Stephanie Santos-Nieves on Building Bridges at Empire State University

by

(SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY — January 14, 2025) In the fall, Stephanie Santos-Nieves joined Empire State University as an administrative assistant for the Office of Alumni Engagement. Her lifelong affinity for helping others was what led her to her current position—characterized by her positive and helpful disposition in prior roles, she feels happy and fulfilled by her ability to support the Empire State University community.

A Puerto Rico native, Santos-Nieves’ move to New York was a byproduct of the damage caused by Hurricane Maria in September of 2017. She recalls several days without electricity leading to company shutdowns, after which she began seeking other opportunities and found herself unexpectedly living in New York. While the move brought her closer to family members residing in New York state, she found herself questioning if she could adapt to the harsher climate or the strangeness of being away from home. Six years later, she is content with the stability her move to New York state has brought about, and still relishes in having family close by.

It is remarkable how early Santos-Nieves remembers experiencing the welcoming and accepting nature of Empire State University. She recalls feeling at ease even during her interview process prior to being hired. “I felt seen as a person,” she shares, noting that she was even asked what she likes to do for fun, which caught her off guard. Coincidentally, she had brought her scooter—one of her favorite pastimes, which she disclosed—and later received directions to the park from her (now) supervisor.

“Even when I started working here, Spanish already had a big presence on campus,” she notes, reminiscing on how pleasantly surprised she was to find out that President Lisa Vollendorf is a Spanish-speaker. The feeling of acceptance at Empire State University that took root that day still accompanies her now, extending to her identity as a Spanish speaker being valued and embraced. Though Santos-Nieves’s role at the Office of Alumni Engagement does not require bilingualism, it is a skill that she has found highly beneficial in carrying out her duties at Empire State University and fostering community among students, colleagues, and beyond.

Santos-Nieves has long been bilingual, with her first introduction to English taking place in kindergarten, as it does for many Puerto Rican children. “You never think you’ll ever actually need it,” she shares, referring to her unexpected move to New York state following the aftermath of Hurricane Maria. “But my family has always encouraged its youngest members to take up another language,” Santos-Nieves adds gratefully. Music, television, and everyday conversation have always been gateways into furthering her English-speaking skills, becoming accustomed to diverse accents, and learning about new cultural contexts. She feels that these tools are immersive and encourages prospective language learners to engage with the media and people of the language they aspire to learn.

Moving ahead, Santos-Nieves hopes that Empire State University’s Spanish BBA program grows, “and that we can finally share what we are working on with the world.” She notes that Spanish is the second most spoken language in the U.S. according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2019 report, making it exciting to be at the vanguard of Spanish language programs in New York state public higher education institutions. She urges prospective Spanish BBA students to believe in themselves, as they are just as capable in English-speaking settings as they have been in Spanish-speaking environments. Her final piece of advice is to take opportunities to engage with the English language, even while in the Spanish BBA: “If you learn or improve upon something every day, that’s a day well spent.”

SUNY Empire’s Director of Spanish Language Programs is Featured Panelist at International Multilingual Creative Writing Conference 2024

by

Image of Spanish Language Programs Director Silvia Mejía standing at the front of a classroom and reading from her printed manuscript pages. Her hair is short, she wears wire frame glasses, and is dressed in all black.

(MANHATTAN, NY — NOVEMBER 22, 2024) On Thursday, Nov 14, the CUNY International Multilingual Creative Writing Conference (IMCWC) hosted Silvia Mejía, Empire State University’s director of Spanish Language Programs, as one of their 2024 panelists. Mejía is an Ecuadorian nonfiction writer, professor of Spanish, and former journalist spanning Ecuador, France, and the United States. Her manuscript-in-progress, “Violencias, grandes y pequeñas” (which translates to: “Violences Big and Small”), is a collection of autobiographical stories. It examines sociopolitical hardship in 1980s Ecuador through childhood scenes underscored by violence, resilience, and revelation.  

The IMCWC, hosted by City University of New York (CUNY), invites creative writers from across the globe to uplift diverse experiences across cultures and promote intercultural exchanges in the global literary community. Each year, qualified panelists are selected based on literary recognition such as existing and upcoming publications or accomplishments in their areas of focus. The cohort of writers are grouped thematically, providing varying perspectives on a shared topic. The panel Mejía formed part of was titled “The Home and the World.” 

“Conferences like this are important because they showcase writers coming from different literary cultures and languages, who are writing in those languages while living in the U.S. This conference encompasses literary expressions in English as well as many other languages, which reflects the reality of living and writing in the U.S.,” Mejía commented. 

Mejía’s reading of “Cambio de piel” (in English, “Turn of Skin”), one of the essays in her collection, was complemented by two co-panelists: Peruvian writer and poet Rocío Uchofen, and Puerto Rican poet Elidio La Torre Lagares, both of whom have published work and been awarded literary recognitions. Like her peers, Mejía also holds literary accolades, including her recently published literary essay “Salamandra” (Literal Magazine, June 2023), and nonfiction story, “Vacaciones de sexto grado” (Antología Volumen III, FILNYC, 2023). Prior to becoming the Director of Spanish Language Programs at SUNY Empire, she was a professor of Spanish, Latin American Literature, and Film at The College of Saint Rose.  

She shares, “I’ve been a professor for over two decades, and I’ve always found in this profession a way to nourish my creative impulse to write. My current role as director of Spanish Language Programs at SUNY Empire yields yet another intersection between my professional and personal literary selves: as someone who writes in Spanish in the U.S., I am proud to form part of an institution expanding access to higher education through the development of academic programs taught completely in Spanish.” 

Mejía’s written work houses large sociopolitical questions in the intimate, domestic spaces in which she first encountered them—the implications of which run deeply through her personal life and her nation’s history. Through examinations of her own lived experience, she fleshes out the parallels between “The Home and the World” in hopes that her openness and vulnerability will help foster a culture of authentic human connection. While she continues readying “Violencias, grandes y pequeñas” for publication, Mejía is sure to bring the same sincerity and care to her work on Spanish Language Programs at Empire State University.