MASTHEAD
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Aleander Santos
COPY CHIEF
Katerina Ventouratos
BUSINESS MANAGER
Camilo Mason
EVENTS COORDINATOR
Navipa Zaman
EDITORIAL BOARD
Rodrigo Buendia
Salma Diaz
Nneka Edwards
Emile Gutierrez
Cherry Leung Huiying
John Purvis
Jon Sosa
Margaret Wong
Kethlyn Young
Aric Zaky
FACULTY ADVISOR
Amy Baily
ALEANDER SANTOS (he/him) is the editor-in-chief of REFRACT. He is a senior at Baruch studying creative writing (journalism) and political science. He first joined REFRACT’s editorial board as a copyeditor in the fall of 2022, later becoming the editor-in-chief in the spring of 2024. In 2025, he was an editorial intern at Farrar, Straus & Giroux and Picador. He is currently an editorial intern at The New York Review of Books.
He’s currently working on an English independent study where he is investigating the style and techniques of the short form to produce his own collection of short stories. You can find some of his fiction on Substack.
KATERINA VENTOURATOS is the copy chief of REFRACT. Katerina is majoring in English literature and minoring in Japanese at Baruch. She joined REFRACT to hone her copyediting and editing skills with the hope of a future in the literary field.
NAVIPA ZAMAN (she/her) is REFRACT's events coordinator and social media manager. Navipa is studying political science and corporate communications at Baruch. She enjoys reading novels at a breakneck pace and running until her lungs give out. Her favorite color is blue. She is a self-taught guitar player. She is currently rewatching Criminal Minds for the fifth time. After Baruch, she plans on attending law school somewhere far, far away from New York City.
RODRIGO BUENDIA
SALMA DIAZ is an undergraduate student at Baruch majoring in political science and journalism with a minor in philosophy. When she is not huddled in bed reading a fantasy novel, she is wandering the aisles of a supermarket thinking of what dish to whip up next. She also loves having deep conversations over a bowl of piping hot ramen. Through REFRACT, she aims to strengthen her writing and editing skills with the hopes of entering the publishing industry post-grad.
NNEKA EDWARDS
EMILE GUTIERREZ is an undergraduate student at Baruch. As they aspire to explore the principles of consumerism through their marketing major, they pay homage to the arts. The arts are their driving force; an infinite source of passion and inspiration. They are infatuated with visual kei and minimalist fonts. Their ideal weekend comes with bumping experimental queer pop, eating mango sorbet, sketching poster designs, and video editing. After Baruch, they hope to go to graduate school and sell their nerdy trinkets in local art markets.
CHERRY LEUNG HUIYING (she/he) is a senior studying psychopathology and neurodiversity, and critical theory and literature at Macaulay Honors/CUNYBA. An alum of the 2025 CLS Japan and Baruch’s NSF-REU psychology programs, and the spring 2025 publishing intern for Astra House, Cherry’s passions stretch vastly from nine-hour karaoke sessions to greedy psychoanalytic indulgence. She also serves up a mean dish of sukiyaki, loves her fish tank, and owes her fire to her Mah-mah.
Currently, she is writing her first novel as her honors thesis. One day, she plans to get an M.F.A. and another nebulous graduate degree to continue studying some facet of humanity. And join a ballroom house.
JOHN PURVIS (he/him) is an undergraduate student at Baruch majoring in business communications, with plans to double minor in political science and law. He has a strong passion for the arts whether it be writing, drawing, performing, or dancing. He is always eager to try something new. In his spare time, he enjoys watching new TV and movies, listening to R&B music, and drawing and eating all day. By joining REFRACT, he wants to gain editing experience, enhance his writing skills, and utilize his creativity in the best ways possible. After Baruch, he intends on writing a book, writing speeches/PR work, or attending law school.
CAMILO MASON is REFRACT’s business manager. Camilo is studying for a business degree in computer information systems and minoring in mathematics. He's always been a sucker for data and statistics, but in his free time, he loves to cook and watch baseball with his girlfriend. He joined REFRACT's editorial board to catch a break from the torrent of numbers and memorization that compose his degree. After Baruch, he has no immediate plans to leave the city he was born in, where he hopes to find a job in analytics.
JON SOSA is an undergraduate student at Baruch majoring in journalism with a minor in political science. He holds an associate degree in journalism from Kingsborough Community College, where he was a staff writer for The Scepter student newspaper. Currently, Sosa is a media journalist intern at AMNY, Brooklyn Paper, and a contributing writer for Baruch’s newspaper, The Ticker. He enjoys taking street photographs and eating Takis.
MARGARET WONG is an undergraduate English major at Baruch, with plans to minor in computer science. While she’s still undecided about this course, she enjoys reading and writing, so she hopes to learn more about the editing and writing process as a part of REFRACT.
KETHLYN YOUNG is an undergraduate student at Baruch, intending to double major in psychology and English with plans to minor in theater. She has a strong passion for the arts and is always eager to indulge in new creative projects. In her spare time, she enjoys journaling, watching TV and movies, listening to music, and writing for her Substack. Her dream is to publish her own magazine and, by joining REFRACT, she aims to gain editing experience, enhance her writing skills, and build up her creative directory abilities. After Baruch, she intends to fully pursue her creative career.
ARIC ZAKY
AMY BAILY is REFRACT’s faculty advisor. Department of English. Amy.Baily@baruch.cuny.edu