Jamie Capetillo
Assistant Director for Leadership & Social Justice
Jamie Capetillo (she/her) earned a Bachelor of Arts in Race, Gender & Sexuality Studies from the University of Wisconsin–La Crosse and a Master of Arts in Higher Education & Student Affairs from the University of San Francisco. A proud product of Milwaukee Public Schools and a strong TRiO background, Jamie’s work in higher education has long been grounded in mentorship, community care, and advancing belonging for historically marginalized students. Prior to joining the Loyola University Chicago Center for Student Inclusion and Belonging (CSIB), Jamie held roles in multicultural student services, pre-college access programming, residence life, and campus climate response. Her experiences have included supervising undergraduate literacy tutors through the Leo T. McCarthy Center for Public Service and the Common Good, partnering with community centers and the San Francisco Unified School District to support reading literacy initiatives for elementary students. She also supported Multicultural and First-Generation Living Learning Communities and served on a university Hate & Bias Response Team focused on assessing campus climate and developing responsive educational initiatives. Jamie joined Loyola in 2020 as a Resident Director and proudly served as the first Resident Director of Francis Hall before transitioning to CSIB in 2023. Joining CSIB was a “homecoming” to the identity-affirming, justice-centered work that first brought her into student affairs.
Jamie’s scholarship and practice are deeply rooted in storytelling, leadership, and equity. Her undergraduate research explored vulnerability, leadership, and racial battle fatigue among Womxn of Color leaders, while her graduate research examined the experiences of social justice-oriented practitioners navigating systemic barriers within higher education. Jamie also co-created the documentary Inclusive Negligence: Helping Educators Address Racial Inequality at the University of Wisconsin–La Crosse, which focused on the experiences of students of color navigating PWIs within La Crosse and led to racial equity training initiatives that later informed practices across the University of Wisconsin system and La Crosse Public Schools. Through both research and creative work, Jamie continues to believe deeply in the power of storytelling as a tool for healing, resistance, and collective transformation.
As Assistant Director of Leadership and Social Justice within CSIB, Jamie supports student mentorship, peer education, and social justice initiatives that center the voices, strengths, and lived experiences of first-generation, low-income, migrant, and LGBTQIA+ students. Whether developing leadership curriculum, facilitating equity-focused trainings, guiding student leaders in community-rooted work, or leading recruitment and training initiatives, her approach is grounded in community care and people-first leadership. Shaped by Jesuit values and transformative justice frameworks, Jamie remains committed to helping students not only survive higher education, but thrive within it, challenge it, and reimagine what it can become.
What brought you to this work and why do you do this work?
As a first-generation queer Latina student from Milwaukee, I didn't know why I was going to college just that I kept being told I had to go. Navigating college, especially a PWI, was not easy, especially while trying to understand myself within spaces that were not always built with students like me in mind. College became the place where I was finally able to explore my queerness, find language for my experiences, and begin imagining a future I was excited about.
What carried me through that journey were the amazing Black and Brown Womxn, mentors, educators, and community members who poured into me with care, transparency, accountability, and love. They reminded me that I belonged in every room I entered and showed me the power of community, storytelling, and advocacy. This work is my way of paying that forward. I do this work because I believe higher education can be transformative when students feel seen, supported, challenged, and deeply cared for. I want students to know they do not have to navigate these systems alone and that their stories, identities, and communities deserve space within them.
What’s something you want students to feel when they enter your space?
I want students to feel like they are walking into a space where they do not have to shrink themselves. Whether we are being chismosas about pop culture, celebrating wins, processing hard moments, or navigating the heaviness of the world together, I want students to know they have someone in their corner who genuinely cares about them as whole people. I hope students feel warmth, authenticity, laughter, transparency, support, and community when they enter my space.
Community care is something I deeply believe in and intentionally try to build within our center. My students love to joke about it but community care is lifeeeee for me. I believe care can be transformative. Sometimes that looks like mentorship and hard conversations, and sometimes it looks like checking in, sharing a playlist, hyping someone up before a presentation, or helping students find moments of joy and rest amid stress. More than anything, I want students to leave my space knowing they are not alone here.
Outside of work, what’s something that brings you joy, grounding, or restoration?
Outside of work, you can usually find me exploring Chicago with my partner Ingrid, searching for new coffee shops, boba spots, bookstores, and restaurants while listening to a good podcast. A good playlist can speak to my soul like no other. Music is a huge source of grounding and joy for me, and I believe music has a way of helping us process emotions, tell stories, and connect to ourselves and each other in powerful ways.
I also feel most restored near water! I am a Cancer Sun, Pisces Moon, and Leo Rising. Lots of water in this chart! I have always lived near a body of water! Whether I’m walking along the lakefront, discovering a new favorite song, spending time in community, or simply sharing a quiet moment with people I love, I try to stay connected to the things that remind me to slow down, breathe, and find joy in everyday moments.