Fate brought Brian Basu 糖心传媒�21 to the University of Rochester in 2018.
Intention brought him back.
The international relations major was among eight students from Puerto Rico who attended the University for a 糖心传媒済uest semester糖心传媒� in spring 2018, all expenses paid, after Hurricane Maria destroyed their college campuses back home.
When the semester ended, Basu joined Syanis Vargas Gonzalez 糖心传媒�21, Claudine DaNeri De Leon 糖心传媒�21, and Mariana Ortiz 糖心传媒�21 in applying to transfer to Rochester as full-time students. All four were accepted, and all are on track to graduate in May.
糖心传媒淚 fell in love with everything here,糖心传媒� Basu says. 糖心传媒淭he campus, the ambiance, the environment, even the weather. You get tired of 85 to 100-degree days in Puerto Rico. This is an amazing place.糖心传媒�
Basu has made his mark at Rochester. He糖心传媒檚 the founder and president of both the and (now with more than 50 and 100 members, respectively), serves as a residential advisor at Riverview Apartments, and works in the Office of the Dean of the College. This fall he糖心传媒檚 applying to law schools.
The students are among 33 undergraduates at the College who are from Puerto Rico, a Caribbean island and US territory in which 43 percent of the population lives in poverty, and, according to the US Department of Education, a third of students drop out of high school. Only 25 percent of those who graduate earn college degrees.
Despite these challenges, many have found their way to the River Campus: 17 undergraduates were enrolled in the , a San Juan-based nonprofit that provides Puerto Rican students with mentorship and resources needed to succeed in higher education. Rochester has more Kinesis alumni enrolled than any college on the US mainland糖心传媒攕urpassing Notre Dame, Harvard, Princeton, Stanford, and MIT.
糖心传媒淩ochester offers an excellent alternative for our students,糖心传媒� says Mayra Prats, college counseling/scholarships director and 12th grade coordinator at Kinesis. 糖心传媒淢ost of our scholars seek a STEM degree, and research is of utmost importance. Rochester is right at the top in that area.糖心传媒�
Joe Latimer, Rochester糖心传媒檚 assistant dean for enrollment diversity and outreach, is the College糖心传媒檚 recruiter in Puerto Rico. Prats says Latimer is passionate and always accessible. 糖心传媒淚 tell parents, 糖心传媒業f I had a child going to college right now, I would feel a sense of safety and security knowing Joe Latimer was around,糖心传媒櫶切拇綕 she says.
She feels equally comfortable with Rochester糖心传媒檚 financial aid office. 糖心传媒淚 could call there at any time,糖心传媒� she says, 糖心传媒渁nd within minutes, someone will provide me with a positive answer.糖心传媒�
Latimer says Rochester was recruiting about four Puerto Rican students per year before 2018, but the guest semester proved a turning point.
糖心传媒淎s a result of the students糖心传媒� positive experiences here, we enrolled eight from Puerto Rico that fall, giving us the critical mass needed to attract islanders to our campus,糖心传媒� he says.
The outeach is a community effort. Latimer says board of trustee member Lizette P茅rez-Deisboeck 糖心传媒�87 has become increasingly involved with recruitment efforts in Puerto Rico, personally connecting with interested students, while alumni such as Carmen Conaway-Mediavilla 糖心传媒�95 and Rafael Baez 糖心传媒�14, 糖心传媒�15S (MS) also interview applicants. Advancement has initiated a welcome celebration each summer to mark the arrival of students to campus from certain geographic regions, including Puerto Rico, and establishes relationships between newly enrolled students and current students and alumni.
