Ohio State Latino organizations re-united yesterday night with the election of a new vice president for the University-wide Council of Hispanic Organization (UCHO).

German Trejo-Caballero, a senior in political science, was elected vice president with intentions of bringing together all 10 OSU Latino organizations.

UCHO, an organization representing the Latino student body, was split two years ago when part of the organizations left UCHO, said Erica Lerma, a junior in early childhood development education and president of UCHO.

The organization is working to re-unite the diverse Latino ethnic groups, she said.

“We are bridging the gaps that occurred in the Latino community two years ago so that we can be united and become one voice that people will listen to,” Lerma said. “UCHO will have a stronger impact if representing all Latinos. It gets the students working together.”

The Puerto Rican Student Association and the Mexican Student Association were two organizations that joined about 25 UCHO members for yesterday night’s election and the start of a new agenda.

PRSA began last year but was not a part of UCHO, said Ramon Suarez, a junior in peace studies and president of PRSA.

Last year there was a lot of discontent with the way UCHO handled the student body, but it is mending fences and bringing the community together, he said.

An abundance of resources exist in the university that UCHO can use for the whole community, Trejo-Caballero said. He plans to work with different student bodies and academic institutions to bring OSU’s best resources to the Latino community.

UCHO needs to take an active role, Trejo-Caballero said. The organization can do this by inviting key administrators to meetings, working toward the goals of the entire Latino community and being proactive rather than reactive, he said.

“My goal is to make the Latino organization one of the top in the United States,” Trejo-Caballero said.

PRSA and other organizations look forward to working with Trejo-Caballero and UCHO, as it brings the community together, Suarez said.

“UCHO has had some issues in the past, but we want to put that behind us and put our best foot forward,” Lerma said.