Not many students attend full Student Government Senate meetings to watch funding bills get passed. It is even more rare for multiple students from one organization to stay for a full meeting to support their funding bill, as Senate meetings tend to run over an hour. For one Registered Student Organization (RSO), however, they prioritized showing up to support their funding bill.

On March 21, the FGCU Salseros group attended the Student Government Senate meeting to witness the passing of a bill for the funding for their end-of-the-year party. Every spring, the RSO hosts “Un Verano Sin Salseros” for their members and participants to celebrate the hard work they put in over the course of the year.

FGCU Salseros is a Latin dancing group that meets weekly at the campus rec center to teach and engage in the tradition of Latin dances including Bachata, Merengue, Reggaeton, and Salsa. 

Salseros President Michelle Jimenez has been a part of the Salseros group for multiple years and understands the process behind getting funding for their event. This year, she brought a handful of members from the RSO to the senate meeting where their funding bill was introduced, and they returned to the meeting in which their bill passed, which was last week.

“This is our big end of year event where we’re showcasing all the dances that we’ve done throughout the course of last semester and this semester,” Jimenez said. “We’re also going to announce our new officers for the next school year.”

Senator Pamela Manning and Senator Ashleigh Koza sponsored the bill that granted the FGCU Salseros $4,739 for Un Verano Sin Salseros.

The FGCU Salseros perform choreographies at events on campus when requested, which can sometimes be multiple times each month. The group consists of performers, who learn the choreographies and are able to dance for events, and members, who are welcome to come to practices but usually don’t join in the event dances.

“Our biggest thing is teaching the students how to dance and we’re all just having fun with it,” RSO Vice President Nathalie Schery Abadi said.

The group was founded by two students in 2017 who had a passion for dancing and wanted to create a safe space for other students on campus to express themselves openly through Latin dance.

“So it honestly has allowed everyone to go through really close friendships with people who have completely different majors,” Abadi said.

FGCU Salseros has created a safe space for students to participate in Latin dance, whether it is a new experience or something they grew up around. They encourage new students of any ethnicity, race or background to join them each week as they practice their routines and welcome new students.

Any information about weekly meetings or events can be found on the FGCU Salseros Eagle Link page, which also has links to their social media accounts.