Senior Andrea Zamudio has been part of the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers, or SHPE, all four years at NC State.
Nationally, SHPE is the largest national organization dedicated to fostering Hispanic leadership in STEM. This year at the College of Engineering, Zamudio is the chapter president and she remains just as excited about building community as she was on day one.
“We’re really passionate about building a community where we can kind of build our best professional selves and improve on our resume skills, our workshop, our interview skills, our LinkedIn elevator pitch, all that, but with the ultimate goal of creating a space where we all feel like we belong in this community of professionals,” said Zamudio, who is an industrial engineering major.
Students don’t have to be a part of the COE to participate, nor do they have to be Latinx, as long as they share the goal of highlighting that specific community. In many of their events, SHPE collaborates with other Latinx organizations on campus, especially during Latinx Heritage Month, which takes place from Sept. 15 to Oct. 15.
Latinx Heritage Month, also known as Hispanic Heritage Month, has been around since 1988, when it was expanded from a week in September to include two weeks in October. SHPE uses the term Latinx instead of Hispanic to honor Latin American culture rather than Spanish colonialism.
“I think gradually, all the organizations on campus have kind of gravitated towards Latinx,” Zamudio said. “We’ve all seen the benefits of the X being more inclusive.
“One of our really big events that we did already was the Latinx Heritage Month kickoff in Talley [Student Union]. We all had a table out in the lobby and we presented ourselves and played our music. We are always looking for more people to join us and celebrate our heritage.”
SHPE has also collaborated with other organizations to host the school’s Latinx cookout, which also incorporated food, music and dancing. The organization is also raffling off prizes for Latinx Heritage Month, including a tortilla blanket and a Starbucks cup. The latter was designed by a Latinx artist.
In terms of COE events, SHPE also participated in a Wellness Day soccer tournament in collaboration with Lambda Theta Phi Fraternity, Inc. and the Association of Latino Professionals for America.
“This event was a great opportunity for students to engage in friendly competition, unwind and take the mind off of school and meet other members of the community,” Zamudio said.
“It’s just really nice when everyone’s together on campus because sometimes it can be difficult to not see each other represented in classes. When we’re all together in one space, it’s really heartwarming.”
Follow SHPE on TikTok at @shpencsu and on Instagram at @shpencsu.
