La DePaulia has never been just a student-run publication to me. It was a space where I could make mistakes, laugh and grow alongside student journalists who became my community.

I became editor-in-chief of the publication in April 2022, and it has since gone through many evolutions. As we celebrate La DePaulia’s fourth birthday and welcome the new editorial board, I want to acknowledge our team’s accomplishments.

One of the most notable turning points was in September 2022, when our team and DePaul’s National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ) chapter gave a speech demanding the university invest in Latine journalists’ education.

The university responded by hiring Chicago Tribune reporter Laura Rodriguez Presa as the publication’s adviser and fellow to teach a course that focuses on reporting on Chicago’s growing Latine population. It was a historic win, as it was the first time DePaul hired a Latine journalism professor to teach such a course in years.

With the support from Laura, La DePaulia went from a Spanish-language publication to a bilingual one. Not only did it lead us to reach a wider audience, but it also led to a partnership with NBC and Telemundo Chicago, where student journalists have the unique opportunity to get their articles published on the platforms. We also were able to expand our NAHJ DePaul Chapter with the help of sports communication assistant professor Vincent Peña.

The heart of our speech and advocacy, however, was to carve a greater space for Latines at our university and in the city.

We wanted to take ownership of our stories and begin to untangle our complicated identity that the mainstream media has oversaturated with inaccurate stereotypes that, in many instances, have perpetrated violence against our community. 

Together, we dared to deconstruct traditional journalism practices and published a letter announcing to our readers that we would begin to use the term “Latine,” a gender-neutral and inclusive term to refer to members of our community while respecting a source’s choice if they wanted to be called Latina, Latino, Latinx, Chicano, Chicana or Hispanic.

We did this because the public — and often members of our own community — have not stripped themselves of the dangerous homophobic, transphobic, xenophobic, imperialist, racist and colorist internal biases that have served to divide us for centuries.

I am proud to say we told stories about Latines who are transgender, indigenous, Afro-Latine, immigrant or first-generation. We even wrote stories about our elders like Doña Maria, the beloved Latina janitor at DePaul who does more than clean bathrooms.

We began to show readers what many journalists had failed to capture: their aspirations, their joy, their challenges and their purpose in this world.

Our goal went beyond wanting to see ourselves represented in the media. We hoped our efforts would lead people to finally look at all members of our community in the eyes. Not just in photos of an article but on the train during our morning commute, at the grocery store when we walk past each other between the aisles, and at our jobs.

It is to the La DePaulia editorial team that I am indebted to because they never failed to bring color, wonder and compassion to those stories. I had the absolute honor to collaborate with Cary Robbins, Alyssa N. Salcedo, Rodolfo Zagal and Emily Diaz who are among the many people who helped this publication blossom.

I also want to thank our 2022-2023 editorial board: Santiago Posada-Jaramillo, Erick Quezada Frankie Perez, Santiago Gonzalez Tijerina, Andrea Juárez Hernández, Rodrigo Melgarejo and Diego Vargas Reyes, who all brought so much joy and creativity into our little office. 

La DePaulia would have been unable to reach these heights without its original founders and supporters.

My appreciation to Hillary Flores, María Marta Guzmán, Jesus J. Montero, Richie Requena, Erika Perez and Jonathan Aguilar as well as advisors Robin Hoecker, Sandra Guy and Marla Krause who paved the way for Latine voices to be heard.

Thank you to our advisers Laura Rodriguez Presa and Martha Irvine for embarking on this beautiful journey with us and for your unwavering support. Thank you to members of The DePaulia staff for collaborating with us and helping us pursue our mission. 

A special thank you to my immigrant parents who did not have the opportunities to pursue higher education, yet sacrificed so much to give me the wings to relentlessly pursue my dreams. I am eternally grateful and I love you both with every fiber of my being. 

As a proud, now former editor-in-chief, I introduce to you La DePaulia’s 2024-2025 editorial board.

Alyssa N. Salcedo (she/her) – Editor-in-Chief

She is a bilingual data journalist pursuing her master’s at DePaul. She was born in Santiago de los Caballeros in the Dominican Republic but immigrated to the U.S. when she was five. She graduated from Marquette University with a B.S. in English Education and went on to teach middle schoolers. While teaching, she also worked at a small local newspaper called the Riverwest Currents which inspired her to pursue journalism. She is honored and thrilled to be taking on the role as editor-in-chief this Winter quarter.

Cary Robbins (she/her) – Managing Editor 

She is in her final year studying journalism. She is from Memphis, Tennessee and has a passion for covering local news. The many people she has been fortunate to meet through her reporting at La DePaulia has been her favorite part of working with the publication. She expresses her gratitude to the people who have allowed her to share their stories. She is thankful to have learned alongside her amazing peers, who have helped her grow into who she is today.

Rodolfo Zagal (He/Him) – News Editor

He is a queer Chicago native majoring in journalism with a minor in history. He is first-generation Mexican-American who hopes to spread awareness of issues affecting minorities throughout the city. He enjoys La DePaulia because he meets thoughtful journalists and discovers interesting stories. He likes social justice, watching movies and traveling to new places. He is excited to write stories from different perspectives this coming year.

Emily Diaz (She/Her) – Contributing Writer

Emily Diaz is a contributing writer for La DePaulia and is a fourth-year Communication Studies student at DePaul pursuing a combined graduate degree in Public Relations and Advertising. She is an associate editor at 14East Magazine and the internal communications assistant for DePaul’s College of Communications. As a Honduran and first-generation Chinese American, Emily is passionate about promoting intersectionality and equity in journalism and the advertising industry.