Jacqueline Rioja Velarde

Jacqueline Rioja Velarde joined the Myaamia Center in January 2024 as the center’s program manager. In this new role, three programs are central to her position: the Myaamia Heritage Program which support tribal students attending Miami University; The National Breath of Life Archival Institute for Indigenous Languages which supports archive development in tribal communities across the U.S.; and the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma’s Cultural Resources Office. These programs are designed to meet the educational needs of the Miami Tribe and directly support language and cultural revitalization activities.

Jacqueline (Jacque) is a proactive and self-motivated higher education educator with extensive teaching, student affairs and administration experience working in multicultural environments. She is originally from Lima, Peru, and since 2003 Oxford OH became home for her, her husband Bruce D’Arcus (originally from California) and, her son Matthew.

She received her M.A. in Geography from Syracuse University’s Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs; and a B.A. in Humanities (Geography) and a Licentiate and a B.A. in Education from the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru, PUCP (by its Spanish acronym).

Jacqueline first joined Miami University in the AY 2003-2004. She received a teaching appointment in the Department of Geography, and the Latin American Studies Program; and in the AY 2006-2007 she transitioned to the Miami’s Center for American and World Cultures – CAWC. As a CAWC assistant/associate director - she contributed to the development, management and assessment of high-priority global and intercultural curricular and co-curricular strategic initiatives; and the implementation of multicultural marketing and communications. She excels on building and fostering collaborative platforms, and intercultural engagements.

As a native Spanish speaker living abroad- she recognizes the powerful impact of preserving our native languages as a way to protect one’s cultural heritage, strengthened our sense of belonging and connection, and our community cultural identity. It’s even more important in cases in which spoken language is lost.