In celebration of Scholars Latino Initiative’s first decade as a Virginia nonprofit and with the support of many invaluable partners and sponsors listed below, ¡10th Anniversary Tapas! brought together the SLI community for a night of inspiring speeches, incredible food, and much more.
Presenters included Dulce Alonso, who as one of SLI’s first alumni is featured in the SLI Beginnings video, and SLI program directors Carlos Alemán (also featured in the video) and Hannah Bowman Hrasky.
Guests also enjoyed mingling over foods and beverages by A Bowl of Good, Cinnamon Bear Bakery & Deli, El Sol Mexican Restaurant, La Morena Mexican Food, Lucien’s Catering, Magdalena Bakery, Saint Isidore Homestead & Permaculture, and Santa Isabel Coffee. Additional highlights included an open bar with wine and Three Notch’d Valley Collab House beers, live music by Lua Project, and salsa and bachata dancing led by Phillip and Natasha Fusaro of Dance Together, all at On Sunny Slope Farm near Harrisonburg.
Words of celebration by Hannah Bowman Hrasky, SLI board member and program director at Harrisonburg High School:
“Nine years ago, Laura Feichtinger-Mcgrath, Sandy Mercer, Carlos, and I met to talk about my joining the team. They gushed about the three scholars in the program, the mission of the organization, and the commitment of all the adults and students involved. I got to tag along with Dulce, Willy, Raul, Sandy, and Carlos to a campus visit at EMU and saw the incredibly tight bond they had formed. I knew I wanted to be part of that little family.
Over the last nine years, SLI has changed my life. I have learned and continue to learn so much about the many obstacles facing Latinx students as they navigate predominantly white spaces, about the ever changing policies surrounding documentation, about how laws and systems of power directly impact marginalized students.
Most of all, I’ve learned about perseverance. I’ve seen our students struggle with challenging course loads, expectations of them that are either far too low or far too high, immigration law, institutionalized obstacles, and severe uncertainty about their own or their family’s ability to even live in their homes. In the face of all of this, our scholars are unwavering. They have set the example for future students, for me, and for this organization of how to relentlessly pursue a goal. SLI’s work and our success over the last decade is entirely because of this example of perseverance from our students.
Now, when I look out at the twenty-eight current SLI scholars at HHS sitting in my classroom, I am overwhelmed with gratitude and pride. I am so grateful for them, I’m so grateful for this organization, and I’m so grateful to all of you who have demonstrated your support over the last ten years.
Here’s to the next decade. Thank you all so much.”
ES