Talia Snyder Romero’s ’25 warm personality juxtaposes with her intense determination to bring change to the College of William and Mary’s campus and the greater Williamsburg community. Snyder Romero is a member and co-director of the College’s Fighting for Immigrant Rights and Equity organization – WMFIRE – to which she helped breathe new life into during her freshman year following Joe Biden’s election, when it had fewer obstacles to focus on.
The club has grown from eight members to 20 this past year, and Snyder Romero suggested that the recent political pressure for immigration control contributed to the membership increase.
“Immigration was a less hot button of a political topic, so it was interesting going into that space still caring a lot about immigration, and things like that,” Snyder Romero said. “From my freshman year to my junior year, I genuinely thought the club was going to have to dissolve because we had so little participation. But as Trump was campaigning again, and he got elected again, we’ve had a lot of people joining our organization, and membership has grown a lot.”
When reflecting on her work for WMFIRE, Snyder Romero noted that it’s one of her proudest achievements during her time at the College.
“Even though it’s for a kind of unfortunate reason, I am proud of the growth that WMFIRE has made and that we have been able to reach out to so many different kinds of organizations,” Snyder Romero said. “Though we’ve been quiet over the past three years, we have been slowly working on little campaigns like letter writing campaigns to Congress and Initiatives like changing the William and Mary Admissions page in some of the vocabulary and just language and adding different resources for like a special status students who are applying to William and Mary and things like that.”
Snyder Romero is a psychology major with a minor in Hispanic studies, which aligns with her other involvements outside of classes. She is the tutor coordinator for Aprendiendo Juntos, which means “learning together” in Spanish, a community tutoring program that supports students learning English as a second language in elementary through high schools in the Williamsburg area.
Like WMFIRE, the tutoring program has also grown, with 116 student tutors volunteering in the past two years and over 70 just this past semester. Along with providing tutors in multiple subjects for the kids, the program also has family resource meetings and interviews with the mothers in these families, fueling research efforts by the College’s sociology and education departments about immigrant family dynamics.
Snyder Romero expressed gratitude for the tutors she works with, describing how meaningful it is to be involved in creating important changes.
“A lot of tutors return, which means that it was a positive experience for them,” Snyder Romero said. “So it just makes me feel very happy that people actually like doing it, not just care to do the work, but they come back because they like it for themselves and they also think it’s important, which means a lot because I like creating sustainability, longevity and things like that in the initiatives that I plan and do work for.”
Snyder Romero further hopes to inspire others to feel equally as passionate about these causes through her commitment and dedication to these organizations.
“I dream of more partnerships kind of between the high schoolers, middle schoolers, just overall like Williamsburg ESL students getting resources about how to apply to college or different career or post-high school pathways from WMFIRE,” Snyder Romero said. “Engaging in the community is something I hold so dear. I love getting off campus, and I love working with students on campus too, and I like working with SA and collaborating with other student groups. But, I think something I want to be remembered for is definitely how much I cared about families outside of Williamsburg and other community members, recognizing the intersections between tons of different community resources.”
Snyder Romero has found community in many different corners of the College’s campus and expressed how grateful she feels when they intersect.
“Finding kind of like your own niche and then finding a community that’s going to have your back and ultimately really care and show up for you is very nice to have, and I’m very lucky to have those friends from all throughout my past four years,” Snyder Romero said.
With her graduation approaching, Snyder Romero left some final advice for the College’s returning students, emphasizing the importance of finding one’s passion and prioritizing personal well-being, especially while balancing the transition into adulthood, building lifelong friendships and making a home.
“Don’t over involve yourself. There’s no shame in dropping commitments as long as you’re not on an exec board. Don’t apply for things that you don’t need to, and don’t add more to your plate than there’s space for. There’s no shame even in dropping a class. If you need to withdraw, take those 12 credits because that’s okay. I feel like as long as your mental well-being is cared for and you’re doing things you care about, that’s all that matters,” Snyder Romero said.
