After a six-year pause, the Spanish Club returned to the University of St. Thomas, aiming to create a welcoming space for students to practice their language skills and build community.
First-year students Sofia Muntifering and Angeline Patrick Pacheco are leading the comeback, after their first meeting Thursday in the O’Shaughnessy Education Center. The weekly meetings held from noon to 1 p.m. every Thursday, will feature themed activities and vocabulary practice. Seven students attended the club’s first meeting.
The club originally paused in 2020 after leadership changed and the pandemic disrupted campus activities. Now, the new co-presidents are bringing the club back to life.
“We just started this for learners,” Muntifering said. “The two Spanish clubs on campus are for those who are fluent, so we wanted something for non-heritage speakers who just want practice.”
UST has long had student organizations like HOLA that celebrates and promotes awareness of Latine/Latinx/Latino cultures but the Spanish Club is specifically for learning the language.
Each week will include new themes and vocabulary sets, along with games and conversation practice. Muntifering describes it as “an extra, but more chill, Spanish class.”
Irene Domingo Sancho, associate professor in the Modern and Classical Languages Department, serves as the club’s adviser. She said the club offers something classrooms cannot fully provide.
“It is very important to have spaces on campus besides the spaces provided by the department in which students can get together and practice the language,” Domingo Sancho said. “Learning a language and learning a culture are one and the same.”
Students in Domingo Sancho’s Span Oral Expression and Culture course will also help organize events, incorporating cultural discussions, film screenings and informal conversations.
Muntifering said one of the biggest challenges has been restarting without materials from previous leaders.
“We’re kind of just starting from scratch,” Muntifering said.
Still, she hopes the club becomes a consistent gathering space for students across majors and class years.
“Just having fun meetings would be a success,” Muntifering said.
Domingo Sancho said language clubs foster curiosity and openness, especially for students who cannot fit additional language classes into their schedules.
“The more you practice a language, the more you immerse yourself in it, the more you’re going to learn,” she said.
For Muntifering and Patrick Pacheco, the goal is to create community through language.
“My hope is that a whole bunch of people come and we can all learn Spanish, the more the merrier.” Muntifering said.
Editor’s note: Patrick Pacheco is a current staff reporter for The Crest.
Bella Jacobs can be reached at jaco3737@stthomas.edu.
