By Cristian Reyes, Oct. 18, 2022
The César E. Chávez Center for Higher Education hosted a game night on Thursday, Oct. 13 for Latinx students to socialize, eat snacks and play a modern rendition of a classic Mexican bingo game.
CECCHE is a resource center on campus committed to helping those of the Hispanic community at Cal Poly Pomona academically and socially.
In the Bronco Student Center, students were welcomed by Omar Lunar, assistant coordinator for CECCHE, and other social justice leaders of the resource center. Students were offered complimentary snacks and drinks as they settled into their seats for the game.
“Millennial Lotería” cards were then handed out to participants. This game is a twist on the traditional Mexican bingo game where the cards that are called out are based on current trends and stereotypes but in the style of the original game.
“It’s just being able to laugh about all the different lotería cards just because it had the traditional, original pictures but blended it with new terms that we use now,” said Kaitlyn Gomez, a second–year kinesiology major, when asked about her favorite moment of the event.
While Lunar and others called out the cards, many laughed at the name of the cards as they were references to current societal slang. For example, “El Twitter” replaced the original card that was called “El Cotorro” which means parrot in Spanish. Both cards also have a picture of a parrot with the modern game parrot colored blue to represent the social media app logo. They then would go on small tangents or make humorous remarks that really entertained students and got them more involved in the game.
Students who filled out their cards first were the winners and got to choose between a cup or a shirt as their prize. There were three rounds played and all the rounds were tranquil, allowing students to take it easy and enjoy their time away from the classroom.
“I think it’s important for Latinx students because we don’t try to cater only for Mexican students,” said Social Justice Leader Teresa Aquino. “I think it’s important for students to know that we’re here for them and that there’s resources that they could use and also be involved with the community.”
Aquino mentioned that CECCHE is on campus to help all the Latinx students whether it be through offered programs, study spaces or use of appliances such as a microwave, a fridge and a pantry.
More students attended the event than anticipated as this was one of their first events back on campus for CECCHE.
“Everyone was laughing, and everyone was having a good time,” said Lunar. “It was a successful event because we had a little more people than expected and we ran out of cards.”
Lunar believes the culture centers are the heart of the CPP campus. He explained that events like the game night are important as it helps give Latinx and Hispanic students a space on campus and a sense of belonging. For future events, Lunar wants to have more space for more students and a longer event time.
“Seeing them happy, seeing them enjoy and forget about their stress just for a bit, it makes me happy,” said Lunar.
CECCHE is set to have more events coming up including their 28th annual “Dia de Los Muertos Celebration” on Nov. 4.
Feature image courtesy of Cristian Reyes
