Courtesy of Olivia Jacque

This past weekend, the National Dominican Student Conference was hosted at Yale  — after a hiatus since the last virtual conference in 2021. 

The conference ran from Thursday, Feb. 20 to Sunday, Feb. 23, celebrating the 20th anniversary of the creation of the Yale Dominican Students Association. 

Guests such as Saturday Night Live’s Marcello Hernandez and Baseball Hall of Fame recipient David Ortiz spoke with hundreds of students from colleges around the country. In addition to lectures and more informal fireside chats, attendees participated in writing and dance workshops and a gala at the Afro-American Cultural Center on Friday night. 

“It was always important for us to cater to different people and to represent different aspects of the Dominican Republic,” said Isabel Garrigo Mejia ’27, the conference’s speaker outreach coordinator. 

The event was orchestrated by a team from Yale’s Dominican Students Association, including Garrigo Mejia, Finance Chair Alejandra Mendez ’26, Marketing Chair Charlize León Mata ’26 and Logistics Team Michaell Santos Paulino ’26 and Demetrius Profic ’27. 

Given the conference’s location at an academic institution, Garrigo Mejia emphasized the importance of recruiting speakers from a variety of careers and backgrounds. This manifested in panels on the arts, architecture, international relations and voter mobilization. 

The conference also focused on domestic and international politics through featured panels with José Blanco, the Dominican ambassador to the United Nations, and Carolina Mejía, the first female mayor of Santo Domingo. 

With about 100 students purchasing the three-day conference pass, Garrigo Mejia underscored the significance of opening a space for students to not only hear from successful Dominicans but also strengthen their community. 

“The message that was repeated the most by speakers was to not forget about the Dominican Republic,” said Garrigo Mejia, “We are the people who have to give back.”

Saturday Night Live cast member Marcello Hernandez drew one of the largest crowds at the conference to his fireside chat on Friday. Staying true to his comedic flair, he introduced himself in Spanish by asking the audience to raise their hands if they only spoke English. When no one raised their hand, he tried again in English, earning a few more laughs.

Hernandez, who initially went to college to play D3 soccer, spoke about his journey to discovering his love for comedy during the talk. He emphasized the importance of his Dominican “tigueraje,” or audacity to always pursue his dreams. 

“Everyone was captivated by what he was saying, but he had a nice touch of humor and an overall levity to what he said. Nothing was too serious, but he also gave really good advice,” said Sydney Mitchell ’27, who attended Hernandez’s talk. 

Touching on his Dominican heritage, Hernandez spoke about his desire to share his Latin American identity and culture with his audience through comedy. He described Latinos as a resilient group of people who are not easily offended, saying that they could take the humor. 

Another theme of the conversation was the centrality of family to Hernandez’s success — particularly his mom. He spoke about her as his driving force and motivation always and shared his wish to give back to his mom after all of her sacrifices for his own success. 

In another fireside chat, David Ortiz, former Red Sox player and Hall of Famer, similarly touched upon staying true to his values throughout his career. Recognizing his family’s role in his success, he spoke of his desire to give back to his community and he looked forward to the future of the young crowd at the panel.

Myah Salazar Salvador ’28, a first-year liaison of Yale’s Dominican Students Association, attended several events at the conference, including the fireside chats with Hernandez and Ortiz.

Salazar Salvador felt it was important to hear from Dominican voices like Hernandez and Ortiz, in particular considering the stigma against Dominicans from within the Latino community.

“I have heard before to not let anybody dim your light. I’ve never heard before to not let anybody dim your Dominican light,” she said. “It was empowering to be told from inspiring people that the Dominican voice does matter, even though it’s not the dominant voice in the room. So that’s why you have to speak up on it even more.”

Saudi Garcia, the founder of the Dominican Students Association at Brown, gave the conference’s keynote speech on Friday night. Garrigo Mejia said Garcia seemed like the perfect fit for the address, given that she, too, had been a Dominican student not so long ago.

Garrigo Mejia, herself an international student, shared that she felt the conference had brought together international Dominican students with those from the diaspora. She continued by describing her personal experience with the Dominican Student Association upon arriving at Yale. 

“Every Friday, the Dominican Students Association hosts a Domino Chat. I remember walking in for the first time and I was very nervous coming here,” said Garrigo Mejia, “I walked in and I was like, ‘This is exactly like back home.’”

Maintaining the connection between the Dominican Republic and students in the United States remains a goal of the National Dominican Students Conference, co-directors Karla Perdomo Núñez ’26 and Darcy Ovalles ’26 said in a joint statement.

The event was sponsored by La Casa Cultural at Yale, among fourteen other sponsors. 

Karla Cortes contributed reporting.