La DePaulia celebrated its sixth anniversary last Tuesday. Creating a Spanish section for a university newspaper while others, like Chicago Tribune’s Hoy publication , were being shuttered took grit and determination; and setting it up for success after its founders graduated took love and care. These La DePaulia alumni had a hand in keeping a Latine news outlet in Chicago kicking — here’s what they are doing now.
Headshot of Hillary Flores.
Hillary Flores
Hillary Flores is one of the co-founders and a former editor-in-chief of La DePaulia. She worked at the publication for about three years. She completed her undergraduate education at DePaul in 2021 and received her master’s degree in media innovation and content strategy from Northwestern University in 2022. She is now the bilingual deputy editor at Borderless Magazine , where she and her team try to reinvent the way immigration stories are told.
Favorite memory at La DePaulia: Spending time with the other co-founders, joking around, eating pizza and editing stories late at night.
Hopes for La DePaulia: That the publication continues to empower other students to understand more of their community and tell the stories that matter to them.
How La DePaulia prepared her for the real world: Working for the publication allowed her to do plenty of community listening and understand the layers of immigration stories.
“I hope that La DePaulia just continues growing, and that it continues to live on throughout generations. That every single time that an individual reads a story, it can be a time machine to to their roots into their home country. La DePaulia served me as a platform to really understand my roots, understand the history of what it means to be Latina — what it means to be Latinx. So, I hope that the publication continues to share stories that unveil layers, that ignite conversations within our community and overall, just at a shifting political time like this, really just allows people to understand the depth of what is a true immigrant in this country.”
Maria Marta Guzmán
Maria Marta Guzman graduated from DePaul in 2022 with a bachelor’s in communications and minors in Spanish and Latin American studies. She is one of the co-founders of La DePaulia and worked for the publication for over two years as news editor, managing editor and finally as editor-in-chief. She just completed her third year as a multimedia journalist for NBC Knoxville .
Favorite memory at La DePaulia: Creating a vision for La DePaulia and launching it.
Hopes for La DePaulia: That it continues to serve the Spanish-speaking community, students and future generations.
How La DePaulia prepared her for the real world: La DePaulia taught her how to identify a story, pitch it and find sources. Working for a print publication gave her a strong foundation in writing and working as a team.
“When we launched it, we didn't really know how it was going to be received. So when we did launch it, we just got immense and incredible feedback, not only locally, but nationally as well. So definitely, my favorite memory has to be the first days in the first weeks or months of launching La DePaulia and the vision and fire that we had for it.”
Erika Pérez
Erika Perez graduated from DePaul in 2022 with a bachelor’s degree in communication and media and a minor journalism. She was La DePaulia’s content managing editor for about two years. She now works for Univision as an assignment editor.
Favorite memory at La DePaulia: Sunday editing days when the team would edit stories and finalize their page layout before sending it to print.
Hopes for La DePaulia: That the publication continues to highlight Chicago's diverse Latine community and inspire future generations of students to pursue bilingual journalism.
How La DePaulia prepared her for the real world: “La DePaulia gave me muscle memory postgrad on how to stay calm when faced with a crisis. It's difficult when a source isn't responding and you have a deadline. La DePaulia taught me how to problem solve under pressure. I was confident going into editorial meetings and pitching timely stories after landing my first job.”
Jacqueline Cardenas
Jacqueline was editor-in-chief of La DePaulia from 2022 to 2024. She graduated from DePaul in 2024 with a bachelor’s degree in journalism. During her leadership, La DePaulia transformed from a Spanish publication to a bilingual one. At that time, the team also helped establish a partnership between NBC 5 and Telemundo to have their writers’ work be published through there. She previously worked for Latino News Network as a multimedia reporter and editor, and now freelances for BreakThrough News .
Favorite memory at La DePaulia: Editing stories with the team and being able to laugh and spend time together.
Hopes for La DePaulia: That it continues to inspire Latinx journalists to connect with their roots and find pride in their heritage.
How La DePaulia prepared her for the real world: It pushed her to chase her journalistic dreams unapologetically.
“I hope that La DePaulia provides an avenue for journalists to not only see themselves as storytellers, but as active participants in society in order to change so it can be more equitable for everybody, no matter how much we are taught the white supremacist idea of ‘objectivity.’ … La DePaulia was where I could be the proud daughter of Mexican immigrants and cover the stories of our community with the utmost compassion. La DePaulia also challenged me to confront my deep rooted imposter-syndrome and made me a fighter.
“Throughout my time at La DePaulia, we constantly had to prove that bilingual journalism matters, and now anytime I enter a newsroom, my bilingualism is always at the center of my strength. La DePaulia was built from love, blood, sweat and tears, and that is why it still stands today. It was the publication that lit the fire in me and made me realize that there is nothing I would rather be other than a journalist.”
Cary Robbins
Cary Robbins worked for La DePaulia for about two years. She became the managing editor by her last quarter at DePaul. She graduated from the university in 2024 and now works as an assignment desk editor for WGN .
“La DePaulia shaped me in so many ways, and I am so thankful to have been a part of one of Chicago’s only bilingual publications. I will forever take with me the articles I wrote and the people I met who allowed me to write and share parts of their stories. I will also cherish the memories of creating intentional stories with my friends at La DePaulia, laughing and crying all together to grow as journalists and watch this beautiful publication that is so needed blossom.
I hope La DePaulia continues to be a publication written by journalists with a heart and passion to document the heart of our Chicago community in a meaningful way. I can’t wait to see every journalist who becomes part of La DePaulia and shares stories that will leave impacts for years to come. Here’s to six more years and forevermore!”
Alonso Vidal
Alonso Vidal worked as contributing writer and multimedia editor for La DePaulia for a year. He completed his undergraduate education at DePaul in 2024. Since graduating, he’s been a community journalist at La Voz del Paseo Boricua in Humboldt Park, a reporting fellow at the City Bureau and a freelance journalist for South Side Weekly . Now, he is pursuing his master’s degree in investigative journalism as a Stabile fellow at Columbia University.
“Before La DePaulia, I had no experience in journalism. I was a film major. But with Spanish being my first language, I was excited to write about themes that interested me in my native language. I never imagined how much I would love journalism.
“Everyone at La DePaulia was so welcoming. They taught me how to write and think as a journalist. But it was also a Latine community that I needed far from home. I hope La DePaulia continues being that. And it shows people without journalism experience that you only need willingness and people who support you.
“I never could’ve done any of that without La DePaulia and everyone that is La DePaulia.”
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