Student Recruitment Coordinators
Salvador Andrade was born in México and moved to the US at the age of three. He grew up in the suburbs of Chicago and currently hails from Schiller Park, Illinois. As a sophomore in Pierson College, he has yet to declare his major but is a prospective architecture major. When not in Pierson, he can be found at La Casa Cultural (otherwise known as his second home). While there, he participates in Alianza, the pan-Latin American group on campus, and MEChA (Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlán). He also has tutored at the Af-Am House and has recently picked up taking pictures for the Yale Daily News.
Maya Bernadett is from Oakland, CA, where she attended Bishop O’Dowd High School. A person of mixed heritage, she is the daughter of a Tohono O’odham/African-American mother and a Caucasian/Mexican-American father, and is also a member of the Tohono O’odham nation, located in Arizona. She studied abroad in the Dominican Republic the summer after freshmen year, taking Spanish classes and learning about public health issues in the country. At Yale she plays for the Yale Women’s Water Polo team, co-organized a community service trip to the Cheyenne River Sioux Indian Reservation with the Yale organization Reach Out, is involved in ANAAY (the Association of Native Americans at Yale) and was last year’s ANAAY president. She is a senior in TD, is majoring in history of science/history of medicine, and plans to attend Mt. Sinai School of Medicine after she graduates.
Ruth Botsio was born and raised in Ghana where she graduated from the SOS-Hermann Gmeiner International College. She is a junior in Berkeley College and a double major in Political Science and African Studies. Ruth would like to go into public service someday but in the interim, she is considering law school and/or further studies in Public Policy. At Yale, she finds a plethora of ways to pursue her interests: she is currently the president of the Yale African Students Association, a steering committee member of the Women's Leadership Initiative, and a founding member of Asempa (Yale's only African singing group). Ruth loves to travel and last summer, she organized a community service trip for Yale students to her native country, Ghana. She also spent the summer after her freshman year studying French in Paris with a Yale program. She is currently studying Kiswahili and hopes to take Arabic sometime in the near future. She is very interested in the media and African Affairs and spent part of the past two summers interning with BBC African Productions in London.
Chantelle Blue Arm, a senior in Morse College, is a Mnicoujou/Hunkpapa Lakota enrolled in the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe. She grew up in both Rapid City and Eagle Butte, South Dakota but attended Native American Preparatory School in Rowe, NM and the Fountain Valley School of Colorado in Colorado Springs, CO for High school. At Yale, Chantelle has served as a staff member of the Native American Cultural Center and worked as a reading tutor through America Reads. During summer breaks, she has done Ecology and Evolutionary Biology research with the Science, Technology and Research Scholars (STARS) Summer Program, worked as a residential counselor for Yale Summer Session and co-lead a Reach Out volunteer trip to her reservation in South Dakota. Currently, she serves on the board for the American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES)-Yale Chapter and the advisory board for the Association of Native Americans at Yale (ANAAY). She is also the current Native American Ethnic Counselor. Chantelle is a psychology major and plans on pursuing a career in medicine upon graduation.
Jeff Brown is a junior in Jonathan Edwards College (JE) hailing from the town of Kingston, Jamaica. As co-president of Yale West Indian Students' Organization, Jeff is heavily involved within the West Indian Community at Yale, which organizes numerous events throughout the year from cultural shows to Caribbean cooking nights. Jeff's other love is dance, so he is also heavily involved in Groove, Yale's most artistically diverse dance company. When not dancing in the studio or conducting psychology research in the field, you can find Jeff playing Intramural Volleyball for JE. A premed psychology major, he hopes to one day study sports medicine or psychiatry, or to further pursue research in social psychology.
Josh Davis was born and raised outside of Brussels, Belgium, the capital of Europe. Seeing that his father calls Orlando, Florida, home, Josh is quick to claim his dual citizenship. He attended St. John’s International School in Waterloo, Belgium, followed by a post-graduate year at the Hun School of Princeton in New Jersey. He is currently a sophomore in Silliman College, and plans to double major in Sociology and French. He is a member of the Varsity Basketball team, a member of Alianza, Yale Black Men’s Union, and The Gentlemen. Upon his graduation, Josh intends to enter the entertainment industry as he is deeply interested in music, cinema, and television.
