Timothy Dwight First Year Counselors 2025 - 2026
First-Year Counselors, colloquially known as “FroCos,” seek to ease the transition of incoming first-years to the academic, social, and cultural life of Yale College. FroCos are exceptional seniors that live among first-year students in TD and offer oversight, advice, and guidance.
TD has 10 FroCos from diverse backgrounds and unique experiences in their time as undergraduates. They are beyond excited to be working with the newest class of Red Lions.
|
|
Celene Bennett (Head FroCo) Celene Bennett (she/her) is from Peachtree City, GA. She is an intensive Sociology major with a concentration in Health and Society. She serves as Co-President of the Yale Undergraduate Prison Project, collaborating with local community organizations to address inequities of the criminal legal system. As a former FOCUS leader, she loves trying off-campus restaurants and walking around New Haven! While you may catch her on stage with Danceworks or at Kasama’s Barrio Fiesta, the annual Filipino cultural showcase, she loves any kind of performance or game—and a front row seat in the audience. Celene also loves a long meal in the dining hall, babysitting (often in the TD courtyard), friends and family time, and every variation of crosswords. TD has been Celene’s home away from home, and she’s excited to help the class of 2029 find theirs! |
|
|
Martine Dosa (she/her) was born and raised in Syracuse, New York — a city she loves, and one that is a lot like New Haven. At Yale, Martine is studying Political Science and pursuing an intensive certificate in Education Studies. She likes to spend her time in the neighborhoods of New Haven. Through the Yale Undergraduate Prison Project, she co-facilitates (alongside Celene, another FroCo!) resume development and job application support sessions for formerly incarcerated individuals across the city. Martine also supported a documentary project on the history of community organizing in the Greater Dwight neighborhood, and has worked in several New Haven Public Schools. As a FOOT Leader, Martine has loved meeting new first-years and spending time outdoors on the beautiful Appalachian Trail. She also really enjoys playing volleyball in the TD Courtyard as well as dancing alongside some of her best friends in Danceworks. Martine’s favorite pastime is cooking up fun adventures with her friends…she might be the icecream shop Elena’s on Orange’s #1 fan. TD has easily been Martine’s favorite part of Yale. She cannot wait to welcome the Class of 2029 to their new home. |
|
|
Alex (she/her) grew up in Chelsea, Massachusetts, and is proudly Guatemalan. She is majoring in Ethnicity, Race, and Migration with a certificate in Human Rights. On campus, Alex is deeply involved in La Casa’s community, having been on staff since her first year and previously serving as Head Student Coordinator. She loves poetry and has found home in ¡Oye! Spoken Word, and she and her friends founded Yale Lawtinas, Yale’s first Latina pre-law organization. She cherishes mentorship and advocacy, which has led her to work with first-gen, low-income students as an FGLI Thrive Peer Mentor and an Academic Strategies Mentor for the Yale Prison Education Initiative. Her commitment to public service has extended beyond campus, involving Legal Aid DC, Planned Parenthood, and the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts. In her free time, Alex loves exploring coffee shops, listening to music, and hanging out with her friends at La Casa. She is very excited to welcome the incredible class of 2029 to the TD community! |
|
|
Taehyeong (he/him), who also goes by Nathan, is a Korean-American born in Korea and raised in the San Fernando Valley of California. He is majoring in Cognitive Science with a certificate in Education Studies. At Yale, Nathan has been a part of both YMUN Taiwan and Korea, where he loved working with students from around the world. On campus, he’s been involved with TEDxYale, serves as a Student Guide at the Yale Center for British Art, and is a FOOT leader. He also works at the Office of International Students & Scholars (OISS), pulls regular shifts at the buttery, and was a Courtyard Aide for TD (where you’ll frequently see him lounging in a hammock on sunny days). This past spring, Nathan studied abroad in Amsterdam, where he spent his days biking and trying to learn the Dutch language. In his free time, he loves to play sports and is an active participant on the intramural scene. He is so excited to meet the Class of 2029 and to welcome all new Red Lions to TD! |
|
|
Hi! My name is Ricardo Lopez (he/him). I’m a proud Puerto Rican who grew up on Long Island, NY. I’m majoring in Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology and am on the pre-med track. On campus, you can find me doing cancer research at the Stites Lab and volunteering at Yale New Haven Hospital pediatrics center. I’m also a member of Sabrosura, Yale’s premier Latin dance team, where I get to choreograph and perform some of my favorite Latin dances like salsa, bachata, and merengue. I’m heavily involved in La Casa (Yale’s Latino Cultural Center) and love spending time in the vibrant community they’ve built—especially during their events (They always have free food!). In my free time, I like to hit the TD gym, throw on my headphones, and blast some rap and reggaetón while I work out or go for a run. TD has definitely been my best experience here at Yale and for that reason, I’m super excited to meet the Class of 2029 and welcome all the new Red Lions to TD! |
|
|
Folu Ogundipe (she/her) is proudly from Cary, North Carolina. She’s majoring in Applied Mathematics with a concentration in Statistics, along with a Certificate in Programming.
