Students chowed down on BLTs with faculty and staff as they learned about the resources in university departments.

The Latino Resource Center and De Mujer a Mujer hosted the Bringing Latinos Together mixer Tuesday afternoon to bring together students, faculty and staff from all majors. De Mujer a Mujer is an organization that provides academic support for Latina students.

The event has become a tradition for the resource center, which hosted its first BLT mixer last year.

“It’s beneficial for everyone to have an event like this, [which] allows students to get to know other students with different majors,” said Jocelyn Calles, student director of De Mujer a Mujer. “Also, [it] is a way to bridge the gap between students and faculty.”

Calles said the event cost $150 to $200.

“[The BLT mixer] is great; brings a lot of Latinos together,” said junior kinesiology major Jose Rios. “… We know each other, it’s just nice when all of us are together.”

The event was a joint effort between the board of De Mujer a Mujer and the Latino Resource Center.

“[I like this event] because it helps students that are struggling relate to students or staff that struggled at that time in their life, as well,” Calles said.

The goal of the mixer was to make students more familiar with the resources they can use when they have questions, Calles said.

“[The idea behind this event] came from our faculty adviser explaining that it would be great if we can have a mixer where faculty, staff and students can all get together and meet on common ground,” Calles said.

De Mujer a Mujer and the Latino Resource Center’s next major event is the Latina Empowerment Seminar, which takes place next semester.

“[This event] will be fun. Even though it’s more focused as a lecture than a celebration, it’s informative,” said freshman nursing major Yesenia Ramirez.

De Mujer a Mujer meets weekly at the Latino Resource Center. More information on the organization is available online at niu.edu/lrc.