When his sister Amparo went to Princeton in the late 1980s, Juan José González ’06 recalls, she was the first person on either side of her family to go to college. Little did she know she was starting a family tradition. Later, he chose Princeton over other highly competitive schools in part because she had already paved the way.

There would still be some culture shock, González knew, going from a predominantly Mexican Los Angeles neighborhood to the Gothic halls of Princeton. “But my sister eased the transition out there,” he says.

As a freshman, González joined Ballet Folklórico de Princeton, a student organization that meets to learn and perform traditional regional dances from Mexico. When he joined, there were only four members; but when he left, there were 20. Looking back, González says, “It was the focal point of my four years at Princeton.”

Even though González had never done folkloric dance before college, he quickly saw how the club could be an important tool for Princeton's Chicano students. Not only could it serve as a meeting place for students with similar backgrounds, its public performances could make Mexican American culture and heritage more visible on campus.

Princeton has many traditions, from the P-rade to the eating clubs, and González is proud to have helped establish one of the growing list of new traditions. Ballet Folklórico now has “an infrastructure where the group will continue from year to year,” he says.

Since graduating, González has continued the building of an alumni network for members of the group to stay in touch and support the current troupe. “Every group on campus has an alumni base,” says González, but such a network was previously lacking for Chicano students. “We created that with the dance group.”

As president of the Chicano Caucus, González was able to work closely with the administration to focus increased attention on issues important to Mexican American students. For example, seeing that Princeton didn’t offer any classes on Latinos in the United States, González and some classmates petitioned for a “Latino Politics in the U.S.” course. A politics major with certificates in political economy and African American studies, González was able to take the course in his final semester.

Upon graduating, González was accepted as a Princeton Project 55 fellow in Chicago working for the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that fights for the rights of immigrants and refugees of all ethnic backgrounds. After his fellowship, González continues to work for the organization as a full-time organizer.

The fellowship freed González to do the type of work he’s passionate about without worrying about rent money, he says, a fact made even easier by Princeton’s "no loan" financial aid policy that started in 2001. “My sisters graduated from college with huge loans,” says González, but he walked away with no debt. His next step is graduate school in public policy, for which he’s already won a fellowship.