Yralee Mendez ’07 is a high-energy student on campus and throughout the world.

Anybody who feels the floor shake while Yralee’s step team claps and stomps gets some idea of the energy she and her fellow dancers put into performing. 

Yralee, who celebrates her Dominican heritage and who grew up in New York City and graduated from the Landmark School, is just as spirited off stage, too, where she channels her vitality into leadership roles on campus educating others about multicultural issues. “It’s a great challenge to me,” she says of helping her peers open themselves to other cultures and to understand issues related to racial and gender stereotyping. “I try to see it as an educational experience. It gives me the opportunity to show everyone at St. Lawrence my culture!”

Sharing that culture is one reason Yralee founded the step team, works with the student-run ALMA (A Latino Multicultural Alliance) and has been house coordinator for the Black Women’s Residence. These roles are helping her become a more effective speaker and listener and challenge her to practice what she learns in the classroom.

Yralee has studied abroad in London, Thailand and Australia. She majors in speech and theatre throughthe performance and communication arts department.