Meet the Diversity Council
The Tufts Diversity Council is a group of students who work closely with the Admissions Office to plan on-campus programming, create web content, and provide other opportunities for prospective students to learn about the many facets of diversity represented here. The council serves as a bridge between the Admissions Office and the student body to foster an inclusive campus community.
Alejandra Corbella King '20Hometown: Mission, TX
Major: Education and American Studies
Activities: United for Immigrant Justice (UIJ), Roti and Rum, Association of Latin American Students, Tufts Burlesque
I was born in Mexico but moved to the US at age 12, and I have called Texas my my home since then.I came to Tufts as a BLAST scholar, where I met people that I call my family to this day. What I love about Tufts is the different spaces that exist to explore my passions and interests. When I feel homesick, I like to explore Medford in search of Latino food, or simply walk a couple streets to the Latino center, where I can make some food in the kitchen or speak Spanish with other students. If I feel crafty, I can go to the smfa and make some ceramics or go to the craft center to make tie dye shirts or cool pins. For almost anything that you like, there is always a space at Tufts that welcomes you and makes you feel at home.
Lupita Rodriguez ‘19Hometown: Brooklyn, NY
Major: American Studies
Minor: Latino Studies
Activities: United for Immigrant Justice, Association of Latin American Students (ALAS), Tufts La Salsa, Tisch Scholar, BLAST Scholar, Event Staff, Diversity Admissions Council
I was born and raised in Brooklyn, NY. I wear NYC on my sleeve. I come from a family of 9, which includes our two cats, of course. Although we live in the city, my parents are farmers so naturally that brings up a lot of questions. It was in a long conversation about everything and nothing on the rooftop of Tisch with my Voices scavenger hunt group that I decided Tufts was the place for me. Everything felt exactly as it should be. As I embark on my second year here, I reflect on all the changes I've gone through. From hair cut and glasses to majors and interests, I have accepted change with open arms. I know I will leave this place as the person I've always intended on becoming--even if the high school version of myself didn't see the complete vision. I am thankful for the community I have formed here at Tufts that allows me to be myself in every way. My experience here wouldn't be the same without my supportive chosen family.
Hometown: Baltimore, MD
Major: Music
Activities: Caribbean Student Organization, Black Men’s Group, Tufts S-Factor
By the end of my junior year of high school, I had absolutely no idea of where I wanted to go to college. However, I knew for sure that I wanted to go to a place where I didn’t have to deal with snow or any kind of cold weather. Ironically, in August of 2014 I boarded a bus for a week-long, Baltimore City sponsored tour of New England colleges. Towards the middle of the tour, we spent the latter half of a day at a school with a name I never heard of: Tufts University. I walked into Dowling Hall feeling like the last thing I wanted to sit through was another boring information session, but just mere minutes after the admissions counselor began to speak I knew I found the school that was different from all the others. The rest of the New England college tour was a blur because I knew which school would be at the top of my list. To this day, the happiest moment of my life is the moment I read “congratulations” at the top of my acceptance letter, and I hope that Tufts has many more happy moments in store for me.
Jesse Najarro '19Hometown: Boston, MA
Major: French and Community Health
Activities: French Society, United for Immigrant Justice (UIJ), The Daily, Building Engagement and Access for Students (BEAST)
My family is huge, and I knew things were going to be difficult without them in college. However, when I arrived at Tufts, I never imagined that my support base would grow exponentially. I recall one day being sick with strep throat. I stared aimlessly at the ceiling as the wind whistled outside my fourth-floor window in South. My mouth tasted chalky from the medicine I had taken. To keep myself warm, I had buried myself in a pile of blankets. Suddenly, I heard two knocks at the door. Mustering what little energy I had, I waddled over to my yellow door and opened it. There, my friend stood holding a pack of medicine, some water, and a variety of my favorite snacks. My heart filled with gratitude and for a moment I had forgotten about the fever that had overcome me. I was taken back to when my mother would bring me medicine to my room. This was not the first time my friends popped up on me. Whether it is because I am sick with strep, struggling with physics, hosting a Latinx event, or presenting my research on health disparities, my friends are always there and vice versa.
Daniela Pozos Nicolau '21Hometown: Dallas, TX
Major: Education and Psychology
Activities: United for Immigrant Justice (UIJ) and Encendido (formerly known as Tufts La Salsa)
Tufts has a lot of lovable qualities, although not perfect, it has a lot to offer. My favorite thing about Tufts is the campus itself. Although I have a hate/love/hate relationship with the hill that divides the campus into uphill and downhill, I find so much joy in walking the campus. I was so overwhelmed during my first few weeks, and I never knew where I was on any given day. But as I continuously got lost on my way to class, I began to discover the beauty of the campus. I appreciate the historic nature of all of the buildings, all of the green space in the Academic and Residential Quad, which allowed me to enjoy the fall weather, and I especially love President’s Lawn. These were spaces where I could sit with my friends to take time to slow ourselves from the hustle of the week and take it all in.
Mathew Pena '21Hometown: Bronx, NY
Major: Computer Science
Activities: Tufts University Social Collective (TUSC), Tisch Scholar, Andrew Goodman Vote Everywhere Ambassador, Tufts College Access Initiative, BLAST Scholar
Tufts has become a home to me. Being from NYC, the Medford/Somerville area felt small as if it was lacking the vibrancy of the big city, however at Tufts I found a way to circumnavigate this feeling. Music at Tufts became my crutch. The spaces I inhabited and people I was around had very different music tastes but I was able to use these differences to craft my own understanding of Tufts culture and music. In spaces like the Latino Center and the Africana Center I was able to express myself with the music I blasted through my speakers. Tufts is a place that both allows this and embraces this. I brought New York and the Dominican Republic to this campus and expect to continue doing so for the rest of my time here.
