Northwestern University Alumni

In 2018 Yari Gallegos joined the Northwestern Alumni Association (NAA) as a young alumni/Homecoming intern. Now she’s returned to the NAA as assistant director of alumni engagement for student to alumni transitions. In her new role she’s helping to organize programs like New Chapter. NU Neighbors and staple events for Homecoming. In this episode of Northwestern Intersections, Gallegos shares how her experiences as an undergraduate student inspired her to pursue a career in higher education. As a graduate student Gallegos' research—reflecting on her own college experience—focused on perceived institutional support and ethnic identity salience for Latinx undergraduate students at a predominately white institution. She highlights how through interviews she found that many Latinx undergraduate students discover university resources too late, and that many define their sense of belonging through their community and not with their school. Gallegos shares her thoughts on the importance of connecting with and creating community—especially for first-generation and Latinx students—and how these institutions can support their success. 

Episode released September 1, 2022.