For current graduate student Alejandro Chavez, connecting his career with a sense of community and belonging is one of his biggest priorities. “My identity has always led me to be passionate about issues of immigration, economic opportunity, and education for the Latino community,” he says. As the Korbel School celebrates Hispanic Heritage Month, we’re spotlighting Alejandro’s experiences as a graduate student, dance troupe member, and advocate for migrant communities.

After completing his undergraduate degree, Alejandro spent some time working for a non-profit in Denver. He would eventually return to the Korbel School to pursue his master’s in International Studies with a focus on Latin American Studies. He is also balancing a part-time job as an Employer Relation Assistant for the Office of Career and Professional Development (OCPD) and coursework for his certificate in Public Diplomacy. Both give him experiences that cut across his major — whether with other faculty members or employers looking for International Studies and Policy students in the area.

“Coming to DU during my bachelor’s,” says Alejandro, “I had a narrow idea of how I wanted my career to pan out, which was very focused on the federal government. As I get older, I have this strong passion for my community and culture, and so cultural diplomacy feels like a very strong fit for how I want to see my career proceed.” Alejandro is one of many students at the Korbel School who take advantage of the flexible, diverse curriculum that helps graduate candidates discover new passions and reconnect with old ones. For Alejandro, working with Professor Rebecca Galemba and a non-profit called Centro de Los Trabajadores Colorado — the only day laborer center in Denver — was one of those pivotal turning points. Together, they helped create an integration program to benefit Venezuelan migrants who were newcomers to the state.

Beyond his advocacy through the Korbel School, Alejandro also partakes in local dance and theatre that celebrates the heart and soul of Mexican heritage. “Both my grandfathers are immigrants from Mexico, and both my grandmothers grew up in a small town in southwest Colorado,” he says. “Growing up here in Colorado myself, I was part of Folklórico groups as a child. I got reconnected to that community in 2021 through friends that were starting their dance company here in Colorado.” Alejandro is a dancer in ArtistiCO and has performed in the Ellie Caulkins Opera House — with future performances on the near horizon.

Even though Alejandro attributes many community connections to his time at DU, he acknowledges there is a long way to go. “I think there are definitely some moments when you feel that imposter syndrome seep in,” he says, “especially when you first arrive on DU's campus. Often, I see that I am the only person of Latino descent in the classroom. But in this specific graduate program, I was grateful to have a lot of international students and students of color in my cohort.”

Alejandro was recently selected to join the 2025 cohort for the Capitol Fellowship Program with the Colorado Latino Leadership Advocacy Research Organization, which provides public policy training to college students. His next ArtistiCO performances will be at the Gates Concert Hall on December 2nd & 3rd, titled Fiestas Navideñas. To reserve tickets, follow this link. To learn more about Alejandro’s journey and his relationship to Hispanic Heritage Month, follow this link for his full interview.

Tom Rowe, a lifelong advocate of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB), received the Korbel Lifetime Achievement Award this year at our annual Korbel Honors—a fitting tribute to his extensive work in the field. As the founder and director of the International Career Advancement Program (ICAP), Rowe has dedicated the past twenty-seven years to supporting mid-career professionals from marginalized communities and over 40 years to the Korbel School.

Rowe's commitment to advocacy stems from his upbringing in Michigan, near Detroit and Ann Arbor, where his politically active family and their opposition to racism influenced him. "I grew up in and around Detroit," says Rowe, "raised by parents who were very active in the union movement and the opposition to Henry Ford, who was a racist and antisemitic. My father was also a Quaker, and I remember attending many meetings in Ann Arbor, discussing human rights and peace studies." After he graduated high school, Rowe attended the University of Michigan and pursued his PhD/MA at Berkeley.

His career path took an unexpected turn when his dissertation supervisor at Berkeley informed him about a teaching position in Connecticut, where he could work on his dissertation. While in Connecticut, Rowe also received a call from Josef Korbel, who was seeking an assistant dean. Although Rowe did not take the position then, this was his first contact with the Korbel School.

Rowe's activism against the Vietnam War created challenges in Connecticut, prompting his move to Virginia. After confronting issues of gender inequality in Virginia, he finally made his way to Denver in the mid-1970s. At the Korbel School, during many years as Associate Dean and then Dean of the School, Rowe made a special effort to recruit students from Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and Hispanic-serving institutions. Despite his success, he grew frustrated with the limited opportunities for credentialed Korbel School alums from underrepresented groups. Recognizing this gap and after several attempts to address it through existing channels, Rowe took the initiative to found ICAP in 1996, with funding from the Mellon Foundation. He was assisted in this by his wife, Emita Samuels, a former Director of Student Affairs at Korbel.

ICAP provides a comprehensive support network, including leadership training, career advising, mentorship, and policy analysis resources. It empowers professionals from underrepresented groups, with over 800 alums, including prominent figures such as the Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officers of the US Department of State and leaders of the Southern Poverty Law Center, Texas ACLU, Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, and PepsiCo Foundation. The program's reach is far and wide, and its origin was creating a community for professionals to tackle issues like racism, ethnocentrism, and misogyny.

Each year, ICAP hosts its capstone program at Aspen Meadows Resort/Home of the Aspen Institute. The retreat allows participants to focus on personal and professional growth, career development, and broad policy issues. "My wife and I drove through the mountains looking for a place where people could step away from their daily lives," Rowe reflects, "focusing instead on themselves and each other."

Though Rowe is proud of ICAP's reach so far, he understands that commitment to programs like these is even more existential for marginalized communities in the years to come. "Issues of equity & inclusion have become politicized and controversial," Rowe says, "which is unfortunate because DEIB is about improving the quality of leadership and of folks' lives. It's ensuring that all talent of all populations in the United States is represented."

On the other hand, when Rowe gets discouraged, he thinks about how far we've come. "There really has been progress, and we will deal with this new backlash. We'll each step forward and renew our efforts. We may change some vocabulary and evolve, but we keep working. That's what we do."

To learn more about ICAP, you can check out its website here.

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