Kishandra Anne Patron '21Hometown: San Bruno, CA
Major: Cognitive Brain Sciences
Minor: Computer Science
Activities: Peer Health Exchange, QuestBridge Scholar, Public Harmony, WMFO Freeform Radio, ARC Tutoring
What I love most about Tufts is how no day is like any other. Whether I am conducting a neuroscience lab experiment or practicing a foreign music technique, I am continually growing in my understanding of the world and my role in it. My learning occurs beyond the walls of classrooms, for instance in the hall of a last-minute-plan concert. At the Javanese ensemble concert I attended, the xylophonists' layered and interwove their harmonies, and their soft, varying notes traveled through the hall like small orbs. The musicians chuckled about their lack of a preplanned setlist, which they explained is culturally praised as serendipitous beauty. It was wondrous to indulge myself in the ensemble's musical cycles that cannot be replicated in the same way. Likewise, it is extraordinary to immerse myself in Tufts' diverse opportunities that challenge and captivate me each day.
Riane J. Ragno '19Hometown: Gulfport, MS
Major: History / Concentration in Women
Minor: Education
Activities: BLAST (Bridge to Liberal Arts Success at Tufts) Scholar, Tufts QuestBridge Chapter, First-Gen Council, Tufts Burlesque Troupe, AOII (Alpha Omicron Pi)
Even before getting on the plane to come visit Tufts for Jumbo Days, I knew that I would fall in love. It was my first time traveling that far north (Boston is about 1,500 miles away from my hometown). I knew this because I had been in close contact with the Admissions Office regarding my visit. Every single person I had talked to was so helpful and made me feel as though they would do anything to make sure I could come visit Tufts. When I arrived on campus, I remember walking in to the Admissions Office and sitting down in a light blue chair, putting my backpack down beside me, and opening my phone to text my mom. Before I could type the message, my admissions officer came running out to greet me. She hugged me and told me how long she's been waiting to meet me in person. She knew my name and my story - especially since I had applied through QuestBridge, she knew more than most. This was the first time in all of my college visits that someone knew my name without me having to wear a name tag. She sat me down, and I couldn't help but smile because I knew at that moment, this was where I wanted to be. After we talked for a bit, I went on to have ice cream and coffee with one of the nicest people I thought I had ever met. Then, I went on to have dinner with a current BLAST student, and this is where my first friendship came about. I never thought that I would make a friend 1,500 miles away from my hometown friends in merely a few hours of being on campus. This is when I knew that I didn't want to leave. This is when I realized that this was the place for me. The faculty knew exactly who I was, and the students were eager to learn who I was and meet the real me. I have never felt more at home in a place so foreign to the place I grew up and call home. I now call Tufts my home, and I'm excited every time I come back from my "vacation" back to the south.
Nidhi Rao '20Hometown: Mumbia, India
Majors: International Relations & Spanish
Activities: Tufts International Club, Public Harmony, TEDxTufts, Tour Guiding, Academic Resource Center (ARC) Spanish Tutor
In my sophomore year, I started working in the music department as a monitor for the practice rooms. My job, from a foreign eye, is seemingly mundane- I sit there, open locked practice rooms, report out of tune instruments, and simply be there if anyone has questions. However, this job was far from mundane, as it provided me some of my warmest and coziest moments at Tufts. As I sit at the monitor desk, I get to listen to people practice and practice the same scales and tunes over and over until they perfect it. I am also greeted with warm smiles and thoughtful conversations about topics that range from politics to jazz to cheesecake. And I am given home baked cookies and loving hugs. To me, this job has given me so much more than what I expected, as it has given me a community. The lens of the music monitor desk is actually a pretty good analogy for Tufts. Like the hard working musicians in the practice rooms, Tufts is filled with smart and diligent students. Like the people who pass by my music monitor desk and practice rooms, Tufts students are genuinely nice and community oriented. It's a place to grow and be challenged in a comfortable environment.
Camille Carlisle '19Hometown: Portland, OR
Major: Biospychology
Activities: STOMP, ICoN Lab Research Assistant, Association of Multiracial People at Tufts (AMPT), TWO Orientation Leader
I toured over 20 colleges and, for me, the thing that continues to differentiate one school from another are the students. I've been involved in various student activist movements throughout my time at Tufts, largely through Tufts Student Action. These student activist groups never seize to amaze me with their energy, power, and mobility. There are always things that can be improved, and Tufts students aren't afraid to have a conversation about how to better our campus. It feels empowering to go to a school where students are so passionate about more than their classes but the surrounding community as well.
Samuel Joseph ’20Studying Abroad 2018-2019
Hometown: Bronx, NY
Majors: Sociology and Political Science
Minor: Japanese
Activities: Tufts TASTE, DREAM, Civic, Tufts Dems, Tufts ACLU
One of my favorite Tufts moments surprisingly enough occurred during finals week. A blizzard had just passed over the campus and I was returning to my dorm after studying all night in Tisch. My neighbors must have seen me walking down the hill because right as I turn the corner to my dorm, I get ambushed in all directions and the next thing I know I am embroiled in one of the most intense snowball fights of my young life. This goes on for about a solid 30 minutes before ending in a truce. My neighbors weren't the most social kids so to see them all come together during finals week of all times to have a little fun definitely made this one of my more memorable moments at Tufts.