Latinx is a gender neutral alternative to latino/latina. The "x" replaces the masculine "o" and the feminine "a" used in Spanish and Portugese. The term first became popular online in 2016 and is commonly used by activists and in higher education.

In addition to being a Park Scholar, Joe Cruz is involved with numerous Latinx organizations. Cruz is a member of Cultura Ithaca, African Latino Society, PODER, MEChA (Movimiento Estudiantil Chican@ de Aztlán) and ​Immigrant Rights Coalition of Tompkins County.

Cine Con Cultura is an annual film festival held by Cultura Ithaca. The event takes place during Latinx Heritage Month and highlights Latinx filmmakers. This year, Hasta La Raiz and El Tiempo Nublado were among the films shown. Screenings were held at Cornell, Ithaca College and Cinemapolis in downtown Ithaca.

Cultura Ithaca is a nonprofit organization based in Ithaca. Its goal is to share Latinx culture with the community through educational events. Cultura Ithaca was founded by Carolina Osorio Gil, a Cornell graduate from Colombia. For more information go to culturaithaca.com.

Joe Cruz is a junior communication, management and design major at Ithaca College from Austin, Texas. Cruz is of Mexican descent and helps organize a lot of Latinx groups and events at Ithaca College, Cornell University and in the city of Ithaca. Ithaca has a small Latinx community, so Cruz's work has a big impact.

As expected, over 4,000 people came to Ithaca College during Alumni Weekend, but only about 800 of those people were alumni. Parent's Weekend, the 125th Anniversary, President Collado's inauguration and Alumni Weekend all happened at the same time, so the campus was crazier than it normally would be on any other Alumni Weekend. 

Mike Hanlon is the treasurer for the Environmentalists. He joined the club because he is passionate about sustainability. Although he can't participate with SWIFT very often, he does find the program to be important. Hanlon said that giving food that would have gone to waste to disadvantaged people is a great way to combat the problem of food waste,

According to Katie White, the Environmentalists took over SWIFT in the spring of 2016. All of SWIFT's members left to study abroad, so they asked the Environmentalists to take over. White said that SWIFT is important because Ithaca College has a lot of food waste and it has the resources to donate that food. She acknowledged that food waste is an international problem and said that people should do what they can to help their communities.

Sophie Johnson has been involved with the Environmentalists for two and a half years. She also volunteers for SWIFT (Stop Wasting Ithaca's Food Today) once a week. Johnson participates with SWIFT because it helps people in a sustainable way, She said that it's fulfilling because she's helping the environment and she knows that she's helping people. 

The Rescue Mission is a charitable organizations with chapters in Syracuse, Auburn, Binghamton and Ithaca. The organization's goal is to end hunger and homelessness in these Upstate New York communities. Ithaca's chapter provides emergency and permanent shelter to the homeless and a food pantry for the hungry. For more information visit their website.