{"id":3222,"date":"2022-08-29T14:45:26","date_gmt":"2022-08-29T18:45:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/academicopportunity.syr.edu\/heop\/?p=3222"},"modified":"2022-08-29T14:45:26","modified_gmt":"2022-08-29T18:45:26","slug":"sss-student-kaylee-ramirez-featured-in-the-daily-orange","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/academicopportunity.syr.edu\/heop\/news\/2022\/08\/sss-student-kaylee-ramirez-featured-in-the-daily-orange\/","title":{"rendered":"SSS Student, Kaylee Ramirez, Featured in The Daily Orange"},"content":{"rendered":"<hgroup class=\"headline-group\">\n<h1 class=\"article-h\">Rising sophomores launch The Mexican Student Association at SU and SUNY-ESF<\/h1>\n<\/hgroup>\n<div class=\"article-main-photo\">\n<div class=\"article-img\" data-picture=\"\" data-alt=\"The Mexican Student Association hopes to bring awareness and connection to Mexican culture on SU\u2019s campus in its first year as a registered student organization.\">\n<div data-src=\"\/resize\/500\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/21221311\/MexicanStudentAssociationStitch-RESIZE.jpg\"><\/div>\n<div data-src=\"\/resize\/800\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/21221311\/MexicanStudentAssociationStitch-RESIZE.jpg\" data-media=\"(min-width: 400px)\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"photo-credit\">Meghan Hendricks | Photo Editor<\/p>\n<p class=\"photo-caption\">The Mexican Student Association hopes to bring awareness and connection to Mexican culture on SU\u2019s campus in its first year as a registered student organization.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<article>\n<div class=\"article-meta\">\n<div class=\"meta-byline source\">By\u00a0<a class=\"writer-name\" href=\"https:\/\/dailyorange.com\/writers\/luisana-ortiz\/\">Luisana Ortiz<\/a><span class=\"writer-title\">ASST. COPY EDITOR<\/span><\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/dailyorange.com\/2022\/08\/21\/\">August 21, 2022<\/a>\u00a0at 10:52 pm<\/p>\n<ul class=\"simple-share\">\n<li><a data-service=\"facebook\"><span class=\"share-txt\">FACEBOOK<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li><a data-service=\"twitter\"><span class=\"share-txt\">TWITTER<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li><a title=\"Share via Email\" href=\"mailto:?subject=Read%20%27Rising%20sophomores%20launch%20The%20Mexican%20Student%20Association%20at%20SU%20and%20SUNY-ESF%27%20from%20The%20Daily%20Orange&amp;body=http:\/\/dailyorange.com\/2022\/08\/mexican-student-association-syracuse-univestiy-esf\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span class=\"share-txt\">EMAIL<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-content\">\n<p><em>Get the latest Syracuse news delivered right to your inbox.<\/em><br \/>\n<em>Subscribe to our newsletter\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/dailyorange.us5.list-manage.com\/subscribe?u=daefd1a21be88018926c9a8c2&amp;id=737851c5ca\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>After attending the fall 2021 involvement fair, friends Kaylee Ramirez, Ivonne Ortega and Andrea Magdaleno realized they hadn\u2019t seen a table for Mexican students at SU and SUNY ESF.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere was nothing where we could really come together and feel comfortable with people that come from similar backgrounds,\u201d Ramirez said.<\/p>\n<p>Later that semester, Ramirez realized she wanted to organize her own event while standing in the refreshments line at an Orange After Dark movie showing. She proposed the idea of starting a club to Ortega and Magdaleno, who were also at the event. A day or two later, Ramirez said, the idea came to life.<\/p>\n<p>The Mexican Student Association at Syracuse University and SUNY-ESF will debut as a registered student organization during the fall 2022 semester. The association\u2019s executive board hopes to create a space that both unites SU\u2019s Mexican community and welcomes students interested in celebrating Mexican culture, said Ortega, the organization\u2019s president.<\/p>\n<p>The five-member executive board, who are all rising sophomores, formed during the spring 2022 semester.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe fact that all of us had these conversations as freshmen, and that we\u2019re also Latina, we\u2019re all first generation, I think that\u2019s something that\u2019s very unique about our story,\u201d Ortega said.<\/p>\n<p>Despite a lengthy application process, Ortega credits the organization\u2019s rapid establishment to the entire group\u2019s commitment.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe only reason that we really got through it was because we worked as a team and were always there supporting each other. We never really fell through a meeting,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>Ortega, who is pursuing a double major in policy studies and political science, said her morals are ingrained in community activism and organizing.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs president, my goal is to advocate for POC and share a platform with them that will support their voice,\u201d Ortega said.<\/p>\n<p>Alumna Kimberly Tlayaca, who graduated from SU last spring, found out about the Association during her senior year after meeting Ramirez. Tlayaca said she had been planning to bring back Xicanxs Empowering Xicanxs, a similar organization she joined during her freshman year, and was impressed by the preparedness of the association\u2019s executive board.<\/p>\n<p>Tlayaca credits her experience at XEX for motivating her to get involved in other student organizations and to take advantage of school resources, something she said she struggled with as a first-generation student.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI feel like for first generation students, a lot of the fear is just asking for help in the first place, just because a lot of the process is by yourself,\u201d Tlayaca said.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/dailyorange.com\/donate\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-317495 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/dailyorange\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/21132908\/membership_button_new-10.jpg\" alt=\"membership_button_new-10\" width=\"100%\" height=\"auto\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Although Tlayaca said that XEX became defunct by the start of her junior year, she said the organization felt like home and she was excited for the association to introduce a similar space for students.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s a really nice area of common ground to find your peers and new people around you,\u201d Tlayaca said.