This article is featured in the 2025 Commencement & Reunions special issue.
In the almost 50 years of coeducation at Dartmouth, women of color have faced their own unique set of challenges. In five interviews with The Dartmouth, graduating women said that they have “carve[d] out a space for themselves” at the College, in the words of Ellie Brown ’25.
In these interviews, women described how their cultural and racial identities relate to their sense of belonging on campus and the importance of mentorship from faculty who are also women of color.
“It’s definitely a double-edged sword,” Jessica Yang ’25 said. “I didn’t really know much about race or my identity before I came here, so I am grateful to Dartmouth for giving me the opportunity to take classes where I was introduced to these concepts.”
Some of the women said that their identity shaped their relationship to their academics. Dulce Silva ’25 is one of five graduating theater majors and the only Latina in the cohort. Despite what she described as a “cultural stigma” among Hispanic students about majoring in the arts, Silva declared a theater major her sophomore fall.
“As a Latina, it was really hard for me to accept my major, but I took a leap of faith,” Silva said. “I think there’s this cultural stigma where it’s like ‘the arts are not like an actual career.’”
Similarly, Beam Lertbunnaphongs ’25 said she felt “self-conscious” about her decision to major in environmental science coming from an international background, due to the field’s reputation as predominantly white and male.
“ There were times when I felt super self-conscious about being an environmental studies major because I was coming from an international background,” Lertbunnaphongs said.
Silva said that developing a close relationship with a faculty member was “instrumental” in helping her find her voice within the department. This spring, Silva presented a table reading of “Hasta La Raiz,” her thesis under the guidance of visiting lecturer Georgina Escobar and theater department professor Analola Santana. Silva said she hopes the physical copy of her thesis leaves behind “some sort of legacy” to other women of color attending the College interested in theater.
“Seeing women of color in the industry of theater is so amazing,” Silva said. “I wish I had met [my mentors] earlier because I would’ve quickly become a major.”
Yang shared that she had a similar instrumental experience with English and Creative Writing professor Jodi Kim. After taking ENGL 31: “Asian American Literature and Culture” her junior fall, Yang declared a minor in English.
Yang said that Kim “changed the trajectory of Dartmouth” for her, encouraging Yang to submit her writing for a creative writing award. Following winning the Lockwood Prize, Yang applied for independent research funding with Kim as her advisor and spent the summer of 2024 writing about her family in China.
“Professor Kim was hired before my junior year and that really changed the trajectory of Dartmouth for me,” Yang said. “She’s one of the only Asian American women I’ve had as a professor, so I automatically felt closer to her and I was able to go to her more vulnerably.”
Yang said she is a member of Dartmouth Asian American Student Collective, which is a group that has petitioned the College to create an Asian American studies program. The College remains the only Ivy League institution without a formal Asian American studies program.
She said it has been rewarding to watch freshmen enter the College and enroll in classes focused on Asian American topics — citing two ’27s who were recently able to be the first Dartmouth students to declare majors and minors in Asian American studies.
“I feel very proud of them and to know that all the work that we’ve done hasn’t been in vain,” Yang said. “ Even if we haven’t seen the institutionalization of Asian American studies, people are still being able to pave their own paths.”
Abby Kambhampaty ’25 has always known that she wanted to be a doctor. During her time at the College, Kambhampaty said she has discovered a passion for medicine in immigrant communities, and has come to learn a great deal about immigration from Latin American countries through her coursework and involvement with the Dartmouth Center for Social Impact.
This past December, through DCSI, Kambhampaty led a group of students on a trip engaging with immigration policy and asylum seeking along the Texas-Mexico border. The students spend 10 days visiting non-profit organizations in various border towns to learn more about these topics through intersectional lenses.
“As a leader, I work to make the trip as ethical as possible and make sure this opportunity is open to as many people of color and passionate people as possible,” Kambhampaty said.
Kambhampaty added that her motivation to become a doctor is driven by the challenges her immigrant parents faced — even considering their relative “privilege,” compared to other immigrant groups.
“I think since I am Indian, people always think ‘of course she’s pre-med, her parents put pressure on her to do this,’ and I feel like people internalize that about me a lot, especially in classes,” Kambhampaty said.
Kambhampaty said she becomes “aware” of her race when she’s the only woman of color in the room. However, citing “positive stereotypes” of South Asians students as “nerds” with good grades, she said has never felt out of place.
“Even though I’m Indian, I feel like I’ve never really been underestimated or ignored by a professor in a way that some of my Hispanic friends feel like they have been,” Kambhampaty said.
Lertbunnaphongs said that her awareness of her Thai nationality is a feeling she welcomes at cultural events at the Collis Center for Student Life. Through upperclassmen international mentors, Lertbunnaphongs said she has learned to adapt to the cultural differences between the United States and Thailand.
“[These events] often [have] a lot of people of color and I think that’s a cool contrast to other places on campus,” Lertbunnaphongs said.
Earlier in college, Lertbunnaphongs said she hesitated to make connections professionally because it felt “transactional” and unfamiliar compared to cultural norms in Thailand.
“Coming from Thailand, you really have to respect older people, so you are more aware of inconveniencing people and like not wanting to waste their time,” Lertbunnaphongs said.
Silva said there are few moments when her race is “apparent” to her and she attributes this in part to surrounding herself with other students of color that she met during the First Year Summer Enrichment Program.
“ A lot of the students who were involved in that [program] were people of color,” she said. “Because of that, I got to meet a lot of my closest friends,” Silva said.
Kambhampaty said her upbringing in a white neighborhood in upstate New York prepared her for life at the College. However, the diversity of the College has positively surprised her.
“Coming to Dartmouth was a shock for me because I have more POC friends than I could have ever imagined,” Kambhampaty said. “I’m never the only child of immigrants in the room.”
Unlike other institutions of campus life, Greek Life has not kept pace with the diversifying student body, the women said. Yang and Kambhampaty both noted that their membership in sororities has led them to think “critically” about their identities.
“ I don’t necessarily feel unwelcome, because I really am not bothered by being excluded by a group of sorority white girls or being excluded by a system that wasn’t built for me,” Kambhampaty said.
Brown, who is in Sigma Delta sorority, said that taking the “leap” to speak up in Greek spaces can be difficult without representation in the house.
“Sigma Delta overall has felt pretty diverse to me. But again, when I take a step back and look at our composites or go through GroupMe, I realize ‘oh, well, there’s just not that many Black women,’” Brown said.
Over the summer of 2023, Brown served as diversity and equity chair at Sigma Delta sorority. Brown said she hosted weekly office hours to discuss dynamics within the house and within the broader Dartmouth community. In small groups, Brown said that these office hour participants came to get to know each other and care for one another.
“Women of color have made Dartmouth their own,” Brown said. “They’ve made the most of it.”
Arizbeth Rojas ’25 is a managing editor of the 181st directorate from Dallas, TX. When she’s not listening to DJ Sabrina the Teenage DJ or planning her next half marathon, you can find her munching on a lox bagel.
