Head of Ezra Stiles College Alicia Schmidt Camacho to step down
Alicia Schmidt Camacho will return to her faculty appointment after being a member of the Ezra Stiles community for over 15 years.

Yale News
After 17 years serving in the Ezra Stiles College administration — first as the Associate Head and later as Head of College — Alicia Schmidt Camacho will return to her faculty appointment as a professor of Ethnicity, Race and Migration and American Studies next year.
She will be joined by her husband Stephen Pitti, the associate head of Ezra Stiles College and former head. As well as serving as a faculty member, Camacho hopes to dedicate time to research.
“I had no idea what I was going to experience here, and it’s been really lovely,” Camacho told the News. “You see people as they are when they’re not high performers in their academic or athletic life. You get to see how they are in their everyday.”
Camacho plans to focus on migration and the experience of migrants in transit from Central America through Mexico and into the United States.
In 2017, Camacho formed the Migrant Justice Initiative, a project linking scholars and migrant-led organizations in Mexico and the United States.
“Considering everything that’s going on and facing migrant communities right now, that’s a place I really want to put my energies,” Camacho said. “But I also think that this is a time where Ezra Stiles will benefit from new leadership … and someone else [to] enjoy the wonderful assignment that I’ve had.”
Reflecting on her time at the college, Camacho told the News that the small interactions have “flooded” her thoughts. She noted that she has been reflecting on such small moments when writing her address to the Stiles community.
However, Camacho noted that she was also reflecting on her experiences throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. She noted the challenges of fostering community during that period and “reinvent[ing] what a college was.”
Both Camacho and the Dean of Ezra Stiles Murphy Temple assumed their positions during the first year of the pandemic.
“[It] was a moment of major uncertainty, hardship and disruption due to the pandemic,” Temple said. “What was certain at that time, though, was HC’s love for Stiles … and her commitment to engaging students and building community in novel ways.”
According to Camacho, the search for a replacement for the Head and Associate Head of College will be conducted by a committee appointed by Dean of Yale College Pericles Lewis. The group will include current students as well as fellow students affiliated with Stiles.
Dhruv Javangula ’27 told the News that Camacho was the “mainstay” of the college. He emphasized her encouraging students to participate in volunteer work and become involved within the broader New Haven community.
“We all came to the courtyard for [an] introductory ceremony, and she knew everyone’s name,” said Javangula, reflecting on move-in day in his first year. “Few people are willing to put in that kind of effort … it makes you feel as though the people in your college actually care about you.”
Javangula currently works at the Head of College office, and he noted the kindness Camacho had shown him in his interactions with her.
Kevin Zhong ’25 said that he was surprised by the announcement and described Camacho as “diffusing empathy” and being genuinely curious about students’ lives and opinions.
“Residential life is designed so that you enjoy a certain kind of fellowship. That means that you take responsibility for each other’s flourishing,” said Camacho. “We have a shared sense of being part of directly contributing to the life of this university in a very special way.”
Head of College Camacho and Associate Head Pitti have a chocolate lab named Rosa.