Karina Méndez was in a Burger King in Puerto Rico when she decided to channel her anger and disappointment into passion. It was the winter of 2017.

Méndez was with Nicole Pacateque, a friend from Syracuse University — the two were back on the island for the first time since Hurricane Maria hit. In the fast-food spot, they met a Pennsylvania State University student who was also home for winter break.

He told Méndez and Pacateque about his university’s Puerto Rican student association. It gave him a sense of community and he was proud of it, which frustrated Méndez. Why hadn’t she thought of that?

In the following months, Méndez mobilized her closest Puerto Rican friends at SU — Jeffrey Albelo, Christian Borrero and Pacateque. All four students had thought of creating a similar group, but hadn’t mentioned it out loud.

“There was no organization on campus that brought us together,” Méndez said. “This was a thing that should’ve been done years ago. We’re kind of breaking through barriers.”

In April 2018, they did. As SU’s Puerto Rican Student Association formed, the four founders took on major roles in its executive board. Albelo, a senior psychology major, was the president. Méndez, a sophomore, became its vice president. Borrero and Pacateque, both sophomores who attended the same high school in Puerto Rico, began as co-secretaries.

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PRSA’s first general body meeting commenced Sept. 10 and had about 50 participants. The attendees consisted of freshmen, graduate students and faculty members.

In its first semester as an official group, Paceteque said the founders established a “home away from home.” He said PRSA operates on three pillars: strengthening the Puerto Rican community, helping descendants connect with their roots and promoting the culture to the broader student body.

Despite receiving no funding from SU, PRSA is finding ways to make a difference. Its first event, “Voces en Exilio,” will be hosted by La Casita Cultural Center on Sept. 20 — one year after Hurricane Maria hit the island. The event, which aims to “celebrate life and resilience,” will include a video produced by PRSA.

“If we can come together in times of need,” Albelo said, “why can’t we come together to promote our culture? We want to have fun, to have a sense of unity.”

Albelo first met his fellow co-founders at a university-sponsored event in Dorado, Puerto Rico in 2017. He always wondered why there wasn’t a campus organization for Puerto Ricans, so he made sure to attend the program for incoming freshmen and to help show them a glimpse of what their lives in the United States could be like.

During the mixer, Albelo immediately connected with Méndez, Pacateque and Borrero. They started a group chat and stayed in contact throughout the next semester. Then Hurricane Maria hit.

The hurricane set Puerto Rico’s economy back by $30 billion, according to CNN. It also wrecked the emotional stability of Puerto Ricans on campus. Albelo had his funds frozen. Méndez couldn’t reach her friends and family for a month. Pacateque and Borrero each got a job to send money to their families. Borrero’s family eventually lost their rental home due to the economic strain.

“We kind of disconnected,” Méndez said. “We were going through our adversity in different ways … I thought this was an inner demon of mine.”

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Méndez didn’t know it at the time, but her friends went through similar hardships. She and Pacateque were able to go home for winter break, and that’s when they heard about Penn State’s program, along with other universities’ student associations.

The day after classes resumed, Méndez said she reached her tipping point in Schine Student Center. She opened up to her friends. They each wanted a community support group and couldn’t find any. So, they created their own.

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The quartet balanced school work while working to become a registered student group, which included interviews, meetings and compiling a 20-page constitution. Fearful of the early February deadline, they emailed their adviser and asked for an extension. When they weren’t given one, they made a late-night coffee run before piling into Schine Student Center’s room 321 to finish the constitution. After seven hours of work, they went back to their dorms at 3:20 a.m., and filed the application the next morning.

Two months later, the PRSA was officially recognized by SU.

“Puerto Rican culture is so loving and eclectic, that it’s so open to everybody,” Méndez said. “If you feel that you’re ethnically alone on this campus, come to one of our meetings.”

When the group tabled for the first time two weeks ago, they couldn’t afford a banner so they hung a Puerto Rican flag on the wall. They compiled more than 140 signatures over three days. Borrero said one Puerto Rican freshman saw the red, blue and white reminder of home, called her mom and cried.

On Sept. 10, 10 minutes before the meeting, four people showed up. But by the time the meeting started just after 7 p.m, the room was full and Albelo, Méndez, Pacateque and Borrero saw the community they had worked so hard to foster.

“We want people to know that we’re here,” Pacateque said. “We’re on campus. We’re not just on the news. We are new, we’re trying to do the best we can.”

Published on September 17, 2018 at 9:21 pm

Contact Nick: nialvare@syr.edu | @nick_a_alvarez