Board members of the Latin American Student Organization discussed the issues they have faced as Latinx individuals at their student panel Thursday evening.

Some members said they experienced a bit of a culture shock when they arrived in Charleston for the first time.

Kelly Aguilar, senior psychology major and event coordinator of LASO, said her hometown is predominantly Latino, so she had to adjust to a world where Latinos are not the majority.

Like Aguilar, Luis Paniagua, sophomore graphic design major and treasurer of LASO, said the minority is the majority where he is from.

“Coming here, it’s like I’ve experienced the opposite,” Paniagua said. “I’m like, ‘Oh, so this is what other people actually feel like.’ We are the minority and white people are the majority.”

Diana Argueta, sophomore Spanish major and president of LASO, said she experienced a culture shock when she arrived in Charleston, which was scary for her.

“I did go through a little bit of depression, I’m not going to lie,” Argueta said. “I was really homesick, but I fought through it. I found my crowd, and that’s something I encourage everyone to do.”

LASO’s biggest wish for the Latinx community in Charleston, they said, was to feel more represented at Eastern and to feel safe both on campus and throughout Charleston.

“We need to have a one-on-one conversation with (Eastern President David Glassman) and bring up issues that will affect people in the future,” Argueta said. “I need (students) to be aware that things that are going on now are not OK and that I need them to be educated on social issues and current issues.”

Aguilar said her freshman year was the same year President Donald Trump was voted into office.

She described the morning after the election as a quiet one, with her professors spending the day reassuring the students of color that they were safe in the classrooms.

The once positive messages then read a variety of new messages, like, “MAGA,” “Build the wall,” “Go back to your country,” and other racial slurs, Aguilar said.

She described the morning after the election as a quiet one, with her professors spending the day reassuring the students of color that they were safe in the classrooms.

The once positive messages then read a variety of new messages, like, “MAGA,” “Build the wall,” “Go back to your country,” and other racial slurs, Aguilar said.

Hannah Shillo can be reached at 581-2812 or hlshillo@eiu.edu