Recently appointed as the new Director of DEI at the City of Boston Planning Department, Luis Frias II ‘13 reflects on how his time at Anna Maria College laid the foundation for the purposeful career he has today.
Luis’ journey to Anna Maria College wasn’t a direct one. He was originally attending another college but felt he was getting lost in the crowd and found the large lectures challenging with his ADHD. Luis realized he needed a college that provided individualized attention and was dedicated to his success as a student. Anna Maria College provided the perfect fit and allowed Luis to continue the proud legacy of his father, an Anna Maria basketball star, and his uncle. Because of his family’s strong connection and commitment to education, Luis decided to join the Anna Maria College community that he had already known his whole life.
“I realized I needed something that was a little bit smaller and more intimate, a place where I felt like I could actually sit down and get to know my professors and feel a lot more connected to the campus. It really was the first place that really came to mind for me. So, I was really excited to transfer. Why would I shy away from this community, a place that already felt like a home for me?”
As a Legal Studies major on the Pre-Law track with a Sport Management minor, Luis was an active and dedicated student. From working with the athletic department to tutoring and serving in the dining hall, Luis embraced every opportunity. His work in residence life sparked his passion for DEI. Luis began leading his first DEI trainings while working as a Resident Director at Madonna Hall.
“The first trainings I ever ran were at Anna Maria, and it really helped me develop public speaking skills. I think the guiding star that I had at Anna Maria was the desire to help people. I want to help people that are underrepresented coming from communities like the ones that I grew up in. At the time, I did not recognize that DEI would be the vehicle for my passion. As I reflect on the start of my career at Anna Maria to now, the common factor throughout all my work is about me using my position in power to elevate those voices.”
Luis knows the first-hand benefits that come from having accessible professors with whom students can build relationships. He fondly recollects countless philosophical conversations with professors who encouraged him to explore new ideas and perspectives. However, one particularly impactful Anna Maria moment came in the wake of the Boston Marathon tragedy. Luis and his father had been volunteering at the marathon and were at the finish line when the bombs went off. Though both were uninjured, the traumatic experience lingered. The next day, while working his breakfast shift in the dining hall, Luis broke down in tears.
“I remember just kind of like breaking down crying, sitting right there at the cashier’s table, and the then Director for Student Life, Lisa Savarese, came out. She saw me, pulled me aside, and we had a whole conversation. Later that afternoon, I got an email from our Counseling Department wanting to check in. I was really touched just by the community outpouring. People offered support and that moment was really huge for me, just again, reaffirming my choice of being in a community that cares about each other and supports one another.”
As Luis’ career progressed to his current position of Director of DEI at the Boston Planning Department, he never forgot the values and life lessons he learned at Anna Maria College and still holds the conversations and relationships he built at the College very near and dear to his heart. Thinking about the next generation of Anna Maria College graduates, Luis advised them to be humble, stay curious, and believe in themselves.
“Learning is a lifelong journey, and there are things to be learned from everyone around you. Stay humble and know, we don’t know everything, and we can’t know everything, so it’s super important that we are listening to one another. It’s about creating a space where we can learn from one another, democratizing learning in that way, and staying curious through that process.”
