La Salle has six total affinity groups, all of which have unique features and culture. Their purpose is to support students who come from all kinds of different backgrounds. According to the student leaders, affinity groups are supposed to unite and uplift students from different ethnicities, as well as spreading different cultures throughout the community. The goal is to make everyone feel accepted and feel like they belong.

Here are La Salle’s affinity groups at a glance.

Black Student Union 

The Black Student Union (BSU) affinity group is aiming to meet at least once a month starting on Oct. 25, as junior Yedidiah Gebremariam, one of the BSU leaders, wants to cultivate a sense of community with more bonding experiences than compared to last year.

Advocating for Black students at La Salle is why BSU is an affinity group, Gebremariam said.

Gebremariam chose to help lead BSU alongside senior Trey Williams because of the group’s mission, as she wants to improve the impact and frequency of BSU meetings. 

These meetings — held mainly in art teacher Ms. Cha Asokan’s room — will focus on planning for an assembly during Black History Month and discussing the affinity group’s goals for the year, along with simply hanging out, watching movies, and having snacks.

According to Gebremariam, “when people think of [affinity] groups, I feel like some people who aren’t a part of them feel divided,” she said. “But really just being a part of any group and finding your people, it can make our [community] as a school stronger.” 

The affinity group is a space where you can “express yourself,” she said, emphasizing that the affinity group includes allies and that meetings are open to students outside of BSU as well.

This year, Gebremariam hopes that BSU will be hosting potlucks, as they would like to bring a variety of Black cultural dishes, not just the most well known ones. They also plan on helping with the Black History Month assembly. 

“I feel like Black culture is very diverse,” she said. “At La Salle there are many Black students who come from very different backgrounds, so just finding unity between [the cultures].”

Unidos

Unidos, led by seniors Kenya Ramirez and Mercedes Rodriguez, is a Hispanic heritage group that has been at La Salle for years.

Ramirez expressed that she was motivated to become a leader of Unidos because she wanted to be a more involved participant in the planning process. She explained that events and assemblies, such as the one held during Hispanic Heritage Month, highlighting Aztec dancers, raised awareness around Latiné culture and community for the broader student body, expanding the school’s understanding of Hispanic students and the variety of cultures represented here.

She says that Unidos will be meeting at least once a month in religion teacher Mr. Noah Banks’ room during flex.

Their meetings consist of snacks, hangouts, and planning for potlucks.

According to Ramirez, they are going to bring aguas frescas, tostadas, tinga, esquites, and other foods important to their culture that haven’t yet been shared with the community before to future potlucks. 

Some holidays they plan on bringing food for the Day of the Dead, Cinco De Mayo, and Posada, a Hispanic holiday about the journey of Mary and Joseph to find a safe spot to give birth to Jesus. 

Ramirez explained that while people can often generalize members of the Hispanic community as “just Mexican people,” individuals from a variety of countries and backgrounds are included in Latiné heritage, such as Director of Community and Student Leadership Ms. Adriana Noesi, who immigrated to the U.S. from Venezuela. 

“The purpose of our affinity group is to spread our culture around,” she said. “It’s not just about people who are Hispanic or [Latiné], it’s whoever wants to know more about our culture.”

All Minds, All Bodies 

The All Minds All Bodies affinity group meets at least every Friday in counselor Ms. Chris Babinec’s office during flex time, and is led by senior Avari Brocker. 

Their meetings are focused on helping students with specific accommodations, sharing new learning tactics, and supporting one another.

All Minds All Bodies also has an open discussion forum in their Schoology group, allowing students to have somewhere to share their experiences and feelings. In addition, they annually arrange decorations and celebrations for Disability Awareness Month.  

Not only has Brocker started this affinity group, she has also founded her own website called Learning Curb to give people in the community resources regarding disabilities.

Not knowing she had dyslexia, dysgraphia, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in the beginning of her high school journey, Brocker explained she felt isolated by her unique experiences.

“I just felt like it was hard not to feel alone,” she said. “You’re the last one to finish every test; you’re the one asking for extensions on homework; you feel like you’re the only one on accommodations, when, in reality, there’s so many of us.”

