At Harvard, I quickly discovered that there are spaces that challenge you intellectually, spaces that push you professionally, and then there are spaces that hold you.
For me, Latinas Unidas de Harvard College (LU) has always been a place of refuge. It's the kind of place that provides comfort when campus can feel overwhelming.
Every year, Latinas Unidas pairs first-year students with upperclassmen in an event affectionally known as "Hermanitas Unidas." Through these pairings, Latinas Unidas provides first-years with guidance on how to navigate their new life at Harvard.
Latinas Unidas is more than a student organization. It is a community built on shared stories, resilience, laughter, and an unwavering commitment to uplifting Latina voices in a society where we can often go ignored. In places that can often make you feel small or invisible, LU reminds us that we belong, fully, unapologetically, and powerfully.
From my first meeting at the 2023 Visitas, I felt it. The warmth in the room. The excitement of seeing faces that look like yours enter a space that historically may not have always welcomed Latinas. The ease of speaking Spanglish without explanation or odd looks. The comfort of seeing people who understood the complexity of being Latina at an institution like Harvard. LU didn’t ask me to choose between my culture and higher education. It taught me that the two are deeply intertwined.
This organization has shown me what collective care looks like. It’s checking in during midterms. It’s celebrating each other’s wins, big and small. It’s late-night conversations about identity, imposter systems, family sacrifices, and dreams that stretch beyond ourselves. LU has given me mentors, role models, and lifelong friends. We are women who lead with compassion and strength.
This is a picture of my friends and I are Harvard Yale 2025. We all became closer friends by being on board of Latinas Unidas together.
Latinas Unidas also carries a legacy. It honors the Latinas who came before us, who carved space when there was none, who insisted that our voices mattered. Being a part of LU means inheriting that responsibility and passing it forward by advocating for representation, creating access, and ensuring that future Latinas at Harvard feel seen and supported.
This is my love letter to Latinas Unidas de Harvard College. Thank you for being a refuge, a source of empowerment, and a reminder of who I am. Thank you for teaching me that community is an act of resistance. Thank you for showing me that when Latinas come together, we create something unstoppable.
Con amor,
A Past President of Latinas Unidas de Harvard College
