It’s 9:30 p.m. on Tuesday, and we enter Simon 122 ready to give our presentation to appeal for Association of Latin American Students’ 25th Anniversary Gala funding. We entered confident and left in tears (not a hyperbole—tears were, in fact, shed) with the news that we were allocated $0 out of $4251.25 appealed for buses, speaker, food and DJ. We watched for over an hour as our event was shredded to pieces.

“Why did you decide on a Gala?”

Why wouldn’t we have a Gala? Existing on this campus for 25 years seems insignificant to you, but to me, it is a milestone. This limited amount of time speaks to the structural inequalities that exist for people of color to access higher education. How else would you suggest we celebrate the success of a community which gets depicted as criminals, devalued as contributing citizens, and underestimated on the daily? Perhaps you can tell me how you plan on celebrating your 164th anniversary.

“They are celebrating their… identity.”

Your discomfort is showing. Your blatant hesitation in naming us, a minority in this country, demonstrates your inability to understand our experience attending a predominantly white institution.

“I am concerned about actual turnout.”

How do you expect us to bring high attendance when we only have 6.67 percent Latinx students on campus? Look around—there are not that many of us. Just because we don’t have the numbers does not mean that we do not matter. Picking and choosing to fund events based on attendance tells me that my presence on campus is only welcome when I benefit you, that the few of us on campus aren’t worth holding events for unless you get an event to write your personal statement about a time you dealt with people different than you.

“We only like to fund one banquet a year.”

This argument was presented since we held a formal in collaboration with Mixed and People Like US (+PLUS) last fall. I would buy that argument—if it was said anywhere in your manual. Are we being penalized for our solidarity with other groups? Does supporting other marginalized communities on this campus in their celebrations mean we cannot have our own?

“We aren’t sure how this aligns with your mission.”

Perhaps, it is difficult for you to see how this celebration ties in with our mission. Our mission is to build a community for Latinx students. We held a summit last fall where every individual asked for more opportunities to gather. How can we serve the needs of our community if we don’t have the financial resources to do so? We’ve had this recurring battle between Treasury and Association of Latin American Students (ALAS): what we want to provide for our community is denied because of budget issues. Year after year, we are over-funded for Carnaval and under-funded for our Research Symposium or Hispanic Heritage Month. Carnaval is an opportunity for Wash. U. to consume the parts of our culture that they like: dancing, the outfits, even the music. Is this the type of perception people have of our community—that we are simply something to consume? We fought for four years before finally getting funding for a speaker this year. As one of you mentioned, the focus of Treasury shouldn’t be to program our events for us, but it also shouldn’t be to decide what space we take up on campus.

“It’s not that we don’t care about this event, or that we don’t think that it is important.”

Your statement attempted to bring us comfort and absolve you of your guilt. You may claim that this doesn’t represent a declaration of lack of importance, but that’s not how I feel—when you think something is important, you defend it. I walk across this campus feeling invisible because the issues in my community are not addressed. For most students, there is only one job: to go to school. For me, as a woman of color, my job is to go to school, battle microaggressions and institutional racism and be the voice of my community. And trust me, I don’t get paid enough.

We just elected new Treasury representatives for the next year—is this how you want to start your legacy, waving off our legacy and 25 years of service and commitment as “another formal”?