Economics and public policy double major Luis Enrique Otero came to Vanderbilt from Bogotá, Colombia, with a passion for community building and a desire to have a positive impact on his university and the world. His contributions have earned him the Outstanding Senior award for the Class of 2025.
Otero and nine other finalists were celebrated during halftime at the Homecoming football game on Nov. 8.
Along with being a Chancellor’s Scholar, he is president of Delta Sigma Pi business fraternity, and he’s served as a resident adviser and head resident of Memorial House on The Ingram Commons for three years.
CULTURAL CONNECTIONS
Otero, who is better known by his nickname Quique, said cultural exchange events he created as an RA have been some of his most meaningful moments on campus.
“International and domestic students came together to share their stories, traditions and experiences,” he said. “Witnessing the genuine connections formed and the sense of belonging fostered among students from diverse backgrounds reaffirmed my commitment to building inclusive communities and building the values of empathy, understanding and unity that have defined my student journey.”
Otero is interested in finance. He participated in the Advancing Hispanics and Latinos Fellowship at JPMorgan, along with internships focusing his interests in finance and international business. After graduation, he plans to join JPMorgan as an analyst in private banking to work with Latin American clients.
LEADING WITH GRATITUDE AND COMPASSION
Otero said he is thankful for those who have supported him, especially his mentor Jonathan Dyke, who is an adjunct assistant professor of business studies, his friends in Delta Sigma Pi and faculty head of house Celso Castilho. Otero and Castilho have worked together for three years in Memorial House on The Ingram Commons.
“As the faculty head of Memorial House, I have had a front-row view of Quique’s leadership and impact on the Vanderbilt community. He builds relationships with all-comers, has helped create academic and social student organizations, and is a wonderful inspiration to other international students. And his Latin playlists have been a staple of our house s’mores study breaks,” said Castilho, associate professor of history and director of the Center for Latin American, Caribbean, and Latinx Studies.
Otero said advice he’ll carry forward is to honor where he came from and give back to the communities that have shaped him.
“Being the only Colombian student in my class, I once dreamed of just having the privilege to be here. Vanderbilt has given me everything, and I’ve learned the importance of using my opportunities to uplift others. Leading with gratitude, compassion and a commitment to service is essential. No matter where life takes you, always strive to make a positive impact on those around you.”
OUTSTANDING SENIOR AWARD
The Outstanding Senior Award is one of the highest honors an undergraduate student can receive at Vanderbilt. It recognizes a senior who exemplifies the values of the university community through leadership, service and passion. Students are nominated by a campus organization, fellow student, faculty or staff member and are voted on by their class.
CLASS OF 2025 NOMINEES
Salwa Daouk
Majors: Law, History and Society; Political Science
Salwa Daouk is a Chancellor’s Scholar double majoring in law, history and society and in political science. She is passionate about legal advocacy, especially for Latino and Muslim communities, and plans to attend law school after taking some time to travel to the Middle East and study Arabic.
She works extensively with the American Muslim Advisory Council as an executive assistant and as a policy intern. She helped organize legislative advocacy events like the Women’s Empowerment Conference and Day on the Hill. She also works with the Latino community in the field of law as a translator, legal intern and volunteer. Most recently, she volunteered with the Tennessee Immigrant Refugee Rights Coalition as their voter engagement and outreach coordinator.
Daouk is also the former president and current senior adviser of the Association of Latin American Students and president of Ballet Folklorico Mexicano de Vanderbilt.
Sam Ellis
Major: Sociology
Sam Ellis is majoring in sociology and minoring in human and organizational development and data science. After graduation he plans to work in project management at BlackRock.
He is the president of the Kappa Theta Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, director of programs for the Vanderbilt Black Student Leadership Conference, an adviser and panelist for the Honor Council and a teaching assistant for Data Science 1100.
Ellis said internships with human resources departments fueled his passion for “creating inclusive environments, laying the groundwork for a career focused on effective team management.”
Karim Elmehdawi
Major: Economics
Karim Elmehdawi is majoring in economics and plans to take a position as an associate consultant at Bain & Co. in Washington, D.C., after graduation. He is head of recruitment for Alpha Kappa Psi business fraternity, an ambassador for Vandy in Business & Consulting within the Vanderbilt Career Center and has been a resident adviser.
Elmehdawi credits his business fraternity for helping create belonging for him on campus, and he thanks Leonora Williamson, associate professor of the practice of business studies, for being his mentor and role model.
