The People of OMSA
Ana Vázquez | Director
Ana is a lifelong native of Chicago, Illinois. She earned a Ph.D. in Higher Education, a M.Ed. in College Student Personnel and a B.S. in Psychology, all from Loyola University Chicago.
Immediately prior to joining the University of Chicago community, she served as the Director of the Office of Multicultural Student Affairs at DePaul University. Prior to her position at DePaul, Ana was the Director of Talent Search (a Trio Program) for Aspira Inc. of Chicago and Assistant Director of Student Life at Loyola University Chicago.
Mary Vander Kinter | Associate Director
Mary is originally from the Green Bay area of northeastern Wisconsin. She earned an M.Ed. in Educational Psychology from the University of Texas at Austin and a B.S. in Psychology from the University of Wisconsin at Madison.
Mary joins the Office of Multicultural Student Affairs with 5 years of experience working with retention programs for students of color from her work at the University of Texas at Austin and most recently, her work with DePaul University's Office of Multicultural Student Affairs. In addition, Mary has over 10 years of professional work experience in the areas of budget management, personnel development and supervisory skills.
Robin Graham | Assistant Director
Robin is originally from Columbia, Missouri. She graduated from New York University with a M.A. in counseling and earned her B.A. in psychology from the University of Missouri-Columbia.
Robin has worked at both Teachers College, Columbia University and at New York University in the areas of college counseling, advisement and minority retention. She also has 4 years of experience working in non-profit community agencies providing mental health and rehabilitation counseling services.
Jean Chen | Assistant Director

Jean recently relocated to Chicago from Los Angeles. She is a native Angelena and graduated from the University of California-Los Angeles with a major in Sociology and a specialization in Business Administration. She came to Chicago to attend the Master of Arts Program in Social Sciences at the University of Chicago. There, her concentration was Sociology, with an emphasis on social movements and economic sociology.
As an undergraduate, Jean was a Student Housing staff member, an editor of the Asian/Pacific Islander newsmagazine Pacific Ties, and a staff writer for the UCLA Daily Bruin. Jean's work experience includes corporate reporting and project coordination as well as non-profit work with disadvantaged populations at California Pediatric and Family Services in the Los Angeles area.
Rosa Yadira Ortiz| Assistant Director

Rosa Yadira Ortiz is a queer-xicana/Latina who considers México City, Chicago, and San Francisco home. She recently completed her Masters in Ethnic Studies at San Francisco State University and has finally accepted that she indeed is an academic-activist. Her thesis, Beyond Race, Gender, and Sexuality: (Re)Creating Queer Latina Spaces in Chicago, examines the complexities of creating inclusive communal spaces that embrace the pan-identities that queer Latinas embody. Rosa previously worked at Notre Dame Institute for Latina/o Studies and DePaul University's McNair Scholars Program where she received her BA in Latin American and Latina/o Studies.
Rosa's commitment to grassroots organizing has led her to work for Public Allies Chicago, volunteer with San Francisco Women Against Rape (SF WAR) and None on Records: Stories of Queer Africa as well as join INCITE! Women of Color Against Violence. Rosa is also a proud board member of Amigas Latinas Chicago. Both her academic and activist/volunteer experiences inform her approach to diversity programming. Rosa is excited to join the OMSA family and eager to foster and support innovative, multifaceted, and engaging programming.
Linda Luk | Student Center Manager
Linda grew up in North-side Chicago. She earned an M.Ed. in Higher Education from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a B.A. in Communication from the Northern Illinois University.
Prior to joining the University of Chicago, she served as the program coordinator at the Asian American Cultural Center of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. There, she advised student organizations and coordinated cultural and educational programs. Linda's work experience includes facility management and development, marketing and communication.
Dacia Hobson | Project Assistant
Dacia Hobson is a native of Chicago, Illinois. She graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with a B.A. in English.
While earning her Bachelor's degree she has worked in the areas of new student programs and orientation, residential life, development, and minority student affairs. Her work experience includes budget management, human resources, leadership training and team development, supervisory skills and event coordination. Dacia is so excited to join the OMSA staff as a Project Assistant at the University of Chicago.
OMSA Student Assistants
- Milca Pierre-Guiden
5710 Student Workers
- Luka Carfagna
- Antonia Clifford
- Jessica Gutierrez
- Audrey Haberman
- Nina Leung
- Yiannis Moses
- Udodi Okoh
- Cristina Perez
- Janique Santos
- Lisa Vaughn
OMSA Advisory Board Members
- Manuel Barragán Arenas
manuelb@uchicago.edu
Manuel is a fourth-year in the College. Manuel is from Chicago and originally from Michoacán, México. Manuel majors in Latin American and Caribbean Studies and Romance Languages and Literature. - Kumneger (Kim) Emiru
kemiru@uchicago.edu
Kim is a fourth-year in the College. Kim is from Ethiopia, and majors in Public Policy and Political Science. - Julia Guan
julia.guan@gmail.com
Julia is a fourth-year in the College. Julia is from Chicago, and majors in Economics. - Paola N. Hernandez
phernandez@uchicago.edu
Paola is a second-year in the College. Paola is from Hialeah, Florida, and majors in International Relations and Latin American Studies. - Angel Ochoa, Jr.
angel@uchicago.edu
Angel is a fourth-year in the College. Angel is from Chicago, and majors in Latin American and Caribbean Studies and Comparative Human Development. - Cela Sutton
csutton@uchicago.edu
Cela is a second-year in the College. Cela is from Los Angeles, and has not yet decided on a major. - Charles E. Umunna
ceu@uchicago.edu
Charles is a second-year medical student in the Pritzker School. Charles is from Lagos, London and Chicago, and is considering specializing in anesthesiology or radiology. - Rebecca Yemin Shi
yshi@uchicago.edu
Becca is a fourth-year in the College. Becca is from Chicago by way of New Jersey and Beijing, and majors in United States History.
RSOs Represented on the Allocation Board
- African and Caribbean Student Association
- Chinese Undergraduate Student Association
- Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlán
- Organization of Black Students
- Organization of Latin American Students
- PanAsia
- Puerto Rican Student Association
- Singaporean and Malaysian Student Union

