Wanda Velez

Vice President for Student Development and Dean of Students

M.P.S. Alliance Theological Seminary
B.A. Nyack College

Dean of Students/Residence Life, Wanda is a 1996 graduate of Nyack College and a 2001 graduate of Alliance Theological Seminary. In addition to her relationship with the institution as student and alumna, she has worn several hats as an employee. In the Office of Advancement, she served as Director of Alumni Relations and Special Events for Nyack/ATS and has also been on the Student Development staff, first as a Residence Director before taking on the role of Director of Residence Life. In addition, for the past three summers she has served as a consultant for The Salvation Army’s Star Lake Camp, providing leadership development and staff training.

Wanda is wife to Nyack College alumnus, Luis Velez, and mother to four beautiful children, the blessed fruit of her womb. But the womb of her heart is the home to dozens more young men and women at Nyack College. She is a warrior woman who lovingly nurtures each one God sends across her path.

“Miss Wanda,” as she is known to many, is one of the youngest spiritual mothers who has walked the Nyack campus. She especially speaks life into the sometimes shattered worlds of young women. It is because of her authentic, down-to-earth personality that she has been endeared to students and her colleagues. She is loved–not just for the pancake breakfasts or spaghetti dinners she has personally cooked for the young ladies in her dorm or for her Gideon’s army of workers who would dare prepare a dorm for new students—but because of her transparency and even for her “tough love” when necessary. Many of them have benefited from her mentoring as a spiritual director and small group leader in Nyack’s Personal Spiritual Formation class.