Meet Intercultural Affairs’ Student Specialist Team

Adriana Torres (she/her/ella)

Torres grew up in Watsonville, California, a small farming town on the Pacific coast and home to the annual Watsonville Strawberry Festival. In her role as the Latinx/e Student Specialist in Intercultural Affairs (ICA), she promotes diversity, inclusion, and understanding among different cultures. “Although this might sound a bit cliché,” she remarks, “representation matters, and students should be able to see themselves in higher education.”

So far, Torres has seen how passionate Grinnellians can be about their work and their desire to change the world for the better. She invites Grinnellians to set up a meeting through e-mail or swing by her office (JRC 311-C) to grab a snack. In her office, she keeps a small ofrenda (altar), where she uses sage, palo santo, and other herbs to help center herself throughout the day. She loves her art wall and diffuser, which she says calms the energy in her space.

In her free time, Torres enjoys vintage shopping, long drives, chasing sunsets, and swimming. She also creates jewelry, makes art, and experiments with new restaurants around Des Moines. 

Adriana’s Favorite Movies: “My favorite movies of all time are The Goonies, Casper, and Edward Scissorhands.”

Adriana’s Favorite Books: Invisible Monster by Chuck Palahniuk, Land of Open Graves by Jason de Leon, Borderlands/La Frontera by Gloria Anzaldua, The Bell Jar by Silvia Plath and Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia.

Adriana’s Favorite TV Shows: New Girl, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, Rebelde, Ugly Betty, and Gossip Girl.

Jenée Spencer (she/her/hers)

Spencer was born in Chicago and lived there until her family relocated to Nashville, Tennessee, at seven years old. She moved to Grinnell after deciding to pursue a fresh start and new experiences. Though she wasn’t ready for the cold (like many students living in Iowa for the first time), she says working with Grinnellians as ICA’s Black Student Specialist has been the best experience so far.

She is excited to continue supporting and uplifting Grinnellians, believing that community is key to their success. “When safe and supported, young people can lean into the investment of higher education and understand how to navigate connections with grace, power, and success,” she notes. In her office, Spencer plays “music to keep the vibes high” and keeps a stash of pink ballpoint pens. “They bring me joy while working,” she says. “I also love to read, write, and binge Netflix, but on weekends, I’m always in search of good, live music and tasty new food.”

Jenée’s Favorite Movies: To Wong Foo, Friday After Next, and emphasizes she likes both Sister Act films.

Jenée’s Favorite Books: Forged by Fire by Sharon M. Draper and The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver.

Jenée’s Favorite TV Show: Living Single.

Micho Adler (xe/they/he)

Adler grew up and lived in Terre Haute, Indiana, for 44 years. Both he and his wife (from Cedar Falls, Iowa) were interested in working at Grinnell after seeing interesting positions within Student Affairs and the Grinnell College Museum of Art. Adler started their role as Assistant Director of Intercultural Affairs, LGBTQIA+ Student Specialist in June 2023. “Grinnellians are some of the smartest, most caring, and most creative folks I have ever met,” they say. “Working directly with students from all different backgrounds, cultures, and identities is the best part of working in ICA. The team really cares about each other and our students. This makes coming into work feel less like a job and more like a community.”

Students can find Adler’s office in the Stonewall Resource Center (SRC), located on the lowest level of Younker Hall. In their office, you can find a steady supply of coffee and snacks. He loves to nap in his free time, along with making art, gardening, and reading books. Xe is also deeply passionate about social justice and uses their voice and privilege to support his LGBTQ2S* family by advocating for dignity, equity, respect, and visibility at work and in the community.

Micho’s Favorite Book Series: The Dark Tower Series by Stephen King, “except for the very end of the last book…I pretend that doesn’t exist.”

Micho’s Favorite Movie: The Shape of Water.

Micho’s Favorite TV Show: Red Dwarf.

***

*LGBTQ2S stands for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and Questioning, and Two-Spirit. Two-Spirit is a term adopted at an Indigenous Lesbian and Gay International gathering in 1990, signifying Native people who embody both a masculine and feminine essence or “spirit.” However, Two-Spirit transcends gender and sexuality – many Two-Spirits Natives identify as LGBTQ+, but some do not. Two-Spirit is generally an umbrella term, allowing Indigenous peoples with different cultures to identify with their spiritual and tribe-specific identities with specific Two-Spirit terms.