Ellie Park, Photography Editor

Marking a historic high, 18 percent of first-year students in Yale’s class of 2027 are Latine.

There was a four percent increase in matriculating Latine students in the 2023-2024 school year than in the 2022-2023 school year, according to numbers released by the University’s admissions office. With the increase in Latine representation on campus, several students told the News that there is now a greater need for a wider net of support for student clubs from Yale and affinity groups including La Casa. 

Eileen Galvez, director of La Casa and assistant dean at Yale, said she commends the growth in the amount of Latine students on campus. 

“I’m actually quite excited to see how much space Latine students are taking up at not just La Casa, but at Yale overall,” Galvez said. “The growth of this year is certainly a major accomplishment for our current students and future generations to come.” 

Daisy Garcia ’27 said she was surprised to discover that Yale is just 7 percent away from being recognized as a Hispanic Serving Institution, which recognizes schools with at least 25 percent of their student body being Latine students. 

Galvez said that this recent increase in Latine first years serves as a “testament to the talent and strength of Latine students across the country.”  

Several students told the News that there is now a greater need for Yale to provide spaces for the diverse Latine identities represented on campus.  

Erick Lopez ’24 said that these spaces allow students to not feel “ostracized” and provide “a sense of community and space to fall back on.” 

La Casa works to provide a support system through their peer liaisons, or PLs, program, which pairs one upperclassman student per residential college with first-year students. Through La Casa, two co-head PLs organize campus-wide events including the Latine Student Mixer at the beginning of the semester. La Casa has also aimed to continue building community through its affiliated cultural clubs, ranging from Sabrosura, Yale’s premier Latin dance team, to Contigo Peru, a Peruvian student group. 

“It’s just about coming into these spaces and enjoying it,” co-president of Sabrosura Michaell Santos Paulino ’26 told the News. “We’re in charge of curating and creating that.”

Paulino told the News that the group saw an increase in interest from first years this year. While they have a competitive recruitment process, Paulino said Sabrosura also aims to maintain a welcoming space open to all interested Latine students. 

According to Lopez, there has been a resurgence in clubs that previously disappeared during the COVID-19 pandemic such as Club Colombia and Teatro de Yale. Because of the rise in the number of Latine students, Lopez said, there has been a heightened enthusiasm for these clubs, allowing them to return to campus. 

Despite efforts by La Casa and affiliated organizations to support the expanding Latine community at Yale, there remains uncertainty regarding the future growth of the Latine population at the University given the Supreme Court’s decision to strike down affirmative action ruling in June. 

“I’m worried a little about affirmative action and things like that, obviously, but I’m really happy to see the Latine community growing,” Garcia said. “It’s wonderful to see us be successful.” 

La Casa is located at 301 Crown St.

Correction, Oct. 13: A previous version of this story incorrectly said the admissions office did not respond to request for comment; the News, however, did not contact the Yale Office of Undergraduate Admissions and has since removed this line.

Correction, Nov. 11: A previous version of this story misspelled Club Colombia.