Community Information

Who does "Latine & Caribbean" refer to?

There are multiple terms, often used interchangeably, to describe diverse student communities on college campuses that are descendant of countries located in Latin America. These include- but are not limited to- Latina/o, Latin American, Caribbean, Hispanic, Chicana/o.
Geographically, Latin America consists of countries located in North America, Central America, The Caribbean, and South America.

Latine, is a gender inclusive term where the -e replaces a traditional -a/-o ending and can be pronounced as "lah-teen-eh". Referring to many community members descendant of Lusophone nations in North, Central and South America.

Caribbean is also used as an identifier to distinguish members of the community that are descendant of Lusophone, Anglophone and Francophone nations located in the Greater and Lesser Antilles.

Do I have to identify as "Latine and/or Caribbean" to get involved with the Latine & Caribbean community?

No - while our programs highlight the Latine and Caribbean experience, we welcome anyone who is interested in engaging with these topics, regardless of identity. While OPAL has a strong focus on providing resources and services for Latine & Caribbean students at Dartmouth, we also realize that to best fulfill our mission we must engage and serve all members of our campus community. Learn how to connect with our office through one of our many communities or programs.

The staff that supports Latine and Caribbean students on campus have learned with and from students and other campus community members about the language they use to talk about themselves and about the forces of oppression that influence their heritage.

Through continued discourse on the use of Latino, Latina, Latinx, Latine, Latin@, and other adjustments to most accurately represent the many people that fall under these cultural umbrellas, we often rely on Latinx as a term to include people of all genders and experiences from and with ancestral connection to Latin American countries. Many students on campus also use the term Latine, based on the consistency in use of accurate Spanish grammar within speaking and writing.

In OPAL, we're here to support students as they learn about themselves and others. Language is just a tool and it is far from perfect. If students use other language to identify themselves, we recognize and celebrate that, too. If you're interested in having more conversations around language and the ways that it can help and support cultural communities we are more than happy to hear thoughts from our students and student communities.