Education
University of Pennsylvania | B.A., English and Sociology
Eastern University | M.Ed., Multicultural Education
University of Pennsylvania | Ed.D, Reading/Writing/Literacy
Biography
As an Advising Dean, Raquel supports her advisees by guiding them through each academic stage and chapter of college, helping to demystify higher education, and countering imposter syndrome by disrupting notions of who belongs in academia. She assists students by mapping a path to their academic goals and then works to navigate them through the sometimes challenging landscape of college until they make it to the next stage of their life. Additionally, as Assistant Dean of First-Generation and/or Low-Income (FLI) Student Support and Programming, Raquel supports FLI students via her work with the Chesick Scholars Program. This initiative embodies Haverford College's dedication to diversity, equity, and inclusion. Her work strives to ensure that all FLI students are welcomed and honored as integral members of our community whose leadership and contributions help make Haverford College and the world the best it can be.
Whether she is working with her advisees or FLI students, her commitment is the same: Raquel will help guide her advisees through the peaks and the valleys they will encounter at Haverford. When the terrain feels insurmountable, she will help them reflect on the tools and traits they already possess to make it through. She will assist her advisees in identifying the supportive networks and additional resources available to them. Raquel will reflect her advisees' brilliance to them, so they are reminded of who they are and all they’ve already accomplished to arrive at this moment. Then, together, they will map a way forward to her advisees' next moment, their next endeavor, and their next achievement. She commits to not give up on them, and if they make the same commitment to themselves, they will not only make it through Haverford, they will thrive at Haverford and beyond.
Raquel has been in education for more than 20 years. Her time at Haverford has included working as a Faculty Tutor in Haverford’s Writing Center, a Learning Specialist, and then Assistant Director at the Office of Academic Resources and Interim Co-CDO at Haverford College. Today she continues her work by helping her advisees craft their own stories of resilience and success.
Her own story includes three kids in three different stages of life (Pre-K, Middle School, and High School), one dog, two kittens, some fish, and a few foster pets on any given day. They all live together in Philadelphia.