She loves horror flicks, has a dog named Bouncy, and thought she’d be a forensic scientist before realizing social justice and equity were what really got her excited. Meet Luz N. Burgos-López, our new(ish) assistant dean of students in the Center for Race, Equity, and Identity.
1. Give us a brief biography:
I was born in Puerto Rico (my first language is Spanish) and was raised in Hartford, CT. My undergraduate work was in African American studies, and my graduate work was in counselor education with a specialization in higher education. I started in May as the assistant dean of students in the Center for Race, Equity, and Identity, and I came to Goucher from my position as director of the Campus Life ALANA Center and co-coordinator of TRANSITIONS at Vassar College.
2. What attracted you to Goucher?
I went to Wesleyan University, which is a small liberal arts college as well. While there, I had a love/hate relationship with the institution, but once I graduated, I realized how much I enjoy that smaller-college atmosphere. I have worked at other types of schools, and there’s just something different about a small liberal arts campus. I find that the students are willing to take larger risks and hold us more accountable.
I know there are a lot of programs at various colleges and universities that bring marginalized and first-generation students to campus, but many are not great at providing support throughout the students’ undergraduate career. I wanted to be a part of a community that intentionally supports students through consistent support and advocacy. With the Center for Race, Equity, and Identity being so new, I’m excited about the idea of establishing something different and more intentional. “Diversity work” has often been about food, fun, and festivities—it is a limited approach to engage in cross-cultural dialogue. It’s hard to find a place willing to take risk and be innovative about how we engage in work addressing issues of race, equity, and identity; and Goucher is.
3. Why don’t you like the word diversity?
On college campuses, it has become a coded word. When people go into a room and say, “I don’t see any diversity,” what they’re really saying is, “I don’t see any Black people.” If we want to discuss the lack of Black representation on campus, then we should say it. But often at a predominantly white institution, coded language is a part of the culture, and it maintains the status quo. I think it is important to be intentional with our language and speak truth to power. Therefore, if we are speaking about representation, we should be able to say that we are speaking about first-generation students, low-income students, international students, students of color, and/or LGBTQ students. It’s a hard word to escape because we all use it a lot (even when I’m writing I have to think of alternatives). I try to use representation because most of the time that is what we are referring to.
4. What did you want to be when you grew up?
I have news clippings from when I was interviewed in the sixth grade, and I said I wanted to be a doctor to cure asthma because my mom had it. I wanted to be an artist at some point. And, in college, I thought wanted to be a forensic pathologist. I was on track for that since high school, and then I thought, “Nope.” I focused a lot of my time both in and outside the classroom on justice, advocacy, equity, and educating myself. I fought the pull toward the work for a long time because it came naturally for me, and I thought I had to find something that challenged me more while in college. Then I learned people do and study things they’re good at.
On that note, if I could, I would tell my younger self that this work is NOT easy, or at least as easy as I thought it was.
5. What kind of things do you like to do outside of work?
In general, outside of work it’s movies and just enjoying being around good company. I enjoy arts, crafts, and anything involving creativity. I’m a homebody. I am constantly around people, so when I get free time, I just sometimes want to have some me time and enjoy that and not feel like I have to be entertaining other people.
I like to watch a lot of TV, like The Walking Dead, Grey’s Anatomy, and anything related to forensic science and gore. I like Marvel comic books, TV shows, and movies. I’m working on some cosplay (costume play) costumes—right now I am working on Toph from Avatar: The Last Airbender and Agent Carter from Marvel. I only have the accessories done so far, which is bad since Comic-Con is right around the corner!
6. If you could change something about your home, what would you do?
I would add a dog park for my Shiba Inu, Bouncy. Somewhere where he can frolic. And bounce.
7. If you could have lunch with one person, dead or alive, who would it be?
I ask this question to people all the time, and that’s why I should know this answer right away, but I don’t have anything in particular. The one person that comes to mind is Selena Quintanilla. She was the first real music artist that I loved. To this day I still buy her albums, which I know aren’t new, just remastered.
8. Favorite and in one sentence, why?
Movie- The original Freddy Krueger movie, Nightmare on Elm Street and I love all horror movies.
Musician- Right now I’m really listening to The Weeknd a lot, and I’ve seen him three times in concert.
Holiday- Halloween: it’s fun to dress up, and growing up I was always a vampire.