Coming together to celebrate and spread awareness for Latino people and culture.

On September 15, 2006 the Organization of Latin Awareness for Students, or OLAS, came together for just this reason. The cause of the celebration was the Hispanic Independence Day. The event ran from 8 A.M. to around 2 P.M. and took place in the upper and middle level of Penn Valley’s cafeterias. The event was not only to celebrate Hispanic Independence Day but also used as a fund raiser for OLAS.

OLAS has held the burrito sale a few times and this year they made a few changes. Customers could pick from several ingredients for their burritos including pork, chicken, beef, rice, beans, cheese, sour cream, and salsa. They were also offering nachos, Mexican bread, brownies, cupcakes, and much more. Club members were raising money for their general budget to go towards future fund raisers and community service events.

Serving Food for OLAS

According to the OLAS constitution “The purpose of the organization is to bring together and foster friendship and learning among all students, faculty, staff and area residents who are interested in Hispanic culture and its contributions to society; to become aware of and explore the Hispanic culture as it developed in different parts of the world; and to provide academic, creative and social avenues for persons of all ages.”

OLAS’s Vice-President, Marcos Madrano, said “OLAS to me is just trying to spread awareness of Latino culture.” Madrano has been a member of OLAS since the beginning of the spring '06 semester. He thinks one of the most important things for OLAS to be successful in is networking to other schools and communities. His thinking is that the organization could grow and give much more back to the Latino community. "I just think that if we could grow and become a group that had chapters at all different schools the group could provide great servicenot to just the latino community but the community in general."

OLAS meets every Wednesday at 1pm in CC 002. The meetings are open to everybody. According to OLAS’s constitution “No one may be denied membership on the basis of race, color, age, disability, religion, gender, national origin, marital status, veteran status, political affiliation, sexual orientation or any other unlawful reason.”

Mindy Johnson, the director of the Campus Life and Leadership office, thinks that OLAS’s most important task is to inform the non-Latino community of the history, tradition, and culture of Latinos. Then when you understand Latinos you can look at the issues concerning Latinos. She also believes that OLAS is a organization with great potential.

“They [OLAS] have come a very long way and have so much potential to continue to grow.”

Copyright 2006 Metropolitan Community College