Despierta Boricua (DB), Yale’s Puerto Rican student organization, has been celebrating, preserving, and uplifting Puerto Rican culture and community since 1971. Our mission is to create spaces where Boricuas and allies can come together to honor our heritage, engage in meaningful dialogue, and advocate for Puerto Rican communities both on campus and beyond.
This year, through the Yale SOAR program, we hope to expand our impact by fundraising for several initiatives that will deepen our cultural and service commitments:
● National Puerto Rican Student Conference: organizing a first-of-its-kind conference for Fall ‘26, hosted in partnership with university Puerto Rican student organizations across the Northeast. This event will foster community building, coalition building, academic exchange, and long-term collaboration across campuses. This will serve as the catalyst and groundwork for future collaborations to unite on various other issues and to strengthen each other. Through dialogue and action, we hope to engage directly with issues that impact the island as well as the broader Puerto Rican community.
● Las Fiestas de San Sebastián in New Haven: We’re bringing Puerto Rico’s most beloved and iconic festival to Yale and the wider city of New Haven in April ‘26, celebrating culture through music, dance, food, and art, local vendors, and community leaders.
● Weekly Cafecitos: These weekly casual gatherings bring us together over café with traditional treats like quesitos and empanadillas, create a welcoming space to host speakers, cultural exchange and collaboration, and maintain community and student wellness.
● Service Trip to Puerto Rico: Our members hope to travel to the island to partner with local schools and organizations, mentoring students to provide knowledge, accessibility, and opportunities to higher education while also engaging in service projects that support cultural preservation and environmental sustainability. These mentorship and educational outreach also serves to build bridges between diaspora and the island.
Your support will make it possible for us to carry forward Puerto Rican traditions, strengthen community ties, and create opportunities for meaningful service and leadership. By giving to this campaign, you are helping us build bridges from Yale to Puerto Rico, sustaining our culture, empowering our students, and uplifting the communities we proudly serve.
Únase a nosotros para mantener nuestra cultura viva y en pleno florecimiento.
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