About Me
Originally from Phoenix, Arizona, I found a love for higher education during my years as an undergraduate student at New York University. It was at NYU that I first encountered questions of what it meant to be a first-generation queer Latino cisgender man in educational settings and in society broadly. I discovered that educators could create environments for students to explore who they were and for them to learn how they can contribute to a more socially just world. After my time at NYU, I was lucky to receive my M.S. in Student Affairs in Higher Education from Miami University and my Ph.D. in Higher Education and Student Affairs from The Ohio State University.
As an Associate Professor of Higher and Postsecondary Education at Arizona State University, my research broadly examines how historical and contemporary legacies of oppression influence college student development, experiences, and success. Connected to this central thread, I am also interested in how scholar-practitioners use the above knowledge in their practice. I primarily use critical frameworks (e.g., intersectionality, queer of color critique, quare theory, jotería studies) to complicate the field’s understanding of racism, heterosexism, trans oppression, and other forms of marginalization on college campuses.
Research areas of interest include:
Critical perspectives on college student development, experiences, and success
Experiences of queer and trans individuals in higher education, as well as Latinx/a/o communities
Intersectional theorizing in educational practice, policy, and scholarship
Examinations of servingness for subgroups of Latinx/a/o communities at Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs)
When I’m not engaging in research, you can usually find me having a hot chocolate, singing showtunes, or spending time with my husband Adam and corgi!