LUCHA brings together food and baseball

By: Andrew Nowel, Sports Layout Editor

With the spring semester in full swing, Latinos United Celebrating Hispanic Advocacy (LUCHA) continues to provide opportunities for all students looking to learn more about Hispanic culture. Throughout March, LUCHA has put on many events that encompass the experience of multiple cultures for the Canisius community.

On March 16, LUCHA hosted a World Baseball Classic (WBC) watch party as Venezuela took on Italy in the quarterfinal round of the WBC. Venezuela, the eventual champion of the tournament, has roots deeply in Hispanic culture from 16th-century Spanish colonization. Angel Suarez-Cruz, the vice president of LUCHA, utilized his love for baseball and his Hispanic background to come up with the event. “Baseball has been one of the most popular sports in the Caribbean. It also brings people together, especially with the WBC happening every three years,” said Suarez-Cruz on Thursday afternoon. The event was small, but a great way to bring together a sport and a culture.

A week later on March 23, LUCHA hosted another event with food, Kahoot and prizes. Both events provided students with “a welcoming community that they were looking for” something that Suarez-Cruz, himself, hopes to continue in years to come with the club. Each event that LUCHA does is another way to educate the Griffs on Hispanic culture and introduce them to the different types of cuisines. “We see a lot of success with pastry events in the library, which I’m happy about because it allows us to get a better sense of what Canisius likes,” said Suarez-Cruz. He went on to add that “free food is also free food,” which not many people would pass up on.

A big component of LUCHA is showcasing local restaurants with their events. Suarez-Cruz and the executive board always promote these restaurants by letting their attendees know where the food came from, so they can go out to the restaurants. As the semester winds down, LUCHA still has multiple events coming up and many more in the works. Suarez-Cruz is looking to come up with an idea for an event related to the culture of Puerto Rico and its Christmas traditions when next academic year rolls around.

With this and other events in the works for LUCHA, the club continues to strive toward educating the Canisius community in every way they can. From the diamond to the kitchen, Hispanic culture covers it all.