Latinas Lead Two (!) Prestigious Harvard Student Publications

Starting in the fall of 2022, Raquel Coronell Uribe and Priscila Coronado will serve as the presidents of Harvard’s most important student publications.    

By Lindsay López-Isa Lamken

When classes start up again this fall at Harvard, there will be something very differente on campus.  Two Latinas will be at the head of the most important student publications at both Harvard College and Harvard Law School. Raquel Coronell Uribe will be the President of The Harvard Crimson, and Priscila Coronado will serve as President of the Harvard Law Review.

The Harvard Crimson is the college’s daily student newspaper. Founded in 1873, the Crimson is entirely run by Harvard College students. This year, Raquel Coronell Uribe, an immigrant from Colombia, will be the paper’s first-ever Latina president. Both of Raquel’s parents were prominent journalists in Colombia, and her family fled to the U.S. after they received death threats as a result of her father’s work. While adjusting to life in a new country, Raquel also battled leukemia when she was 16. Because of this, she initially wanted to study medicine at Harvard; however, she soon found herself drawn to writing and journalism. In an interview with CNN, Raquel says that her struggle with leukemia has given her the strength to try things outside her comfort zone. She is considering going to law school but still thinks that her future career will involve journalism in some way.

Beginning in late August, Priscila Coronado will be the first Latina president of the Harvard Law Review. The Harvard Law Review is one of the most important legal journals in the country. The editors of HLR edit and publish works of legal scholarship by prominent professors, judges, and practicing lawyers, as well as shorter works by HLR’s own student members.

Priscilla was raised in the suburbs in the southeast of Los Angeles. She is the daughter of two Mexican immigrants, and also the first in her family to attend college. She believes that her childhood as the daughter of immigrants has shaped her perspective on the law greatly, and she wants to see more opportunities for Latinas. But she also wants to make clear that she doesn’t think she is special. Speaking to Harvard Law Today, Coronado explained that she believes “that there are countless other Latinas who are equally incisive in their logic and reasoning but will never get an opportunity like this because of something as out-of-their-control as where they were born.”

The presidencies of both Priscilla Coronado and Raquel Coronell Uribe are incredibly important accomplishments, both for the ladies and the Latino/x community. First, both Raquel and Prisicila were chosen through long and difficult nomination and election processes. This shows that Latinas have the chops to compete with the best. Second, other former editors and presidents of the Crimson and HLR have gone on to some seriously impressive careers — including President of the United States — like Franklin D. Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy, and Barack Obama.

Could this mean we might soon see the first Latina President of the United States? That would be maravilloso!