<\/p>\n<p>Computer engineering major Kevin Lopez was also a member of XEX and said he will be joining MEXSA as a general member in the fall. Going into his sixth semester at SU, Lopez<br \/>\nremembers the first on-campus event he went to as a freshman: an XEX mixer. The event was pivotal for him, Lopez said, because it helped him feel more at home in Syracuse.<\/p>\n<p>Lopez said he wants to offer support to the association during their growth as he has been involved in a number of other organizations as an SU student.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI just want people to feel embraced on campus,\u201d Lopez said. \u201c(Since XEX), it\u2019s the first time that Mexicans will have their own platform and voice, and (the executive board) can do so much with it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>When she first arrived on campus in fall of 2020, rising junior and bioengineering major Shaila Cuellar recalled that COVID-19 restrictions made it difficult for her and her roommate to meet other Mexican students on campus. Cuellar thinks that MEXSA\u2019s presence will make it easier for Mexican students with a similar experience to connect.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor Mexican students, MEXSA would be that home away from home,\u201d she said. \u201cJust so incoming students are aware that they are not the only Mexican people here, you know?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Cuellar hopes MEXSA hosts events that will help exhibit Mexican culture like she said the Puerto Rican and Dominican Student Associations currently do.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWith the events that (PRSA and DSA) host, they bring awareness to our campus,\u201d Cuellar said. \u201cIn a similar way, I hope that like MEXSA is able to educate people on the culture.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Secretary Xenia Zolano Doroteo, a double major studying international relations and political science, said that being part of MEXSA\u2019s executive board will provide all members an opportunity to stay connected to their culture while they are away from home.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe usually share these traditions with our families, and we stay connected through our families. So when we\u2019re not with them, it\u2019s a way for us to continue those traditions,\u201d Doroteo said.<\/p>\n<p>The executive board is still finalizing event planning, Ortega said. She confirmed that MEXSA will be at the fall involvement fair.<\/p>\n<p>Some members of the executive board said they hope their leadership experience will help them achieve not only professional but also personal goals.<\/p>\n<p>As a minority student in a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/institutionalresearch.syr.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/student-enrollment-by-career-and-ethnicity-2021.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">predominantly white institution<\/a>, marketing management major Andrea Magdaleno said her role as MEXSA\u2019s treasurer gives her a sense of belonging.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou just feel out of place,\u201d Magdaleno said.<\/p>\n<p>Magdaleno said one of her goals as an executive board member is to make sure the Association remains a part of the campus even after the members graduate from SU.<\/p>\n<p>While still attending SU, Zolano Doroteo said she wants to use her platform to continue to fight for equal and positive representation within the SU community.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor me, it\u2019s a way to say that\u2026it doesn\u2019t matter what obstacles you can put in front of us or systemic oppression you can put over us, we are here to stay beyond our years,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>Although Ramirez said she knows being vice president will challenge her, she is glad she took the position as it help her break out of her shell and her comfort zone.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c(The Kaylee Ramirez from) two years ago would not be doing this. I was the most shy person,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>Ramirez said she wants to inspire others to do the same.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs a freshman, I hesitated to join new clubs or join an environment where there\u2019s a lot of people because it can get a little intimidating,\u201d Ramirez said. \u201cI want to be that person, or work alongside people, that\u2026 makes (others) feel comfortable in new environments.\u201d<\/p>\n<article class=\"writer-meta\">\n<p class=\"article-date\">Published on\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/dailyorange.com\/2022\/08\/21\/\">August 21, 2022<\/a>\u00a0at 10:52 pm<\/p>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Rising sophomores launch The Mexican Student Association at SU and SUNY-ESF Meghan Hendricks | Photo Editor The Mexican Student Association hopes to bring awareness and connection to Mexican culture on SU\u2019s campus in its first year as a registered student organization. By\u00a0Luisana OrtizASST. COPY EDITOR August 21, 2022\u00a0at 10:52 pm FACEBOOK TWITTER EMAIL Get the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3222","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-heop"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/academicopportunity.syr.edu\/heop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3222","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/academicopportunity.syr.edu\/heop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/academicopportunity.syr.edu\/heop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/academicopportunity.syr.edu\/heop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/academicopportunity.syr.edu\/heop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3222"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/academicopportunity.syr.edu\/heop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3222\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3225,"href":"https:\/\/academicopportunity.syr.edu\/heop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3222\/revisions\/3225"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/academicopportunity.syr.edu\/heop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3222"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/academicopportunity.syr.edu\/heop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3222"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/academicopportunity.syr.edu\/heop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3222"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}