Faculty Mentors
Faculty Mentors are selected by the Department of Campus Inclusion and Community and the Provost's Office to provide academic and social support to the Posse Scholars.
Professor Raymond San Diego will serve as the 11th Posse Mentor at Northwestern.
Ray San Diego is an Assistant Professor of Instruction in the Asian American Studies Program and the Posse 11 Mentor at Northwestern University.
Ray grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and won “Best Dressed” in high school. He graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles, with a Bachelor’s Degree in Asian American Studies, where he was involved in progressive Asian American student organizations. He then earned a Master’s Degree in Asian American Studies from San Francisco State University, writing a thesis about moving image representations of Gay Filipinx Americans. At SFSU, he also worked with Pin@y Educational Partnerships (PEP), teaching Filipinx American Studies at the K-16 level. After getting rejected in the last round of an audition to co-host a TV show, Ray moved back to southern California for his Ph.D. in Culture & Theory at the University of California, Irvine, with graduate emphases in Gender and Sexuality Studies, Asian American Studies, Critical Theory, and Visual Studies. He is also a certified Sex Educator through the Los Angeles-based EDSE- Everyone Deserves Sex Education, the first person in his family to graduate from college, and the first to become a drag legend.
Academic Year Support
For the students' first two years, the mentor meets weekly with the Posse as a group for two hours. Additionally, they meet with each member individually every other week. These sessions support the students' academic success and engagement with the University community.
In the Spring, the Faculty Mentor and Posse staff attend the PossePlus Retreat with the students.
Mentors prepare for the incoming Posse class by attending a three-day session at the Posse Foundation headquarters in New York, a three-day summer retreat with the Posse group and Posse staff in Los Angeles, and a three-day session at the Posse LA site.
Nominations for Campus Mentors
Campus Inclusion & Community accepts all nominations for faculty mentors. Please email inclusion@northwestern.edu with any inquiries.