Northern Kentucky University’s Latino Student Initiatives (LSI) office welcomed Sandra Bazzani as its new director. Originally from Valencia, Venezuela, Bazzani brings a wealth of international experience, having lived and worked across North and South America before settling in Highland Heights.

After graduating high school, Bazzani moved to the Venezuelan capital of Caracas, where she earned a law degree from Andrés Bello Catholic University in 2001. Following her graduation, she moved to Canada and discovered her passion for teaching.

“I moved to Canada, and I discovered my passion—to teach Spanish,” Bazzani said, recalling her time teaching at Loyalist College in Ontario.

In 2008, Bazzani relocated to Cincinnati with her husband, who works for Procter & Gamble. During this time, she earned a master’s degree in teaching Spanish as a foreign language. She taught at various institutions in the region before joining NKU as an adjunct instructor in the Department of World Languages and Literature in 2015. A year later, she became a Spanish lecturer with a focus on Spanish for legal professions, drawing upon her legal background.

Bazzani left NKU in 2023 to continue teaching Spanish at other universities but returned in January as director of Latino Student Initiatives.

When asked about her goals for the role, Bazzani emphasized the importance of building strong relationships with students.

“I want to get to know them, get to know their feelings, their emotions, their frustrations and be able to be that person that they can rely on,” Bazzani said.

Advocacy is also a priority for her. 

“I want to advocate for my students, that’s very important for me, and I want to be the person who connects my students with the resources of NKU — not only my students, their families too,” she said.

Despite her enthusiasm, Bazzani acknowledged the challenges of the position.

“I am pretty sure that this is going to be a learning curve for me because I’ll be learning from them and with them,” she said. “I’m sure this is going to be an extraordinary opportunity for me to continue learning as a professional.”

Bazzani plans to engage students through events and programming hosted by LSI, with a focus on both cultural and wellness activities. “I am definitely passionate about events, creating events and experiences for my students,” she said. “It’s not going to be one specific goal. It will be many things: dancing, exercise, wellness, meditation, yoga.”

Student feedback will play a key role in shaping future programming. 

“It’s my desire to help them find what they like. I am creating a survey to see what they want to see in this department in the future,” Bazzani said.

Her leadership style is rooted in her devotion to her family. “My family is my treasure,” she said. “I do whatever it takes for my kids. I am super passionate about my family and my kids.”

Reflecting on her time living in the Greater Cincinnati region, Bazzani described the area as an ideal place to raise a family, highlighting its educational opportunities.

Living far from her native country of Venezuela, Bazzani sees her journey as continuing her family’s legacy. Her grandparents, originally from Italy, migrated to Venezuela after World War II.

“I feel like I’m living the life of my grandparents,” she said. “At that time, Venezuela was a country of opportunities, so they were immigrants in my country, and they did amazing things.”

Her grandfather, a doctor, became the director of a hospital in a remote area of Venezuela. “I feel like I am living the same life in terms of having opportunities here,” she said. 

While she acknowledged that Kentucky and Venezuela are “not similar at all,” she relates to her family’s experience of seeking new opportunities abroad.

“I feel like I am blessed and lucky to be in such a nice atmosphere,” she said. “I feel welcome here. I feel this is home for me.”

Looking ahead, Bazzani hopes to make a lasting impact at NKU. “I would love to impact the institution, the students and the community. I think what I do here day by day will be, in some ways, inspiring,” she said.

She expressed gratitude for the opportunity and a deep commitment to NKU. “I want to work super hard for NKU,” she said, adding that she hopes the institution will “feel proud” of her work as director.