Raquel Coronell, aged 23, is the first Latina to become president of the Harvard University student newspaper, Harvard Crimson. Once again, Latina women exemplify professional quality and talent. This time, the protagonist is the Colombian daughter of fellow journalists Daniel Coronell and María Cristina Uribe who will lead the guard of the important newspaper.
The arrival of Raquel Coronell as director of the Harvard Crimson is a milestone for women and the new generations of Latin and Colombian journalism. The Harvard Crimson, the nation’s oldest college newspaper, is getting ready to welcome its first Hispanic president in its nearly 150-year history.
“I really wanted to help shape what the organization could look like in the future. So, I had to give myself a chance to try and run for the presidency,” Coronell told NBC News. “I’m really honored to be the first Latinx president, but we have to make sure that doesn’t mean that I’m the last. I really want to make sure that this door remains open for other people.”
The journalist feels she is now in a position to give back to the organization that gave her a home when she first set foot at one of the world’s most prestigious universities. “I love The Crimson. I love this organization. I think it’s really the place where I found a home on Harvard’s campus. It’s taught me so much. It’s really made me more outgoing, made me a better journalist and it’s given me some of my closest friends.”
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A Colombian American from Miami, Coronell Uribe started at Harvard in 2018 as a pre-medical student. She wanted to be just like the doctor who treated her after being diagnosed with leukemia at 16. She beat the disease after three years of treatments, said Coronell Uribe.
However, after getting involved with The Crimson and taking classes in other departments, she realized she was a passionate writer.
Diversity is key
Coronell said diversity is fundamental to her vision for the paper. She wants to make The Crimson “a place where anybody can thrive regardless of your ethnicity or race or background or socioeconomic status,” as well as produce journalism that serves as a “counterweight to power,” she said.
Previous editors from the Harvard Crimson have included former Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy, as well as the writers David Halberstam and author Michael Crichton.
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