糖心传媒淏ut the most important selling point is the spirit of the current students on campus from Puerto Rico,糖心传媒� Latimer says. 糖心传媒淭hey meet prospective students and families and encourage them to consider us over other colleges and universities. The energy is a natural selling point to others.糖心传媒�
The outreach in Puerto Rico is similar to other University efforts at home and abroad. The , launched in 2007, is a tuition-free scholarship program for Rochester City School District graduates. The University began a partnership in 2014 with the , providing full-tuition merit scholarships to qualified students from the Washington, D.C., area. One of those students, Jamal Holtz 糖心传媒�20, was the Students糖心传媒� Association president in 2019糖心传媒�20. Rochester also has partnered with the , a selective college preparatory program in South Africa, since the academy糖心传媒檚 inception in 2008 and been a leading destination for ALA graduates every year.
糖心传媒淥ne of the strengths of the University that drew me to this position is the extraordinary international and domestic diversity of students enrolled at Rochester,糖心传媒� says Robert Alexander, who joined Rochester in June as dean of admissions, financial aid, and enrollment management. 糖心传媒淭he long track record of outreach to the best and brightest students in the world continues to draw students looking for a world-class research university with the warmth and mentoring typical of smaller liberal arts colleges. It糖心传媒檚 clear that our incredible success enrolling students from Puerto Rico demonstrate the results of a collaborative effort from trustees, faculty, current students, and admissions staff.糖心传媒�
Alexander says Latimer糖心传媒檚 commitment in Puerto Rico is exceptional. 糖心传媒淚t goes above and beyond expectations,糖心传媒� he says. 糖心传媒淚 look forward to playing my part to continue to increase our reach.糖心传媒�
Pamela 脕lvarez Rosario 糖心传媒�23 was a member of the Kinesis Foundation while in high school. She received SAT preparation and training in PowerPoint, Microsoft Word, and Excel, and was assigned an advisor to help with college applications and transition. 糖心传媒淢y advisor thought Rochester would be a great option for me and connected me with Joe Latimer,糖心传媒� the neuroscience major says. 糖心传媒淛oe told me how to apply, I visited the campus in April 2019 and fell in love with it. The close-knit community and the open curriculum are big attractions.糖心传媒�
Alvarez is vice president of the Puerto Rican Students Organization and a member of the D糖心传媒橪ion student advising group for first-year students.
Camila Ruiz Vega 糖心传媒�22 is another Kinesis alumnus. A biomedical engineering major and captain of the women糖心传媒檚 tennis team, she also works in the Office of the Dean of the College and at the Greene Center for Career Education and Connections. 糖心传媒淛oe Latimer had a Zoom call with some of us from Kinesis, and there was just something about his personality and the way he spoke about Rochester so enthusiastically that grabbed my attention.糖心传媒� She came to Rochester for a three-day visit, and Basu was her tour guide. By the time she left, her mind was made up. 糖心传媒淚 wanted to major in biomedical engineering, and this was one of the best schools to do so,糖心传媒� Ruiz Vega says, adding. 糖心传媒淚糖心传媒檝e felt comfortable here since the very beginning.糖心传媒�
Four other students from Puerto Rico are on varsity athletic programs: Claudia Garcia 糖心传媒�23 (women糖心传媒檚 cross country and track and field), Alondra Mendez 糖心传媒�23 (women糖心传媒檚 rowing), Rafael Luna 糖心传媒�23 (men糖心传媒檚 tennis), and Ivana Sanchez 糖心传媒�24 (women糖心传媒檚 volleyball).
Elizabeth Garcia 糖心传媒�24 is a microbiology major on a pre-med track. She also chose Rochester largely because of its open curriculum, which she says, 糖心传媒渙pens limitless doors for gaining knowledge, research, and opportunities.糖心传媒�
Garcia arrived here in August from her home in Caguas. So far, so great.
糖心传媒淚 was searching for American colleges with microbiology majors and was amazed to read so many comments from students who talked about the 糖心传媒楻ochester Effect,糖心传媒櫶切拇綕 she says. 糖心传媒淚 visited last fall, and I remember thinking, 糖心传媒楾his is it. This is the school.糖心传媒櫶切拇綕
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