El Grito de Lares

El Grito de Lares E-Board with poet Tato Laviera

Fordham University offers many clubs for their students to join ranging from academic clubs to culture clubs. One of the culture clubs available at Fordham’s Rose Hill Campus is El Grito de Lares,which means “the cry of Lares” in Spanish. It stands for the first revolution against Spanish rule in Puerto Rico. This is a Hispanic club that “serves to increase the awareness of the heritage of Latinos through social and cultural programming”. Although it is a Hispanic culture club, students of all races can join!

This club holds meetings every other Thursday during activity hour, that way anyone can participate. Anything and everything is discussed during these meetings, where members can enjoy the discussions and eat great food! Grito de Lares also holds many events during the school year to spread the awareness of the Latino heritage. It recently hosted poet Tato Laviera, a Nuyorican poet, whose famous Spanglish poems address language, culture, identity and race. It also holds many fun events where students can just take a break from school and relax. They are currently giving salsa lessons to any student willing to learn. They hold an annual Latin Gala where a popular Latino artist comes to Rose Hill and performs. I attended last year’s Latin Gala and had the time of my life! There was great food and great music. Not to mention the wonderful performances by the reggaeton artist Fuego and bachata artist Luis Vargas!

El Grito de Lares is only one of many great clubs to join at the Rose Hill campus. If you’re ever around, please come and check out any events that the club is holding!