On campus, you can often find her spending time with friends in the Elm or Cross Campus. She spent last summer in New Haven conducting Machine Learning research, which eventually cemented her main areas of study for the rest of her time at Yale. Besides studying math and programming, Folu also spent a year on Yale’s Ethics Bowl team, eventually following them to Regionals and Nationals. However, her time on the team was cut short when she decided to spend last Fall semester abroad in Dublin, Ireland. She’s always finding a way to work that semester into conversation, so please feel free to reach out to her for questions or advice regarding study abroad!
When Folu isn’t with friends or studying, she’s most likely binge-watching The Real Housewives (any location, but preferably Atlanta or New York), Vanderpump Rules, or Love Island. She’s also a consistent player on TD’s IM Table Tennis team, despite having no table tennis skills. She’s beyond excited to meet this incoming class and is counting down the days to the fall!
|
|
|
Olivia Ren (she/her) is from the town of Harvard, Massachusetts (not the university!). She is majoring in Ethics, Politics, and Economics with a certificate in Data Science. At Yale, Olivia is a member of the varsity fencing team, writes about food as a Marketing & Communications Junior Editor at Yale Hospitality, and attempts to improve her dancing skills in Danceworks. She was also on the board of the Dwight Hall Socially Responsible Investment Fund, which manages a portion of Dwight Hall’s endowment and funds grants to nonprofits in the Greater New Haven area. In her first year, she participated in the Directed Studies program. In her free time, Olivia enjoys drawing, trying matcha from different cafes, playing very amateurish pickleball, and eating food with her friends. TD has quickly become a highlight of her Yale experience, and she’s thrilled to welcome the Class of 2029 into this amazing community! |
|
|
August Rios (he/him) is from Bluffton, South Carolina and is majoring in Sociology. He is passionate about public service, anti-poverty reform, and social policy.
On campus, August is President and Co-Founder of the Yale Student Association for Small Claims Assistance, was Co-Director of the Dwight Hall Urban Fellows Program, and works as a research assistant at the Yale Housing and Health Equity Lab and Yale Institute for Social and Policy Studies. In New Haven, August is a real estate agent at Neighborhood Housing Services and worked as a Legislative Affairs Intern at the City of New Haven Fair Rent Commission. This summer, he is working as a Research Intern at the Congressional Joint Economic Committee and studying the European Union’s Housing First model in Helsinki, Finland.
In his free time, you can find August at TD Intramural soccer and volleyball (go Red Lions!!), eating a colossal amount of cookie dough in the buttery, and Facetiming his five siblings. He cannot wait to welcome TD’s Class of 2029 :)
|
|
|
Helena Vargas (she/her) grew up in San Diego, California. She is majoring in History on the Politics, Law, and Government track. At Yale, after two years of volunteering and working in the Timothy Dwight College Buttery, she served as manager last year. The buttery is a late-night, student-run snack shop. She is part of the Yale Historical Review and will serve as Senior Editor next year. This summer, a Yale fellowship funded her experience living in El Salvador and Rome researching the Salvadoran Civil War and Vatican response. She is an active member of the Saint Thomas More Catholic Chapel at Yale. Helena also volunteers for IRIS (Integrated Immigrant & Refugee Services), a nonprofit that provides tutoring and other resources to immigrants and refugees in New Haven. In her spare time, Helena loves spending time with friends, eating ice cream at Ashley’s, and attending student performances on campus. She is excited to return to New Haven in the fall to help TD first-years discover the countless opportunities Yale has to offer! |
|
|
Owen Xu Li (he/him) was born and raised Mexico. He is a double major in Statistics & Data Science and Economics, with a strong interest in technology, finance, and global development – specifically sustainable development.
At Yale, Owen has worked on data analytics projects ranging from urban land cover classification using satellite imagery in the Seto Lab, to Machine Learning research with the Yale School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. Currently, Owen is completing his summer internship at Santander, where he is supporting the investments team with analytics and strategies.
Outside the classroom, he’s been involved in Model UN (attending his first international conference in Singapore), data support at the Yale Law School, and deeply involved in the Yale Mexican Students Association. Owen’s most rewarding experience at Yale was participating in the Light Fellowship at Taiwan to build his Chinese language proficiency during his freshman summer, and he hopes to share this experience with the Yale community.
He speaks Spanish, English, and Chinese (although not perfectly fluent), and is passionate about building tools and models that serve both people and policy. In his free time, Owen enjoys hiking, Formula 1, cooking with his friends and family, and exploring photography. He’s excited to return to campus to keep learning, building, and, most importantly, become a FroCo and keep supporting the Yale community.
|
