Samad Hakani, Photography Editor

After nine years, Director Eileen Galvez said goodbye to La Casa Cultural on Oct. 31, but she will remain at Yale as the first fellow of the Education Studies program.

Kimberly Goff-Crews, secretary and vice president for university life, announced that Maryam Ivette Parhizkar will be the interim director after previously serving as La Casa’s interim assistant director.

“I’ve always told [student leaders] that a sign of good leadership is when the ship can keep sailing without you. I have no doubt at all that our students and Maryam are not just going to hold it, but continue to grow it,” Galvez told the News.

Under Galvez’s leadership, Yale College reached historic enrollment shares of Latine students, this year at 19 percent for the class of 2028. 

Carolina Dávila, who is currently on leave, is La Casa’s assistant director. She has worked with Galvez since 2017 and shared that it has been an “immense privilege” to work under her deanship.

“Besides the statistical growth of the Latine community at Yale, I’d say I’ve seen a growing appreciation for joy and the arts,” Davila said. “Many times, marginalized communities are forced to focus on trauma. La Casa’s students have increased efforts that center joyfulness, companionship, and pure fun.”

Karla Perdomo Nuñez ’26, La Casa’s co-head peer liaison, wrote to the News that Galvez’s recruiting efforts have been crucial to the increasing enrollment of Latine students at Yale, as well as expanded programming throughout the year.

Seung Min Baik Kang ’26, another co-head peer liaison, also praised Galvez for not only expanding the center’s peer liaison program but also for “creating spaces and advocating for Latin American students,” at Yale.

Galvez explained that before her arrival, the cultural centers did not exist under one unit and were instead “siloed.” However, when the student engagement unit was created, the new directors saw the centers’ isolation and “promised [themselves] that [they] would do things differently.”

Galvez shared that the program she is most proud of is La Bienvenida, an annual Spanish-language orientation program hosted by La Casa to welcome and support incoming Latine students and their families as they transition into college life.

While Yale, “an institution of exclusion,” has thought more about FGLI students in the past decade, according to Galvez, families themselves haven’t been included. 

“When I started [La Bienvenida] six years ago, it was just like a light bulb, like, of course, we can do this, let’s do it,” Galvez said.

Dávila shared that with Galvez’s support, she had the opportunity to lead programming that reflected her Afro-Boricua identity — Puerto Rican with sub-Saharan ancestry — a rare opportunity she had not found in other spaces before La Casa. 

Galvez shared a similar sentiment and told the News that she was proud of the center’s efforts under her deanship to push back against “the notions of hegemonic mestizaje, of whiteness in Latinidad, that inner in themselves are exclusionary.”

She also explained that without this focus on inclusivity, “we couldn’t have the 19 percent if we didn’t make room for all of these other groups.”

Parhizkar said that through the team and Galvez’s deanship, bringing a lens that recognizes the various identities within the Latine community has been “transformative.”

Parhizkar said that through her role as La Casa’s interim assistant director, she has been “able to see the back end of things” which has helped her understand what responsibilities will be required in the director position. 

In her new interim director role, she said, she will be “continuing to support students more deeply,” and “being responsive to whatever things happen along the way.”

Parhizkar added that in addition to regular programming, she hopes to include more programming in the arts, specifically in poetry where her creative expertise lies.

“Although no longer in an official capacity, Eileen’s presence and legacy will live long at La Casa – and frankly, many lessons that I’ll continue to carry with me in my personal journey,” Davila wrote.

La Casa Cultural opened at its current location on Crown Street in 1977.