Reny Diaz, a senior in Saybrook College, was born and raised in Miami, Florida. A Sociology with History major, Reny is currently completing his senior thesis, entitled “Triadic Politics: Nightclub and Performance Discrimination in South Florida.” Reny has spent the majority of his extracurricular time at Yale as an active member and the business manager for Shades, one of Yale’s premiere a cappella groups. He has also served as chair of Yale’s Latino Heritage Month and Saybrook’s housing committee and is a founding member of the Cuban-American Undergraduate Students Association. Reny’s post-graduation plans are to move to Manhattan and pursue a career in entertainment business. He is an alumnus of the Bulldogs in Hong Kong as well as a Danish senior fellow of Humanity in Action, a non-profit organization dedicated to the study of human rights and minority issues. In his spare time, Reny likes to travel, make music, and meet new people.
Ria Harracksingh graduated from St. Joseph's Convent, Port of Spain in Trinidad and Tobago. She has lived there for her entire life and is now currently a sophomore in Ezra Stiles College pursuing a degree in Chemical Engineering. In addition to being an SRC, she is also Marketing Director for the Asian American Student Alliance at Yale and an active member of both the South Asian Society (SAS) and the Yale West Indian Students' Organization (YWISO). She is interested in either pursuing a degree in law or a Master's in petroleum engineering with the intention of returning home to Trinidad to work. She is
also an National Scholarship winner in Trinidad and spent the past summer there interning at the lab of an alcohol company and starting up a new business geared at preparing 15 to 17 year olds for college (Ivy League Prep).
Mayra Macías was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois where she graduated from Whitney M. Young Magnet High School. Currently a sophomore in Branford College, Mayra intends on double majoring in Latin American Studies and Ethnicity, Race and Migration. Her freshmen year Mayra was a freshmen liaison for La Casa Cultural as well an e-board member of MEChA and Alianza. This year Mayra continues her involvement in La Casa but she has also become more active with the YDN as a contributing photographer. A passionate dancer, Mayra is in the midst of organizing Sabrosura, the first ever Pan-Latin American Dance Show at Yale.
Amit Mahadevia was born and raised outside Chicago, Illinois in an Indian American home and graduated from the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy. He is currently a senior in Saybrook College, pre-Med, and a Psychology-Behavioral Neuroscience major. At Yale, Amit has served as Freshman Liaison and Asian American Studies Coordinator at the Asian American Cultural Center and worked as a reading tutor through America Reads. He also served as the Co-Moderator/President and Community Outreach Coordinator for the Asian American Students Alliance. He served on the Yale College Tsunami Relief Committee and helped plan a number of events dedicated to raising money for South Asian tsunami relief. He is a member of Jook Songs, the Asian American writing/performing group on campus is currently an Ethnic Counselor. He also spent this past summer in New Delhi, India working at a nonprofit consulting NGO and researching HIV/AIDS stigma and discrimination in the Indian healthcare setting, all made possible by Yale fellowships. He hopes to get involved with consulting, public health, and nonprofit work following graduation and will ultimately pursue a career in medicine. He is also passionate about motorcycles, photography, new experiences, and any sort of thrill-seeking in general.
Emily Clarice Ho Mathews was born and raised in Long Island New York where she graduated W.T. Clarke High School. She is currently a senior in Berkley College majoring in Psychology. At Yale, Emily participates in many cultural activities. She is involved in several cultural groups on campus including BSAY (Black Student Alliance at Yale); CASA (Chinese American Student Association), SMHAC (Students of Mixed Heritage and Culture), NAPAWF (National Asian Pacific American Women's Forum), and the Yale Black Women’s Coalition. Emily is also involved in several dance groups including Phoenix, Yale's Chinese Traditional Dance Troupe, Groove, and Konjo!, an African Dance Troupe, where she serves as the assistant director. Additionally, Emily tries to find time to work in the community, as a member of the Chinese Adopted Siblings Program at Yale, POWER Now a middle school mentorship program, and a Big Sib at the Chinese School. Upon graduating, Emily would like to attend law school and eventually work in corporate law, fusing her interests of law and finance.
