If you’re wondering about the “punny” title…it’s because I’m the leader of MIXED at HGSE for the 2018-2019 school year! MIXED stands for Multiracial Individuals eXchanging and Encouraging Dialogue. The mission of MIXED this year is to provide a space of belonging for individuals who identify as mixed-race or who grew up in/currently have a multiracial family, and their allies. We aim to do so through identity exploration activities, social and networking gatherings, and advocacy/activism through the lens of social justice to raise awareness of multiracial issues within education and the greater Harvard and Boston communities. We’re a small but lovable group working to facilitate dialogues about multiraciality among our community and the greater Boston area. We started the semester off with our first meeting in September where we got to meet each other, build community, and establish a vision for MIXED for the school year. Some ideas we have for the upcoming year are round table discussions, community dialogues, guest speakers, panels, collaboration with other affinity groups, open mic nights, identity workshops, and more! A couple weeks later, we met up at Border Café (highly recommend for cheap, good eats!) to catch up over enchiladas, margaritas, and tacos.
One of the highlights of my experience leading and being a part of MIXED so far has been collaborating with HGSE’s Black Student Union, Pan-Asian Coalition for Education, Comunidad Latinx, and the Women of Color Collective for an Affinity Group Halloween Social. We circulated flyers regarding cultural appropriation prior to the event to ensure the event would be a safe and welcoming community for students of color. We enjoyed Halloween treats, Spotify playlists made by affinity group members, a costume contest, Halloween guessing games, and a Halloween photobooth! I dressed up as Ron Weasley on Christmas morning from the first Harry Potter film. We also had more creative costumes like Chicken and Waffles, Black Swan, and Carmen Sandiego! We had an amazing time socializing with other groups of color and building community. We hope to continue collaborating with other groups at HGSE to educate our communities and build community through shared visions and goals (as well as food!).
Coming up for MIXED in November are: a roundtable discussion for MIXED members and a community dialogue later in the month. Possible topics we’re brainstorming for these discussions are the in’s and out’s of multiraciality, interracial dating/marriage/families, and more! Leading a student group of color at HGSE has been such a positive experience – the community of student organizations, the help from superstars in the OSA office like Tracie Jones and Kevin Boehm, and the fruitful meetings where we talk about being mixed are definitely highlights in my HGSE experience.
Blog written by Maddie Alvendia. Photo provided by Bryce Bickmark.
Hi! My name is Maddie Alvendia and I am in the Learning and Teaching program here at HGSE graduating in May 2019. At HGSE, I am currently leading the MIXED (Multiracial Individuals eXchanging and Encouraging Dialogue) student group and am a coalition leader at HGSE for the university-wide Harvard Votes Challenge. I am originally from the suburbs of Chicago and attended the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign where I graduated this past May with a degree in History. In addition to history, I’m also very interested in critical race theory, anti-racist and anti-oppressive pedagogy, and using these to dismantle oppressive education systems. Outside of HGSE, I’m volunteering with incarcerated youth, hope to work with a program that works with immigrant families in the Cambridge area, and also hope to work as a Research Assistant in the History department. In my free time I love to watch Netflix/Hulu and read, and my favorite foods are a whole wheat bagel with cream cheese and ramen. 🙂
HGSE Admissions Blog 