technical and career conference for Hispanics in the country. Each year, the SHPE Conference attracts nearly 5,000 engineering professionals, students and corporate representatives. The 2007 SHPE Conference will take place at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, October 31 - November 4, 2007. Last year SHPE sent over 20 people to the SHPE Conference fully funded.

Contact SHPE-USC or email Monique Jackson at monique.jackson@shpe.org for more information.