A Timely Conversation with Katie Taylor ’09

Katie Taylor embodies the leadership skills and spirit that Hobart and William Smith students strive to achieve. She is an impressive William Smith student and an amazing role model for underclassmen.

Director of Alumni/ae Relations Chevanne DeVaney ’95, P’21. P’23 facilitated a conversation with Katie Taylor ’09 on the importance of giving back to the Colleges.

Most recently, Katie served as the co-chair for the new and improved “Days of Service” through the Center for Student Engagement and Service Learning. Through this new effort to expand to three days during the fall we enable even more people to serve in the Geneva community.
Katie personifies the best qualities of student leaders at Hobart and William Smith. She has been an integral member of a variety of organizations on and off campus. She serves as the secretary for Hip NotiQs and co-chair of First Book Geneva which fundraises and allocates books to low- income children in our area. Katie is a member of Hai Timiai and is involved in Learn to Lead (L2L), and is a teaching fellow for Spanish and Hispanic Studies.
Over the summer, Katie worked as a program associate for Mobilize.org<http://mobilize.org/>, a non-profit all-partisan organization, that works to connect youth to public policy and political/community involvement through public policy and activism. Not surprisingly, due to her good work, she was offered a job to work for them full time after graduation this May.
Overall, Katie Taylor has shown extraordinary leadership on campus. She deserves to be recognized for her dedication to the HWS community and to the Geneva community. She is a leader in every sense of the word. Our campus would not be the same without her!

Director Molina Meets Up with New Colleagues @ HWS Admissions

Understanding the importance of working hand in hand with our Admissions colleagues, Director Molina met with our new colleagues in the Admissions Office!

Director Molina got to catch up with Alan Paynter, named Director of Admissions here at HWS! Formerly Associate Director of Admissions at Dickenson College, IC welcomes you!

IC also welcomes Jon Sebastian-Walkes (Assistant Director of Diversity and Inclusion Recruitment) coming from Brown University’s Center for Students of Color and Ryan Hofmann (Assistant Director of Admissions), HWS Class of 2020 and former Hobart Statesmen Football.

IC is looking forward to working closely with a team who share our enthusiasm for the recruitment of students of color and support them during their time at HWS.

IC Warmly (and Virtually) Connected with Darisha Marte ’24

Director Alejandra Molina and Associate Director Renee Grant had a very enriching conversation with Darisha Marte ’24. Darisha’s connection to the Colleges dates back to professor Molina’s years in the Department of Spanish and Hispanic Studies.  Reinaldo Llano ’99, Darisha’s uncle, took many classes with then ‘professor’ Molina — last week’s  Virtual Connection reminded us all of the importance of cultivating intergenerational connections. At the end of the conversation, Darisha was asked for advice for other first-year students and this is what she shared:

 “Be open-minded and try new clubs and programs that you may not have had in mind when you started at the Colleges.  Be involved, reach out and take risks … especially out of your own sphere of comfort.”

The IC thanks Darisha for reaching out and looks forward to connecting again!

Intercultural Affairs Welcomes You!

Please take some time, click the button below and allow the IC to welcome you to campus with our virtual presentation!

F2020 New Student Orientation IC Welcome!

Connecting & Planning with the NY6 Liberal Arts Consortium

Director Alejandra Molina and Associate Director Renee Grant met with the NY6 Liberal Arts Consortium Multicultural Affairs Directors to plan and cooperate on regional planning and programming. We hope that by connecting with our counterparts in the area we will be able to plan and implement programs conducive to a better understanding of the issues Liberal Arts Colleges are currently confronting.

The NY6 Liberal Arts Consortium Diversity Initiatives are as follows:

The New York Six campuses share the goals of supporting an increasingly diverse student body, faculty, and staff through educational, cultural, and social programs and activities; and building understanding and acceptance among community members from diverse backgrounds and with varying points of view.

We believe that our campuses can help each other achieve these goals more efficiently and effectively by sharing resources and programs.  Among our collaborative activities are a series of Consortium-wide diversity events for faculty, staff, and students with expert speakers and facilitators and shared training for faculty and staff

You can find more on the NY6 Liberal Arts Consortium at https://www.newyork6.org/

Ana Pichardo ’08 Returned & Gave Us Some Advice

Intercultural Affairs is honored to have such a devoted network of Alumni of color whom commonly will reach back to our community by the lake to offer words of wisdom! We were blessed this last week to be visited by Ana Pichardo class of ’08 who has gone on to become a Producer at Omni Cultural TV Festival, as well as having been a teaching Artists for the Tribeca Film Institute following graduations and participated as an NYC Tech Talent Pipeline Fellow.

