This year Juan Jaimes Costilla (he/him/his) joined Cornell as the Associate Dean of Students and Director of Latinx Student Empowerment. This academic year, he is intent on formalizing relationships with students in the Latine community along with serving “everyone at [this] university.” As a latino working in higher education, Jaimes Costilla understands the significance of student belonging; emphasizing how one experience doesn’t always fit all. He said that having intellectual conversations and being open to different perspectives is key to creating a positive experience for all students.
This position is inaugural and is under the umbrella of Student & Campus Life at Cornell University. The office of Latinx Student Empowerment is one of many identity and affinity-based offices within the Centers for Student Equity, Empowerment, and Belonging. Outside of the Centers, students are encouraged to join minority identity-based student organization as well as groups under the umbrella of the College of Arts and Sciences (such as the Latino Studies Program) and those within Housing and Residential life.
Although all these programs are immensely helpful, having a University position dedicated to Latinx student empowerment marks the continuation of further allocation of resources for underrepresented students. This is important because over time, more Hispanic-identifying students are being admitted to Cornell. For instance, 15.6 percent (588 students) of students admitted in 2021 for the class of 2025 identify themselves as Hispanic. Such marks a tremendous increase over the prior decade; only 11.5 percent (387 students) of students admitted in 2011 for the class of 2015 identified themselves as Hispanic.
Jaimes Costilla shares and embraces the University's goals of providing more support for Latinx students. He will work closely with the Latino Living Center, Latine Student Success Office, and the Latina/o Studies Program to offer campus-wide programming, collaborate with the Cornell Latino Alumni Association (CLAA), and will advise La Asociación Latina (LAL), the umbrella organization for the Latino organizations on campus.
Jaimes Costilla grew up in Austin, Texas, surrounded by a rich and diverse Latino culture. He graduated from Texas State University at San Marcos with a Bachelors of Science in Family and Consumer Science with a minor in Business Administration. During his time at Texas State, Jaimes Costilla founded Student Community of Progressive Empowerment, an organization aimed at providing a sense of belonging for Latino students, regardless of documentation status.
His mentors encouraged him to consider public policy for graduate school, given the intersectionality of such a degree. After obtaining a Masters of Public Policy degree from University of Michigan Ann Arbor on full scholarship, Jaimes Costilla realized how his education and life experiences have “opened so many doors.” Jaimes Costilla got involved in higher education upon realizing that mentoring people is one of his many strengths. At Berea College he worked as the Latinx Student Support Coordinator and direct supervisor of Espacio Cultural Latinx. During this time there, he created a center, implemented support programs for Latinx/e students, and created much-needed safe spaces. He coordinated on-campus programs such as Latinx Heritage Month, Dia de Los Muertos as well as workshops, speakers and training that built collaborative partnerships across a campus community.
Costilla notes how being in higher education is “different when you’re a person of color,” especially considering disparities such as income and cultural differences. He acknowledging how difficult it can be to ‘get a spot at the table’ at an institute of higher education, and notes how cultural awareness isn’t always the same across faculty and staff at universities. His goal is to create a space to support and understand the Latinx experience within the Cornell community, to strengthen relationships between faculty and students and to determining the level of understanding that’s ideal for all parties involved. Jaime Costilla hopes to be “a good representative of the [Latinx] community” throughout his time here, showing Latine students that they indeed belong at Cornell.
