March 13, 2023 — Alumna Kiki Reyes received CSUCI’s Women’s Recognition Award Wednesday.
Reyes is the media relations manager at University of California, Santa Barbara. Noticing there were few Mexican American news reporters, she had previously advanced from working in digital sales at KEYT to serving as a news producer at KSBY. She earned a Master of Fine Arts in writing and contemporary media.
Driven to tell stories since childhood, she began writing about her experiences as a first-generation Mexican American after taking a Chicana/o Studies class at CSUCI. Associate Professor of English Georgina Guzmán introduced her to Chicano authors like Gloria Anzaldúa, Reyna Grande and Sandra Cisneros. Reyes earned a bachelor’s degree in English with a minor in Chicana/o Studies in 2016. She sang, played guitar and served as secretary for Mariachi CSUCItlan.
Reyes wrote a short story collection titled “Not That Kind of Mexican.” She also created a blog of her life experiences that has covered topics including politics, love, education, social media and the pathway to a writing career.
American civil rights activist Dolores Huerta was the keynote speaker at the event.
For more information, send an email to alumni.friends@csuci.edu.