Barnard Mujeres
As a first-generation college student one of the key factors for deciding where I wanted to spend the next four years of my life was finding a space where I could cultivate and nurture the pieces of my identity that were critical to me. I come from Dallas, Texas, a city that has one of the highest Latine populations in the United States. At my tiny all-girls high school, about 80 percent of students also identified as Latine. Finding a college that designated and respected the spaces of Latine students thus became a priority for me during my college search, and it just so happened that Barnard was that space.
I first heard of Mujeres when I saw the Barnard College Instagram page repost a picture of one of the Mujeres board members with a caption answering the question “What does being Latine mean to you?” I immediately ran to follow the Instagram page and was met with an array of different events catered towards Latine students at Barnard. I learned that Mujeres was and continues to be the first and only Latine space on Barnard’s campus that centered women and other gender minorities.
I was immediately drawn to the space that Mujeres created for students at Barnard. I kept up with all of their posts and from then on I became more and more excited to join this community of empowered individuals that came together weekly to share food, stories, and more. I knew from then on that I would become a member of Mujeres if I got into Barnard.
About three years later, I am proud to say that I am an active member of Mujeres, hoping to take on a leadership position soon. Despite having a virtual first semester of college, I was able to attend one of the very first Mujeres meetings of the semester and have not stopped going since. It was in Mujeres where I found some of the most amazing and humbling people I have ever encountered. I created bonds with people over Zoom and continued to nurture those bonds once we were given the chance to meet in person.
With Mujeres, I was able to learn more about different Latine cultures and meet even more people with different backgrounds than mine. Mujeres opened up the floor for us to talk about our experiences of being first-gen, low-income, navigating predominately white spaces on campus, and more. During our more informational events I was able to discuss more serious topics with peers such as mental health in the Latine community, representation in media, and the intersection of indigeneity and Latinidad. Overall, Mujeres has provided a space that has given me opportunities to learn and socialize with people who I share identities with.
As an applicant, I knew that learning about Mujeres highly influenced my decision to come to Barnard. As a community, Barnard and Mujeres have given me a space as a queer, Latine individual to embrace all the different aspects of my identity. Having fought for a space on Barnard’s campus for Latine students, Mujeres is now proud to host our weekly meetings in the Mujeres Lounge inside Brooks Hall every Monday. For any Latine student looking to apply to Barnard wondering what the community looks like on campus, just know Mujeres is happy to be that space for you!
—Karen Chavez ‘24