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UNC Charlotte Latinx/Hispanic Faculty and Staff Caucus

This guide highlights and celebrates the wide-ranging contributions of Latinx and Hispanic scholars on UNC Charlotte's campus.

Alexandra Alvarez Rivas, MSW, LCSW (CAPS)

About Alexandra:

Alexandra Alvarez Rivas is a licensed clinical social worker and Multicultural Mental Health & Equity Initiative Clinician at UNC Charlotte's Counseling and Psychological Services, with a specific focus in providing holistic mental health and well-being support to underserved student populations, specifically Latinx and Spanish-speaking students. Alexandra holds a Master of Social Work and a Bachelor's of Psychology with Highest Honors from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Paula Campos (Academic Affairs)

About Paula: 

Paula Campos joined the Center for Academic Excellence in 2018 as the Assistant Director of Peer Assisted Learning. She earned her B.A. in International Studies and M.A. in Latin American Studies from UNC Charlotte. Paula is a firm believer that higher education is an investment and a privilege. With the appropriate resources, a student can achieve success and enjoy the process. Before joining the UCAE, Paula enjoyed studying abroad in Brazil and Bolivia. Her love for other cultures and languages gives her the passion to work with students from various backgrounds.  

Paula is working in collaboration with Atkins Library to build an oral history project highlighting the last 30 years of LAC (Latin American Coalition) and its impact on the community. Paula serves as the interviewer for the La Coalición collection. She hopes to continue with and expand this project to enhance the local Latinx community's presence in Atkins Library's Special Collections and University Archives.

Eva Gonzalez, MSW, LCSW (CAPS)

Image of Eva Gonzalez About Eva:

Eva is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker at the Center for Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) and is a clinician with the Multicultural Mental Health and Equity Initiative (MMHEI). She is licensed in both the state of North Carolina and Illinois and obtained her Master of Social Work from Aurora University and Bachelor of Psychology and Sociology from Lewis University.

Eva has previously worked in community mental health providing trauma specific counseling services to primarily Black and Latinx adolescents, including Spanish speaking families. She also currently serves on the Latinx Wellness Task Force.

Eva enjoys the outdoors, tending to her house plants, and exploring movement through dance.

Liza Lopes (Academic Affairs)

Photo of Liza Lopes About Liza:

Liza serves as a Transfer Credit Articulator in the Office of the Registrar. She is the UNC Charlotte lead for implementing the military credit transfer improvement initiative and is part of the team that helped develop the new School of Professional Studies. Liza has a passion to help adult/returning students and remove obstacles on the way to degree completion. She was the point person for designing and implementing a new application platform for readmission to Charlotte and continues to serve as an instrumental member in process improvement for the application system. Liza is a member of the Southern Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers and has presented on the importance of recruiting readmit students. She holds a B.S. in Professional Studies with a focus in Leadership and a B.A. in Interdisciplinary Studies with a concentration in Women's Gender Studies from UNC Charlotte and is in pursuit of her Master's degree at UNC Chapel Hill.

Liza co-owned and organized the Charlotte Bachata & Salsa Festival from 2012-2016, where she brought in world-renowned Latin dance performers and instructors to showcase and share their talent.

She enjoys sharing her Puerto Rican culture and food with her Office of the Registrar team members, spending time with her husband and their four children, working out, traveling, and continues to join in Latin Dance at any opportunity.

Daniela Recabarren (CAPS)

Photo of Daniela RecabarrenAbout Daniela:

Daniela is a Staff Psychologist at CAPS, as well as the Coordinator for Multicultural and Equity Initiatives. She obtained her Masters in Counseling Education at the University of Miami, her Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, and is a Licensed Psychologist in the state of North Carolina. Some of the major work she has accomplished at UNC Charlotte includes co-developing a Diversity and Inclusion Committee at CAPS, co-developing a Student Advisory Board for CAPS, and co-developing the Let’s Talk program for students across UNCC to get informal consultations around mental health and reduce mental health stigma on underserved communities.

She served on the board of AKINS (Allies of Knoxville Immigrant Neighbors) to support the rights of undocumented immigrants in Knoxville, TN. She has also volunteered with the Latin American Coalition in Charlotte to provide assistance to Latinx and/or Hispanic residents wishing to gain US citizenship. Most recently she has been working on a survey to gain understanding of the mental health needs of Latinx students on campus, and is also one of the staff advisors for the Latinx Student Union (LSXU) organization on campus.

Daniela is a proud dog parent of a 6 year old pup named Julia. She loves the outdoors and in recent years has been getting better at gardening and taking care of indoor plants. She loves arts and crafts and cooking, and believes anytime is a good occasion for some music and dancing.

Denis Vargas (Student Affairs)

About Denis:

Denis Vargas serves as the Assistant Director of Creative Services for Student Affairs. He holds an A.S. in Graphic Design and served for 6 years as the Associate Art Director and, later, as Art Director for Orlando Magazine. During his time at Orlando Magazine, Denis received 8 nominations for the Florida Magazine Association's Charlie Awards.

Denis loves video games and board games. He also enjoys drawing and going to the gym in his spare time.