Become connected with Ana Pichardo via linkedin: http://www.linkedin.com/in/anabpichardo

Student Leader Caucus Meeting 8/13/2020

Thursday morning, August 13^th, 2020, The Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in collaboration with Intercultural Affairs hosted a Student Leader Caucus Meeting to touch base with students from various cultural organizations and set objectives for Fall 2020. Jessica Hariprasad ’21 representing the Diversity Union (meant to function as a liaison between different cultural clubs on campus to inspire intercultural club connectivity) expressed concerns with maintaining a sense of community in the era of COVID-19. While national inequities of income and healthcare services are being displayed so fatally across the globe, a space to conduct conversations surrounding mental health and fears in the face of an oncoming election is a top priority for their organization. Representing The Herald, Russell Payne ’21 hopes to encourage more representatives from cultural clubs and organizations to write for The Herald in the coming semesters. They are in need for a broader and more representative staff of writers and are encouraging submissions (email russell.payne@hws.edu)  . Representing Sankofa: Black Student Union May Perez ’22 and Gaby Martinez ’22 are hoping to increase outreach to the incoming first year class offering Sankofa meetings as a safe space for students of color to have community and conversation here on campus. This is the first in a series of meetings in a conversation that is looking to expand! If you wish to become involved please reach out to hussain@hws.edu, steven.dalterio@hws,edu, or grant@hws.edu with any questions! For more information on the DEI’s work please visit: https://www2.hws.edu/about/dei/

To Our Seniors from the Director’s Virtual Desk

It is my hope that during your years at the Colleges, you felt supported, challenged and loved at Intercultural Affairs. I would like to thank your families for entrusting you to us — we embraced this challenge wholeheartedly. You gave us the promise of the future; we gave you the lessons life has taught us; you shared your dreams with us, we shared with you the stories that keep us going; you leave our campus to embark on a life beyond HWS, we remain at IC, your ‘home away from home.’ I am confident that your studies, your campus involvement and community engagement have sharpened the tools you will need in a world in need of much fixing. 

I am very grateful for having witnessed your resolve and resiliency during these very troubling times – you have helped me find renewed strength … and hope. ¡Muchas gracias!

The Last Student Caucus of the Year!

The last Club Caucus meeting of the year brought waves of tears and cheers for the next school year. Club Caucus has been a beacon for student collaboration since its start this Fall. This year’s Club Caucus is the first of many more initiatives for representation on campus. Because of the immense dedication and intention put in by club leaders and student activists alike, the Club Caucus has flourished into a community space for program development, student agency, and cultural cultivation for many underrepresented groups of students. Individuals noted that the mere meeting space of Club Caucus encouraged them to be more involved with student life and step forward in times of adversity. During the last Club Caucus of the semester, students strategized next steps for greater participation and developed programs for the upcoming Fall semester. Even in times of difficulty and social distance, students found time to build a space for solidarity and community development. Club Caucus started as a meeting ground for cross-club collaboration but developed into something much more than that. It was a reminder of the community we have worked so hard to build and the struggles that underrepresented students face in a predominantly white institution. A huge thanks goes out to our Associate Director, Renee Grant, for overseeing Club Caucus and creating such a safe, welcoming environment for students to gather in solidarity. Her contributions to this coalition are what make this such a unique and inclusive space, and now students are carrying it on with intention and heart. Don’t forget to follow the club caucus Instagram page @hws_club_caucus for updates on new events and programming in the Fall! 

Seniors Spoke Out & We All Listened & Learned!

This year’s senior speak out was our first virtual send off for out seniors. With a heavy heart and open ears, our students said goodbye to some of our IC seniors and got some great advice about their experience and takeaways from their four years on campus. As the seniors reflected on their experiences, they brought forward perspectives on student life and life as a leader that embody what it means to be a student of color in such a starkly different learning environment. Chevy DeVaney mentioned how the motivation that developed from seniors hardships is an exemplary form of activism that should be represented throughout the colleges:

“I think the Senior Speak out delivered an excellent reflection on individual student’s experiences. It’s the perfect “exit interview”, per se. It was heartwarming to hear how the relationships made on campus impacted their overall experiences, and how they wished they had spent the early years on campus focusing on building relationships and strengthening their communities. I would encourage more seniors and undergrads to participate, as well as the Colleges leadership. I’m very proud and appreciative of the wisdom they shared as their parting gift to the undergrads and each other.”

Chevanne DeVaney ’95, P’21, P’23, Hobart and William Smith Colleges, Director of Alumni and Alumnae Relations

With a little support and with much trial and error, the seniors remarked on how vital it is to develop a community of peers who uplift and motivate you to be your best self and how helping build that community in turn helped them build themselves. It is important to remember our students and their values, and if we want to continue to shape a community that serves our best needs, we need to consider how we impact that community with our choices, and our voices. As Renee Grant mentioned during the Senior Speak Out, there is a great deal of work that needs to be done, but the work that these students [seniors] have done has given the next set of students the power to move forward with their accomplishments, and see through the change that those before us worked so hard to build. These seniors have had a remarkable impact on our campus community, and it is truly saddening to see them go without the proper goodbye, but their words of wisdom keep them with us. Now more than ever, their voices will be the ones to lead the way in new communities and to remind us that this experience is our own. We love you Classes of 2020, and we cannot wait to see what you will do next.