Adriana Torres

Adriana Torres (she/her/ella)  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.