Cipactli members met and mingled with alumni at our annual Homecoming Brunch. It was lovely to see everyone, please be on the lookout for an invite to the next homecoming! 

The COCO societies (Cipactli, Oracle, Carriage and Onyx) hosted a can drive holiday mixer to get to know the members of the other societies and raise food for charity. Thank you to everyone that attended!

We were happy to welcome our alumni during homecoming! The society hopes everyone had a great time!

We are happy to announce the names of our 20th class:

Carla Hernández
Edgar Diaz
Javier Castro
Jesus Eduardo Fuentes
Josey Alfonzo Oquendo
Lisvet Luceno
Mariana Frias
Pablo Sanchez

Every year, Carriage Senior Society, Onyx Senior Honor Society, Cipactli Latino Honor Society, and Oracle Senior Honor Society (collectively known as "COCO") host an administrative meet and greet. This event was made possible by the generous support of the cultural resource centers, Alumni Relations, VPUL, and the Office of the President. 

This year's meet and greet featured a new tradition: the Diversity and Inclusion Award. This award is given to individuals in the Penn community who have demonstrated a deep commitment to increasing access at the University of Pennsylvania. This award seeks to represent the student body's recognition of this individual's hard work. 

The first recipient of this award was Chaz Howard, University Chaplain. We are forever grateful to Chaz for his efforts with PACE, interfaith dialogue, and historic preservation. To read more about Chaz, click here. 

Below is a slideshow of pictures from the event! Thank you to everyone who attended!

On April 14, 2014, the Cipactli Latino Honor Society recognized the academic achievement of 35 first-year students. Student received awards for completing their first semester at the University of Pennsylvania with a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher. Please join us in congratulating this outstanding group of students:

Alicia Lopez 
Alyssa Kennedy 
Amanda Martinez 
Amanda Irizarry 
Ana Barrera
Andrea Pascual 
Athena Buell Becerra 
Bianca Molina 
Carlos Carmona 
Cuahtemoc Sandoval 
Edgar Palomino 
Elizabeth Sanchez 
Emily Diaz 
Emma Montoya 
Geraldine Bustamante 
Grace Reyes 
Ivan Sandoval 
Joel Unzain
Juan Padilla
Juan Manubens
Juana Granados
Julian Hernandez
Katerine Jimenez
Linda Valadez
Lisbeth Nunez
Luis Ferre Sadurni
Marian Bergkamp
Mario Aksiyote Benardete
Micaela Lucero
Natalie Hernandez
Nickolas Thornton
Oscar Hernandez
Paul DiNapoli
Sandra Loza-Avalos
Sofia Medrano

 Additionally, three award of distinction were given to students who demonstrated outstanding performance in one of Cipactli's pillars: academic achievement, leadership, and community service. Here are the winners:

Academic Achievement Award - Emily Diaz
Leadership Award - Geraldine Bustamante
Community Service Award - Carlos Carmona

On Freshman Recognition Night, everyone is a winner! Again, congratulations! Please check the slideshow below for photos from the event. Thank you to Nicole Martinez, 19th Class, for serving as our photographer for the night!

We are very proud to know that our very own Christine Nieves Rodriguez, member of the Eighth Class of Cipactli, will be the guest speaker at the Annenberg School for Communication’s undergraduate commencement. The ceremony will be held on Sunday, May 18th at 10 AM in the Annenberg Center for Performing Arts’ Zellerbach Theatre, 3680 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, PA. Our graduating seniors in the Annenberg program are excited to hear you speak! We love you and thank you for your enthusiastic support of Cipactli!

To read more, click here.

Update (Apr 3, 2014): The form is now CLOSED! Thank you to everyone who submitted nominations. We will contact eligible participants shortly with more details.

Are you a freshman? Do you identify as Latin@? Did you receive a 3.0 GPA or higher last semester? If so, you are eligible for the Cipactli Latino Honor Society’s Freshman Recognition Award!

Each spring, the Cipactli Latino Honor Society acknowledges freshmen within Penn’s Latin@ community who have received at least a 3.0 GPA during their fall semester. If you qualify and would like to be honored at our Freshman Recognition Night, please fill out this form. The Director of La Casa Latina, Johnny Irizarry, will verify your GPA and notify the Chair of Cipactli. Please note that the members of the Cipactli Latino Honor Society will not see your GPA and will simply be told that you qualify.

We will also honor the accomplishments of 3 exceptional freshmen that embody our pillars of academic achievement, leadership, and community service. You may nominate yourself or other freshmen for one of these special awards using the same form.

This nomination form will close on Monday, March 31, 2014 at 11:59:59 PM. Invitations to the Freshman Recognition Night ceremony will be distributed electronically on Wednesday, April 2, 2014.

If you have any questions, please email [email protected].