The Faculty Club was the perfect setting for the Hispanic Faculty and Staff welcome gathering, which was held on September 19th. This event was co-sponsored by the Organization of Hispanic Faculty and Staff (OHFS), the Hispanic Oversight Committee (HOC), and the Office of Minority Affairs (OMA).

The purpose of this gathering was to welcome new and returning Latin@ faculty and staff as the new academic year begins.

The newcomers Claudio Lezama and Santiago Pártida from Mexico.

Claudio Lezama, a visiting scholar in the microbiology who has been in Columbus for about two months said: “This is the first time I learned other latin@s existed in OSU. This is a great opportunity to be connected with other latin@s and initiate joint activities”. Another new face was Santiago Pártida, from Children’s Research Institute, he said: “This event is excellent. I have met people that I can collaborate with scientifically. I believe it is important to meet people with the same cultural background”.

There were also some students and parents who came to meet other Latin@s.Parents were particularly happy to be there because they felt there was a community who cared and that there were individuals their children could contact if they needed some help.

	Mikki Mace and her mother Mireya Springer listen closely to Carmen Alvarez-Backenridge's advice.

Marianella (Mikki) Mace, a high school senior that is planning on applying to OSU next year said “I am really exited to meet everybody, I have been getting information and advice that I can use for my application next year”.

There were some general information provided, as everyone enjoyed the food and beverages. Jose Castro and Henry Fischbach announced the formation of a new HOC; Jose Cabral announced that a survey for Hispanic/Latin@ faculty and staff will be conducted later in the quarter. Cabral urged everybody to become involved, “the point of the survey is to establish a baseline about why we (faculty and staff) are here,” he said.