Finding belonging with some of NIRSA’s Latinx Caucus community

As we head into the final part of October and Hispanic Heritage Month is behind us for another year, I want to thank all the NIRSA members who took time these past few weeks to get to know and celebrate our community. I first found my home in campus recreation at Wingate University taking group fitness classes and playing sports where I always found myself at the McGee Center. Feeling like family, I had mentors–like Jade Willey and Dei Reich, Assistant Dean of Campus Life, Director of Campus Recreation and Campus Involvement at Wingate University–who supported me through some hard times and encouraged me to explore campus recreation as a professional path, leading me to a graduate assistantship at the University of Kentucky. Leaders like Casey Gilvin, Fitness Director at the University of Kentucky,  Sarah Leskovec, NIRSA Director of Membership and Leadership, and Rob Hayslett, Associate Director of Campus Recreation at University of Kentucky extended opportunities to me that helped me harness my voice. I didn’t often feel cultural representation until moving to Richmond. Thanks to the encouragement from Jessica Norman, former Assistant Director of Fitness at Virginia Commonwealth University, I now host my own Latin dance lessons, emceed our Latine Achievement Ceremony and participate in culturally engaging events across campus. I can show up as myself in a community of celebration and support. Yes, we are technically past the end of Hispanic Heritage Month in 2023. But one month isn’t enough to cover the celebration that should be year-round! Or, more likely, as my dad always says, we are running on Peruvian time. So, to close out this year’s celebration I asked a few NIRSA Latinx Community Caucus members to share with you all a little bit about their own identities, where they find belonging on campus, and to share a bit about their pathways into campus recreation and their current roles on campus. I hope you enjoy getting to know more about these two stellar members from the profession:

Iván Serrano

Iván Serrano is currently Fitness Manager at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, where he’s been working since 2018. He got his start working in campus recreation in 2011 working as an attendant and group fitness instructor at Cal State LA during undergraduate program. Iván later returned to Cal State LA Rec Center as the Fitness Coordinator while concluding graduate program at Cal State Fullerton. Working at a Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) Iván felt right at home when starting his career in campus recreation. But professional development events–especially association-wide conferences–are spaces where many professionals and students discover their recreational career paths. However, at his first NIRSA Annual Conference, Iván discovered an unsettling dissonance: “My first NIRSA Annual Conference experience in 2019 was a culture shock. I quickly realized there were not a lot of people who looked like me attending that year’s event in Boston,” says Iván. Iván grew up in a Mexican family in Southern California, and he admits that he didn’t really feel connected to the other attendees at the conference. But he wanted to play a part in helping to welcome the next generation of Latinx leaders in campus recreation: “When I saw the opportunity to join the NIRSA Latinx Caucus community come up in my inbox, I knew I wanted to be involved.” Since joining the NIRSA Latinx Caucus Community, he’s developed a real sense of belonging and Iván can now count many mentors he’s met along the way. And now he wants to keep the cycle going: “I know there’s a lot of really good talent that we have here and a lot of people could do well in this industry. They just don’t know that it’s an opportunity because they don’t think that it’s an industry that’s made for them and that’s 100% why I’m here.”

Brandon Bermea

As the Coordinator Competitive Sports & Camps at Oklahoma State University, Brandon Bermea oversees over 90 different sport leagues, tournaments, and clubs. Brandon shared similar experiences of feeling like an outsider when he first started getting involved in officiating at NIRSA tournaments. Mentorship has been a large part of Brandon’s journey and helped him to find belonging in the organization: “People like Mike Castaneda, Director of Recreation & Wellness at Loyola University Maryland, let me know that there is a place for me in campus recreation–he and others really inspire me to get involved,” says Brandon. Less than 10% of Oklahoma State University students identify as Hispanic or Latino, “But,” Brandon says, “there are definitely people that want to get involved that have similar backgrounds to me. And it’s cool to be a leader that [students] can look up to.” Brandon lights up as he talks about inspiring the next generation of leaders in recreation. He reflects on the impact his participation in the industry can have on even one individual. “They might say ‘Hey, somebody like me is in a leadership role’ and know that they can too.” Brandon continues to champion inclusion efforts on his campus in Stillwater. By expanding a partnership with the Special Olympics, Brandon has helped OSU to have the first Unified College Program in the state.

Learn more

Want to know more about what it is like to navigate working in higher education as someone who identifies as Latinx? Keep an eye out for our upcoming NIRSA Latinx Community Caucus meetings.