Café con Pan Returns!
Marshall Alvarado | September 23, 2025
Café con Pan, an event that was previously held by the Spanish Language Crew in collaboration with Latinx(e) Student Collective (LSC), has been brought back to Warren Wilson College (WWC) by the LSC. Despite the Spanish language department being dissolved due to budget cuts, the LSC has planned to make Café con Pan a recurring event. Many of the attendees of the returning event last Thursday are looking forward to finding a comfortable space to practice and converse in Spanish with sweet treats.
After the dissolution of the Spanish language department in the last semester, it was unknown if Café con Pan would continue. However, the LSC made a unanimous decision to take over running the event. Mictehuatl Overla, a junior and one of the co-leaders of LSC, explained that they are hoping to run the event as often as they can, but there are also worries within the collective about going over budget.
“We're going to do it as often as possible, but we might have to cut some here or there, depending on whether other Office of Inclusive Excellence (OIE) affinity clubs have events that day,” Overla said. “We try not to overlap each other's schedules and also might cut some events cause of budgets, since there were a lot of budget cuts this year.”
Since the budget for the LSC and other clubs and crews has been lowered, concerns about budgeting for the recurring event have sparked among the co-leaders. Overla talked about the importance of keeping the event recurrent, as it would help the students strengthen their confidence in speaking Spanish. This regularity means that the LSC will have to be smart with its budget.
“I'm personally hoping that by being smart with our money, we won’t have to sacrifice too many of the events for something recurring like this, because consistency is important, especially when it comes to language,” Overla said. “We must do this, especially since we don't have a Spanish language department anymore; therefore, people can't learn Spanish in an academic context anymore at this school. Hopefully, this will provide a space for that, maybe not for teaching, but for practice, because one of the largest barriers for language learning is feeling comfortable speaking.”
At the event itself, there was a good showing of attendees who either stopped by for a quick snack or stayed until dinner time, enjoying humorous conversations. As the name implies, coffee and bread were being served; at this particular event, there was Café Bustelo, a Latin-inspired espresso blend, as well as conchas, also known as pan dulce. This traditional Mexican sweet bread was ordered and brought in from a local store named Tienda Los Nenes, located in West Asheville.
Many attendees said that they were grateful to see the event return, recognizing the importance and value of having the time and space available to them. Sandhya Salvaraju, a senior and member of the LSC, shared this sentiment and appreciation towards the conversations shared.
“It was a great turnout,” Salvaraju said. “[People were] just having conversations about everyone's daily life, or their cultural experiences. It was nice to see the differences between everyone's countries.”
Salvaraju also expressed their appreciation for how the LSC has changed and grown since her freshman year, when they originally joined.
“I like how LSC has grown throughout the years,” Salvaraju said. “I feel like I've seen events being added throughout the past two years, and it's beautiful to see the communities built. I feel happy for the Latinx identifying people. It's nice to have that community be seen here, it’s important.”
Rizo Ortiz, a freshman and new member of the LSC, said that he felt that the LSC has made his school life 10 times better and that they felt that his favorite part of the event was the energy that everyone brought in, sharing stories and struggles together.
The LSC is planning to hold Café con Pan every two weeks on Thursday, 5-6 p.m. The next event will take place on October 2, and it will be open to students who wish to have a nice snack and coffee break after class or practice their Spanish in a comfortable, safe space.