Grad Council
Karla Velasco
Grad RepresentativeKarla Velasco, M.A., M.Ed., (she/her/ella) is a first-generation college student born and raised on the northwest side of Chicago by Mexican migrant parents. A graduate of the Chicago Public Schools (CPS), she is a doctoral student in Education Policy, Organization, and Leadership (EPOL) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Before arriving in Urbana-Champaign, she worked with a family in Mexico that lost someone to feminicide and provided advocacy services to survivors of gender-based intimate partner violence in Chicago and the surrounding suburbs. Karla’s research interests include decolonial and intersectional feminisms, Critical Race Quantitative Intersectionality (CRQI), testimonio, gender-based intimate partner violence, and trauma-informed pedagogies and programming in higher education institutions.
Peter DeCrescenzo
Grad Representative
Peter DeCrescenzo is a current doctoral candidate in the Higher Ed, Student Affairs, and International Ed Policy program, Student Affairs Concentration, at the University of Maryland, College Park where he uses critical perspectives to examine how higher education institutions address racial inequities. Peter serves as Assistant Director of the Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County where he co-creates learning environments with STEM students and encourages critical self-reflection to align personal, academic, and professional goals. Peter is a New York City native, alum of the City University of New York, and first-generation college student. During the weekend, you can find Peter enjoying time with his spouse Lauraluz and puppy, Fiorella.