Sophie Dimich-Louvet '16
Sophie Dimich-Louvet graduated from Barnard in 2016. Long before arriving on campus, she spent the first half of her childhood living in Paris, France, then moved to Montana to spend more time with her grandmother, who had a history of feminist advocacy. “My grandmother was a huge Title IX advocate. She knocked door to door on farms in Montana to get people to sign the petition for people to support equal sports for men and women in schools… I think those values always stayed with me.” When looking for colleges, Sophie knew she wanted to be in an environment where women would support each other and uphold the values of her grandmother. She found that in Barnard.
At Barnard, Sophie majored in linguistics on the translation track, drawing on her knowledge of French and English. She was advised by Professor Laurie Postlewate, who also helped her in finding a job upon graduating. Reflecting on her choice to pursue her studies at Barnard, Sophie shared, “I really enjoyed it; I felt it was a great place to study linguistics.” After graduating from Barnard, she went on to pursue a master’s in bilingual education at Teachers College.
Outside of the classroom, Sophie found community through different extracurricular activities. She served as Vice President of Standards for Alpha Omicron Pi, a sorority founded at Barnard in 1897. She was also part of the Third Culture Kids Club, where she was able to connect with other students who similarly came from a multicultural background.
The Barnard education left a lasting impact on Sophie. One of her most cherished memories is taking a gender studies class during her senior year with her roommates. “One of the classes was about how we physically take up space and it was just really funny because at that point we kinda looked around the room, and there were men and women in the class, but we could literally see the representation of what the professor was saying. It’s been 10 years since we’ve taken that class, and whenever we see our friends we quote and talk about the class.”
After graduating, Sophie went on to pursue a career in education at HEC Paris, a European business school. She is currently the Director of Employer Engagement and uses the principles and concepts she learned at Barnard in her work today. “I’m trying to develop diversity hiring initiatives, and we talk about tokenism and that’s something I learned in that class; I remember vividly. Everything you learn at Barnard, one way or another you’re going to end up pulling out in your professional life or personal life. Because you’re mixing with people from different horizons, who think differently, who kind of push boundaries, you develop a ton of empathy for everyone you end up working with and meeting. So I really think it’s made me a better manager, a better professional.” Sophie is confident that all these lessons from Barnard will remain with her in her future career endeavors, even as she prepares to transition into a new role.
Sophie stays connected with Barnard today, from a network of supportive classmates to friends who are still some of her closest friends. She is also actively involved in the Barnard Alumnae Club of Paris. At HEC Paris, she was formerly the Director of Student Recruitment and took time to meet with applicants from Barnard. Sophie feels it is important to support her alumni network because of all Barnard provided for her.
When asked what advice she would give to prospective students, Sophie recommended that they reach out to students and alums. “Really what you’re joining is a community of people… It happens quite a lot where I get messages either from Barnard students or people thinking about Barnard. And so I think that’s a great way to do your research. Anyone reading this article can reach out to me and other Barnard alums. I know that they’ll answer because we really are a great community.”