The annual Hispanic Heritage Month alumni panel marked its seventh year of partnership between the Institute for Latino Studies (ILS) and the Hispanic Alumni of Notre Dame (HAND). Paloma Garcia Lopez, Associate Director of ILS, opened the session by highlighting the imperative of providing current students with relatable role models to navigate career pivots, family expectations, and geographic transitions. Moderating the panel was Dr. Carlos Gomez Meade, a skin cancer and reconstructive surgeon practicing in Tulsa, Oklahoma, who serves as HAND’s Director of Alumni Relations. Dr. Gomez Meade emphasized HAND’s mission to re-engage graduates on campus—exemplified by the popular Los Irish community merchandise initiative—and foster intergenerational mentorship.
The discussion featured four distinguished alumni representing diverse career sectors:
- Gregorio Arimany (Class of 2004), originally from Guatemala, earned an MBA from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business and currently serves as Corporate Development Director for Latin America at Nord Anglia Education, following an extensive background in engineering and investment banking.
- Sandra Garcia (Class of 2009), residing in Granger, Indiana, serves as a People & Culture Director. Her broad background includes managing 16 campus dining units at Notre Dame, operating her family’s local business, Los Aces Mexican Restaurant, and leading HR initiatives for regional non-profits alongside her husband, George West, a former Notre Dame football player.
- Kelly Rivera Salazar (Class of 2000), a practicing attorney from Edinburg, Texas, earned a Bachelor of Arts in history and sociology while serving as captain of the Notre Dame cheerleading team.
- Blanca Janet Ibarra (Class of 2006), a first-generation college graduate from Fort Worth, Texas, holds a master’s degree in school counseling and serves as a bilingual school counselor and mentor with Latinas in Progress.
A core thematic thread centered on balancing high academic standards with campus leadership and work-study commitments. Blanca Janet Ibarra balanced student organizational leadership in MEChA and ALANSA with work-study jobs at La Casa de Amistad, while leading Center for Social Concerns border seminars to Oaxaca, Mexico, to examine indigenous roots and political activism. Sandra Garcia tutored bilingual students off-campus at LaSalle Academy to fund living expenses. Kelly Rivera Salazar described managing the grueling athletic schedule of collegiate cheerleading alongside academic shifts, noting that pivoting from Pre-Med to History and Sociology taught her early on that non-straight-A records do not define long-term professional fulfillment.
The alumni evaluated the profound influence of non-family mentors who altered their trajectories. Blanca Janet Ibarra credited her middle-school Alliance for Catholic Education (ACE) teachers, Colleen and Gabriel, with expanding her horizons toward distant colleges, while acknowledging ND anthropology professor Karen Richmond, who was in attendance. Sandra Garcia recognized her high school counselor, Ms. Annette Taten, for steering her to Notre Dame, alongside former ND Executive Vice President Doug Marsh. Gregorio Arimany highlighted his executive coach, Jorge, who guided his transition from U.S. investment banking to Latin American corporate development.
Finally, the panel illustrated the concrete, lifelong utility of the Notre Dame network. Moving beyond generic concepts of shared values, the panelists cited tangible multi-generational support: Dr. Gomez Meade recalled a grueling medical residency in Florida when a fellow ND alumnus physician opened his apartment and laundry facilities to him, while Gregorio Arimany shared how Dr. Gomez Meade personally came over to help him move apartments when he felt isolated in Florida.