Raychael Gross
Major: Psychology
Raychael Gross is majoring in psychology and minoring in African American and diaspora studies. After graduation, she plans to take a gap year to gain experience working in a law firm, and then she will attend law school.
Gross is former president and now treasurer of the Omega Pi Chapter of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, co-president of the Black Cultural Center AmbassaDores, intern at the Margaret Cuninggim Women’s Center and student manager for Vanderbilt residential colleges student centers.
Gross said she felt a strong sense of belonging at Vanderbilt when she and a friend created the student group The Bold and the Beautiful, which is dedicated to creating safe, supportive spaces for plus-sized Black women.
Grace Jones
Majors: Engineering Science, Chemistry, Math
Grace Jones is an Ingram Scholar majoring in engineering science, chemistry and math with minors in scientific computing and business. She is co-president of Next Steps AmbassaDores, president of Vanderbilt’s American Chemical Society Chapter and founder and president of Vanderbilt Gymnastics.
Jones has been doing research since her first year with the Buchanan Research Lab, doing work that could impact Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases. She also interned multiple times with SkyNano Technologies helping develop technology that converts atmospheric CO2 into highly valuable carbon nanotubes.
Jones said study abroad experiences in Cameroon and Bolivia profoundly shaped her world view and her appreciation for how she can contribute to society. On campus, she said, her experiences with Next Steps students gave her a profound sense of belonging and value.
Solmin Kim
Majors: Child Studies, Sociology
Solmin Kim is double majoring in child studies and sociology. She plans to work in the nonprofit sector before pursuing a master’s degree in public policy. She is president of VUcept and has served for three years as a VUceptor, which she said has had a major impact on her Vanderbilt experience by building on her self-described “introverted strengths.”
Kim was summer public policy fellow at Harvard Kennedy School, where she developed a policy capstone project that researched how postsecondary enrollment among low-income students can be increased in Metro Nashville Public Schools.
She also created a five-week summer reading program for Nashville elementary schoolers where the group read and discussed books on friendship, neurodiversity and the Civil Rights Movement with the aim of honing their reading comprehension and literacy skills.
Nick McCoy
Majors: Elementary Education, Child Studies
Nick McCoy is a Cornelius Vanderbilt Scholar majoring in elementary education and child studies. He plans to be an elementary school teacher and collaborate with informal learning environments like museums to develop educational programming and curricula for students and families.
McCoy is the president of Kappa Delta Pi Education Honor Society, attorney general of the Interfraternity Council and vice president of Peabody Academic Mentors, and he is part of the Career Center’s Vandy in Education council.
As a Teach for America IGNITE Fellow, he supported students virtually, which he said deepened his commitment to equity in education and strengthened his adaptability as an educator. He also worked as a paraprofessional in Illinois, helping students with disabilities, which he said refined his approach to student-centered learning.
Emerson Pereira
Major: Cognitive Studies
Emerson Pereira is an Ingram Scholar majoring in cognitive studies. She will be an associate consultant at Bain & Co. after Commencement.
Pereira is president of Students Consulting for Nonprofit Organizations. The group has connected more than 70 Vanderbilt students with nonprofit organizations across the Nashville area.
She said earning a spot in the Ingram Scholars program as a sophomore changed her life. As an Ingram Scholar, she serves with the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition in their English as a second language and citizenship classes. She also authored curriculum for ESL tutoring that was implemented throughout the fall semester.
Pereira said one of her favorite projects has been working with the W.O. Smith Music School as a guitar instructor for underserved Nashville youth.
Noah Weitzel
Majors: Secondary Education, Molecular and Cellular Biology
Noah Weitzel is a double major in secondary education and molecular and cellular biology. He plans to be a middle school science teacher after graduation.
Weitzel said he found his love for teaching after interning three years in a row with The Berkeley Academy in Tampa, Florida, teaching middle school science to “future first-generation college students.”
He studied biochemistry and multilingual learning techniques during his study abroad experience in New Zealand. He also learned the value of communicating through storytelling, which he said is common practice for teachers there. He used these skills while student teaching in Metro Nashville Public Schools and while advocating for mental, social and emotional health resources on campus and beyond after the Covenant School shooting in March 2023.
Weitzel is also the deputy opinion editor of The Vanderbilt Hustler and served as a VUceptor. He said his VUceptees reminded him daily why he loves the Vanderbilt community and said his faculty partner, Christin Essin, was “truly supportive and joyful.”