Flora Elena Mendoza was born in Manhattan and raised in Milford, Pennsylvania to a Mexican father and a Spanish mother. She is currently a senior in Timothy Dwight College and a Latin American Studies major. Flora, a proud alumnus of the a cappella group, Shades, studies voice in the School of Music and has performed in a variety of on-campus musicals, choirs, and operas. She has also tutored for the America Reads program. An avid traveler, she studied Portuguese in Brazil the summer after freshman year, volunteered for an NGO in India after sophomore year, and recently returned from a semester abroad in Argentina.
Alan Montes, the son of Mexican immigrants, is a sophomore in Trumbull College, native to Monterey Park and Alhambra, California—suburbs east of Los Angeles. He is double majoring in History and Latin American Studies and is planning to pursue graduate work in both Latin American Studies and law. Alan is a Dwight Hall Urban Fellow currently working with New Haven Legal Assistance supporting casework in domestic violence and immigration law. Alan is also a contributing member of the Lowenstein Human Rights Project researching racial and ethnic profiling on European borders with students at the Yale Law School. In his free time, Alan enjoys his involvement with Alianza, a Pan-Latino organization geared towards building greater solidarity and unity among the diverse Latino population on campus, and attending events at St. Thomas More, the Catholic chapel and center at Yale. This past summer, Alan participated in the Bulldogs in Mexico Program in Monterrey, Nuevo Leon and interned in the legal department of CEMEX, one of the leading companies in building materials.
Stacia Montgomery is a Junior in Saybrook College. She came to Yale from Parker, Colorado and graduated from Ponderosa High School. Stacia is double majoring in African American Studies and Political Science, and has a particular passion for studying inequality in education. In her time here at Yale Stacia has been active member of the Black Student Alliance at Yale (BSAY). She serves as the Outreach Coordinator of the Black Solidarity Conference, an intercollegiate conference for black students to share ideas, discuss important issues, and network. She is also an active member of the council of the Black Church at Yale (BCAY) where she leads the Women's Ministry and sings with the Praise and Worship team. She is a mentor for Visions of Virtue, a Christian mentoring program that pairs middle and high school aged girls with college women. After graduation Stacia plans to teach and eventually hopes to attend graduate school to pursue her Master's in Public Administration.
Allison Neswood is a junior in Trumbull College. She is a member of the Navajo Nation in Arizona and went to high school in Albuquerque, New Mexico. On campus, she is involved in the Association of Native Americans at Yale serving as vice president for the group. She also works on organizing projects with the Undergraduate Organizing Committee which works on social justice issues at Yale and in the greater New Haven community. She is involved with the Coalition for Campus Unity which focuses on the elimination of inequality in the Yale community based on race and/or ethnicity. She is interested in going to law school after college and in studying American Indian law in hopes of becoming a better advocate for her tribe and for other American Indian communities across the country. Please feel free to contact her at any time as she is excited to answer any of the questions you might have about Yale!
Christine Nguyen is a junior in Morse College from Los Angeles, California. She is pre-med, majoring in Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry with a strong interest in public health in developing countries. She conducted a summer research project on HIV/AIDS and human trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation in Viet Nam through the Thomas C. Barry Travel Fellowship and plans to pursue her research towards a Masters of Public Health. Since her time at Yale, she has been very involved in the Asian American community on campus where she served as a Political Action Chair for ViSA, and as a Freshmen Liaison and Community Outreach Co-chair for the Asian American Students Alliance (AASA). Currently, she is AASA's Co-Moderator and you'll probably see her running around campus organizing collaborative events. Her love for languages and culture inspired her to join various organizations on campus including: the Vietnamese Students Association (ViSA), the Muslim Students Association (MSA), KASAMA: the Filipino club on campus, Alianza, and the South Asian Society (SAS). After studying abroad this summer in Barcelona through the IEFP Fellowship, she fell in love with the city, the culture, and its people and plans to revisit her Spanish friends in the very near future. Although she her schedule is packed with activities, she still manages to maintain some time for her hobbies: riding motorbikes, woodshop, painting, drawing, dancing, sports, baking, playing with kids, chilling with her friends.
