Daniella Berrospi - Story of Us
Mission of Concilio Latino de Harvard
"Concilio Latino is a University-wide organization that provides a forum for dialogue, coordination, and communication for the Latino and Latin American cultural, performing, political, social and publication groups on campus. Although University-wide in its scope, Concilio has recently focused on the Harvard undergraduate community in order to firmly establish itself as a student group. Concilio Latino's long-term goal, however, consists of incorporating the different Latino/Latin American groups from all the different schools at Harvard University..."
Overview of Concilio Latino's History
Concilio Latino de Harvard has been called the “Latino student government”, the “umbrella organization for Latino student groups at Harvard’s various schools”, and the “umbrella organization of Latin-American groups”, among other titles over the years. Prior to its existence, however, it was up to the few Latinx groups that existed at Harvard to take on the duty of representing the rest of the Latinx community. It was in 1993 when Concilio was created with the intention of it being a medium of communication between all Latinx organizations on campus in an effort to promote cultural, political and social awareness and collaboration. But the community was still very much “fragmented” and communication “sporadic”, and according to a former alumnus of the community, La Alianza (Harvard Law School’s Latinx student organization) was what really kept the Latinx community connected across all the schools at Harvard University.
It was not until 1996 when these arising concerns were truly addressed. Concilio Latino and the Kennedy School of Government organized a conference entitled “A Strategy for the Future: Building a Latino Agenda at Harvard,” more colloquially known as the “Reunión”, in an effort to “develop long-term plans to “mobilize action and build unity” for the Latin@ community at Harvard”. From the Reunión, Concilio was able to create five “Action Teams”, which were Alumni, Communications, Community Outreach, Diversity, and Structure. The fall semester after the Reunión, a “Latin@ Welcome Day” was held, and it was said that because of said Reunión, the Latinx community has felt a lot more cohesive, productive, and connected.
As we flash forward thirty years into the future, however, we find ourselves in a different place today than where we were right after the Reunión.
Concilio Latino originally comprised the undergraduate and graduate Latinx organizations at Harvard University, and there would be regular meetings with the student leaders of these organizations to follow through with its mission. However, Concilio experienced difficulty in being able to cater to both undergraduate and graduate Latinx groups during its earlier years, and as a result, the 2006-2007 acting board decided to reorient the organization's immediate objectives in order to provide the infrastructure necessary to achieve its long-term purpose. The 2006-2007 acting board concluded that Concilio Latino's focus would be primarily geared toward the undergraduate community at Harvard College in order to allow the organization to firmly establish itself. Concilio's original scope, which was to incorporate all the Latino groups at all schools at Harvard, proved too wide for an organization that over the years had experienced a decline in active membership, and as a result had lacked the necessary capacity to achieve its original university-wide purpose.
Following a series of successful Latino Leaders Roundtables in the Spring of 2008, it was unanimously decided that Concilio Latino should become a representative body, composed of all the Presidents and Vice-Presidents of all the undergraduate Latino/Latin American organizations at Harvard, and that the Concilio board should coordinate and moderate these discussions. It was also decided that Concilio would be redefined as a mediating, representative body to forestall event conflicts, publicize said events, and collaborate on large-scale, community-wide efforts. Concilio would act as the superstructure to give the Latino community greater cohesion and a stronger sense of solidarity among its diverse special-interest groups. Concilio's new role officially took effect following the third and final Latino Leaders Roundtable in May 2008 and the rewriting of Concilio Latino's constitution that same month.
Fifteen years later, Concilio has experienced even more difficulty in maintaining team viability within the undergraduate Latinx community. As there have been no official meetings since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, community connectedness has become difficult to rebuild, and thus it is up to Concilio Latino to take action and re-establish itself as a unifier of the community, which will take the efforts of many student leaders to reimagine our mission as a community, just as it was done many years ago.
