Latino, GLBT students welcomed

Last Friday, IU's Latino culture center La Casa and the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transsexual Student Support Services paired up to kick off the school year with their sixth annual open house.\nThe two centers, located next door to each other on Seventh Street, collaborated on their front lawns as a way for students to get to know each other and each center's staff and learn more about the programs and services that the centers offer. The event featured free lunch and ice cream, tours of both the centers and tables set up with informational brochures about upcoming La Casa and GLBT events.\nLa Casa and GLBTSSS have worked side by side since the GLBT office's opening 12 years ago. \n"We try to model collaboration," said Doug Bauder, coordinator of GLBTSSS. "We co-sponsor programs together on the intersection of issues of culture and sexual orientation and/or gender identity. We provide resources on topics of mutual concern, and, when possible, we simply socialize together."\nLillian Casillas, director of La Casa, thinks that having active Latino and GLBT centers will help increase awareness of both groups. \n"The world is diverse, and the Latino community is growing," she said. "People are going to have contact with us and GLBT people, and I think that getting to know more about both groups will increase understanding."\nThroughout the year, La Casa offers its space and resources to meetings that are too large to be held in the smaller GLBTSSS office. La Casa is equipped with a library, a kitchen, a movie room, computer labs and study areas and meeting rooms open to everyone, according to its Web site. \n"We are going by the whole concept that when you break bread together you are establishing a more meaningful relationship," Casillas said. "I want to reach out to other groups. We are here to provide support to all students."\nBoth groups provide educational and social opportunities, namely to the respective minority groups they work to serve. Educational resources come in the form of books and DVDs, panel and group discussions and occasional speakers.\nWith these and an array of other programs, such as La Casa's cooking class and GLBTSSS's weekend getaways, students have ample chance to get involved. In fact, IU was recently named one of the top campuses in the country for GLBT students because of its resources and strong community.\nMany of those who visited the open house were new students seeking to become active in the GLBT or Latino community.\n"The open house provided a chance for me to see what the (GLBT) group was all about," freshman James Sullivan said. "It was fun and relaxed and gave me a chance to meet some very friendly and inviting people. It was one of the first times I arrived on campus that I lost the nervous edge associated with not knowing anyone on campus"