Brocker recognized the need to establish a space for people in the community with disabilities to feel heard and seen. 

“So, I made that space,” she said.

All Minds All Bodies aims at inclusivity. Brocker said that, regardless of what type of disability people have, the severity of it, or if you don’t know if you have a disability, everyone is invited to join.

“I think that’s what’s cool about our affinity group,” Brocker said. “You don’t need to share if you have a disability, but that space is always open for you.”

Brocker says that she hopes the club can help emphasize the importance of intentionally working to make everyone feel welcome, not just members of the community that are able-bodied or neurotypical.

“Neurodivergent points of view should be considered and that we deserve a space to feel supported where our access needs are met.” 

Pride Alliance 

To sophomore Ryan Lengkeek, the Pride Alliance has two main functions at La Salle — to promote community among LGBTQIA+ students and to remind our larger community to listen to, and to acknowledge the lives and stories of those students. 

Lengkeek feels that this part of his identity can be made comedic in our culture.

“I feel like, in order to really have conversations about what needs to happen to make [LGBTQIA+] people feel more included, we need to take it more seriously and have conversations about it,” he said.

Along with advocating for LGBTQIA+ students, the group also strives to provide belonging.

“It’s to give [LGBTQIA+ students] of La Salle a place, a good sense of community,” he said. “At a Catholic school, it’s often hard to feel welcomed and find people who have similar interests to you and a similar story to you.”

Meeting subjects range from serious to silly. From gathering in the counseling center or library to discuss LGBTQIA+ issues and perspectives, to arts and crafts or movie nights.

The members of the Pride Alliance use much of their time to host fun events such as Night on Broadway and friendship bracelet making sessions, along with logistical meetings to orchestrate them. 

Lengkeek looks forward to showing people an image of the affinity group that is not only for the members of the LGBTQIA+ community, but here to help foster inclusivity through all of La Salle.

He says he wants to host events where “people beyond the [LGBTQIA+] community are welcomed, and it’s seen as more of a community building event.”

Middle Eastern Student Union 

Junior Zachary El Youssef leads the Middle Eastern Student Union (MESU) and takes pride in the traditions set in place by his siblings who led it before him. 

One main type of event the MESU hosts are potlucks, celebrating their culture with middle eastern and mediterranean foods.  

“I’ve seen pictures of past potlucks, and it’s like so many people showed up, students, teachers, people from outside the school, family,” El Youssef said. “It’s really great to see people like that come together over something as simple as food and tradition, and it really is a beautiful thing.”

El Youssef says that he would like to sustain this sense of community and improve it wherever he can. 

In the assembly he helped to host in Spring 2024, El Youssef’s mom came to speak on the experience of growing up as a Middle Eastern person in America during a time when that area of the world was facing scrutiny from much of the West.

They like to meet every one to two weeks during Flex Time in social studies teacher Mr. Peter Snow’s classroom. El Youssef says they “like to diversify” their meetings, playing games and doing activities together.

To El Youssef, hosting potlucks and being a leader of the Middle Eastern Student Union means spreading positive imagery of Middle Eastern communities and their cultures, as well as bringing the community together to educate people on it. 

Asian American Pacific Islander Club 

The Asian American Pacific Islander affinity group meets approximately once a month on the first or last Friday in english teacher Ms. Amy May’s or science teacher Mr. Ryan Kain’s room where they usually have snacks, entertainment, and games. 

“We’re really flexible,” said senior Minh Trinh, one of seven leaders of the affinity group. “If you want to go once a year to our meetings, that’s totally fine.” 

During the club fair, the groups’ snacks were popular, so the next possible event on their radar is a movie with snacks.

Another thing to look forward to is the Lunar New Year, during which the group hosts a potluck to celebrate the occasion. 

“Getting to eat from different cultures is really cool,” Trinh said. “That’s the biggest event of our year.”

The group has a loud and fun environment. “Everyone’s like, yelling, but in a good way,” she said. “Everyone’s super welcoming.”

According to Trinh, a member since her freshman year, she initially didn’t attend many club meetings because she didn’t know many people. However, being in the club has helped her to make friends and talk to more people, making her want to become a club leader in order to forge stronger connections.