Gerard (Jerry) Nguyen grew up in St. Louis, Missouri where he graduated from St. Louis Priory High school under the Benedictine tradition. He now lives near the Little Saigon district in Orange County, California. A senior and ethnic freshman counselor in Timothy Dwight College, he majors in biomedical engineering with interests in global health, IP law in biotech, and intends to go to medical school. Outside of class, he was president of ViSA (Vietnamese Students Association), performer and treasurer of Freestyle eXpressions Crew (Yale's breakin’ and poppin' crew), and performer and treasurer of Jook Songs, Yale’s Asian American writing and theater performance group. Jerry also enjoys movies, motorcycles, and traveling.
Chris Palencia was born in Los Angeles, CA and graduated from Torrance High School in the South Bay of L.A. A junior of Honduran descent in Trumbull College, Chris is an Architecture major with a secondary focus in Economics and Development in Latin America. As a freshman, Chris was involved in planning the inaugural Ambassadors Program and was a member of the Rhanjey Yale Dey Bhangra team. Chris is a Mellon-Mays Undergraduate Fellow and has spent consecutive summers in Brazil studying Portuguese and working in Architecture; his current research focuses on contemporary urbanism projects in Central America. Chris plays IM Volleyball and has served on the Trumbull College Council.
Edeli Rivera, a junior in Ezra Stiles College, graduated from Mill Creek High School in Dacula, Georgia. She is originally from Puerto Rico and has lived in Georgia since middle school. While she is majoring in political science with a concentration in International Relations, she is also interested in religious studies and languages. Edeli studied abroad in Sardinia, Italy, as part of Yale Summer Session Abroad. She plans on attending law school in the future and specializing in immigration law. In her spare time, Edeli is involved in Community Health Educators- a group that teaches different health workshops in New Haven public schools. She is also a student deacon at the University Church and enjoys participating in the many service opportunities offered by the Chaplain's Office at Yale. She also loves to cook and travel and hopes to be on the Amazing Race someday.
Robert Sánchez was born and raised in San Antonio, Texas. He is currently a Senior in Saybrook College majoring in History of Science and Medicine. Currently, he is the Latino Ethnic Counselor for Saybrook College and is serving his third year as a Student Recruitment Coordinator. At Yale, he is involved with Alianza: The Alliance Celebrating Latin Culture and the Yale Precision Marching Band. He's also a member of St. Thomas More Catholic Church and La Casa Cultural. His studies have given him the opportunity to travel abroad during a summer to the Dominican Republic on a Spanish & Community Health program. He has served on the Coalition for Campus Unity, done work study in the Applied Physics Department, and mentors high school students through the Amigos program. He hopes to pursue medicine after his undergraduate career.
Funmi Showole, a senior in Silliman College, graduated from Port Richmond High School in Staten Island, New York. While she has lived in New York for the past nine years, she was born in London, Ontario to Nigerian parents and thus calls both Canada and Nigeria home. A political science major with a concentration in African American politics, Funmi spends much of her spare time with Yale freshmen as an Ethnic Counselor. She is very active in the Black Church at Yale – a multiracial, interdenominational student-run church that worships in the African American tradition, the Afro American Cultural Center (affectionately known as the AfAm House), and the New Haven community as a past recipient of the President’s Public Service Fellowship. Funmi is also a founding member of both WORD, a performance poetry group at Yale which brings a different style and rhythm to campus, and the Coalition for Campus Unity, a hub for cooperative student activism on campus. While at Yale, she has pursued other interests ranging from journalism, business, and medical research to environmental activism, IM volleyball, and community service. Along with being a Student Recruitment Coordinator, Funmi also works at the Admissions Office as a Senior Interviewer and a Senior Presenter.
