The Latino Cultural Affairs first began as the Hispanic Alliance of Columbia College (HACC), which was formally presented to students in March of 1988. Student Nelson Maldonado had the idea of starting a club where Hispanics could help each other out in school and share different cultures with the rest of the student body. At the time, Latino students only made up seven percent of Columbia's student body. The initial goals of the club was to create a place where Hispanics could find support and express cultures within their college community, and then branch out into the community to find sponsorship and help encourage minority high school students to stay in school and work to achieve success.

The Hispanic Alliance of Columbia College Chicago was later morphed into the Latino Cultural Affairs Office in October 1994. The organization became part of the Student Services Department and created a mission to develop a comprehensive program of social, cultural, and educational events that will creatively bring into focus current issues pertaining to Latinos. The Latino Cultural Affairs, throughout the 1990's, would not only host and participate in events and programs with the college or Chicago community, but also events occurring in the country and abroad. In the mid-1990's, Latino Cultural Affairs created an academic and cultural agreement with University of Guadalajara, Mexico that is still intact today.