In March of 2000, Northwestern University, through the Northwestern Alumni Association and the Hispanic/Latino Outreach Office, invited the University’s Latino Alumni to form an organization within the Alumni Association.

An organized Latino voice on Northwestern’s campus began with growth in the University’s Latino student population in the mid-1990’s. With the formation of Casa Hispana (now Alianza), Latino students had an outlet for socialization with others who shared a common cultural history. Students used the organization to raise the administration’s consciousness of the diverse needs of its growing Latino student population.

Those students who formed the University’s first significant Latino student population are now alumni and comprise the core group from which a Latino alumni organization can prosper. This organization is called Latino Alumni of Northwestern University (LANU).