Kwynsky Miguel invited five panelists from three cultural organizations on campus for the “Our Stories: Women of Color Edition” presentation.
Students were invited to the Health, Science and Technology Building on Sept. 30 to listen to panelists from the South Asian Students Association, Mu Sigma Upsilon and the Women of Color Alliance and engage in discussion about the topic.
Miguel, ‘25, runs the ongoing “Our Stories” series, which partners with cultural and identity-based organizations to share their stories and create a platform for cultural awareness and understanding. She created the series through the Marcon Institute and collaborated with the Office of Multicultural Affairs for this particular event.
She said that her goal is to amplify the voices of marginalized communities at Lehigh.
Miguel said she wants to foster a space where students from diverse backgrounds can learn about the experiences, challenges and resilience of fellow students as well as the ongoing fight against oppression and racism.
DeAndrea Daughtry, ’26, Mariah Alvarado, ’25, Simone Karani, ’26, Kamara St. Paul, ’26, and Shley Nathan, ’26, sat on the panel for the event.
Daughtry, a first-generation student aspiring to be an OB-GYN, focused on health disparities faced by women of color and holds leadership roles in multiple organizations.
Alvaradoco founded Latinos Unidos at her Los Angeles high school and is active in Mu Sigma Upsilon Sorority, promoting diversity at Lehigh.
Karani is the president of SASA and works to foster cultural dialogue and focuses on tech solutions for underserved communities.
St. Paul, the vice president of Women of Color Alliance, is an African American woman of Puerto Rican and Kittitian descent who used her position on the panel to emphasize the intersectionality of identity.
Miguel asked the panelists questions focused on their experiences in academia, cultural and identity-based awareness, and community, values and leadership to foster a conversational meeting.
She said she could’ve made a presentation, but instead thought it was more important to ask leaders at Lehigh to share their stories from a first-person perspective.
“It’s not my story,” Miguel said. “That’s what matters to me most.”
Miguel’s first project through the Marcon Institute focused on demystifying microaggressions and she said she believes this new project connects to her ongoing efforts to highlight marginalized communities and perspectives.
She said she wants to motivate students to leave their comfort zones and learn from past mistakes while gaining insights from individuals with different identities and cultures.
St. Paul said she thinks the meeting was a good way for Miguel to bring panelists and attendees together to better understand each other.
She said she was nervous to share her story with other students but ultimately found that attendees were receptive to what she had to say.
“It was a safe space, and I felt supported,” St. Paul said.
One of the students who attended, Koko Akpan, ‘27, said it’s important to listen to others’ voices in order to raise awareness of their experiences and foster connection.
She said she appreciated the opportunity for students to ask open questions at the end, and she found the insights from upperclassmen particularly helpful in her role as marketing chair for Lehigh’s Black Student Union.
She said the meeting emphasized the fact that isolation is something nearly everyone experiences.
“Nobody likes the way it feels,” Akpan said. “I think to some extent, these types of meetings remove a layer of isolation.”
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