Student Recruitment Coordinators

Salvador 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 an Art and Ethinicity, Race, and Migration double major he likes to spend his free time 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 tutors for Squash Haven, takes pictures for the Yale Daily News, helps Teatro! (Yale's Latino Theatre Ensemble) with productions, and conducts research for his Bouchet fellowship.

Mayra, a Chicana from Chicago, Illinois, attended Whitney M. Young Magnet High School. Currently a senior in Branford College, Mayra is double majoring in American Studies and Ethnicity, Race and Migration. During 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 the current President of Sabrosura, the first ever Pan-Latin American Dance Show at Yale. She hopes to carry her love for dance into graduate school where she wants to study race via the lens of performance. Mayra has also spent the last two summers abroad in Brazil, first learning Portuguese and later working at an NGO and a Women’s Center.

Alan, the son of Mexican immigrants, is a senior in Trumbull College, native to Monterey Park and Alhambra, California—suburbs east of Los Angeles. He is double majoring in Latin American Studies and Ethnicity, Race, & Migration focusing on racial identity formation and discrimination in Latin America. Alan plans to pursue graduate studies in both Latin American Studies and law. Alan has been a Dwight Hall Urban Fellow and interned with New Haven Legal Assistance supporting casework in domestic violence and immigration law. Alan has 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 has enjoyed involvement in 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. The summer after freshman year, Alan participated in the Bulldogs in Mexico Program in Monterrey, Nuevo Leon interning in the legal department of CEMEX, one of the leading companies in building materials. The summer after sophomore year, Alan participated in Yale’s intensive intermediate Portuguese language program in Brazil. 

Hey! My name is Mariel Novas-- A senior in Davenport College and I'm double majoring in History and Ethnicity, Race & Migration. I moved to the United States from the Dominican Republic at the age of five, and have been living in Boston, MA ever since. Of course, I am an avid Red Sox fan and try to go out to Fenway Park or watch games on TV as often as I can. Here at Yale, I am heavily involved with the Dominican Student Association, and I'm also part of the Mellon Mays research fellowship. Ask me about it! I am passionate about social justice and inner city youth empowerment, so I have been a Program Coordinator and tutor for Squash Haven, an enrichment program for New Haven youth, for three years now. Lastly, I absolutely love dancing with my group, Sabrosura, which focuses on celebrating and showcasing Latino dance genres. Next to dancing, my favorite activities are taking naps and watching Spanish-channel soap operas.

Allie is proud to consider herself both a New Yorker and a Colombian. The daughter of Colombian immigrants, she grew up in Queens, New York, where she attended The Mary Louis Academy in Jamaica Estates. She is a Psychology major, and splits her time between three organizations--Alianza: The Alliance Celebrating Latin Culture, Rhythmic Blue (RB): Yale's Premier Hip-Hop and Contemporary Dance Group, and the Yale chapter of PorColombia: a national organization for Colombian students, which she founded with 3 friends last year.  Allie uses her summers to travel, having been to Kyoto, Japan with her Freshman Seminar, then Natal, Brazil to work in a clinic for Autistic children, and finally living in Tokyo for two months, studying Japanese. She's a third degree black belt in Shotokan karate, after doing it for 10 years and competing internationally to represent the United States.

Paloma is of mixed Mexican and Romanian heritage and was born and raised in Seattle, WA, where she attended Lakeside School. She is currently a sophomore in Trumbull and hopes to double major in Ethics, Politics, and Economics and International Studies. She keeps busy playing varsity volleyball, working at the Admissions Office, and tutoring an employee of Atticus, a local café, in English as a second language. She is also a staff member of Elmseed, the first student-run micro-finance organization in the country, and active in CARE, an organization for international development. She has spent quite a bit of time in the Dominican Republic, and spent last summer working at a law firm in Buenos Aires. She is currently in the process of picking up French, and hopes to venture to a French-speaking country next. 
Trumbull College '09

Diandra is a Dominican who’s in love with the culture and beaches of her hometown, Miami. This Morsel is a sophomore who hopes to double major in Economics and International Studies, unless Economics proves to squeeze the life out of her first. She’s held board positions in the Dominican Students Association—whose members have become her second family—and ONE, a community-oriented group that was started amongst friends during her freshman year. She’s currently the Chair for a La Casa committee commemorating 40 years of coeducation at Yale and has just started working in the Admissions Office as a Recruitment Coordinator. So far, one of her fondest experiences while being at Yale was taking part in Yspaniola, a group that provided humanitarian aid in a batey of the Dominican Republic during Spring Break, and she’s excited about pursuing even more traveling and community service opportunities while still at Yale.