Karla Villavicencio’s Visit Sheds Light on the Undocumented Immigrant Experience
By Emily Chen ‘25
Photo from NMH Flickr
On Friday, Mar. 24, NMH students and faculty gathered in the Chapel to welcome the speaker for the Spring term: Karla Cornejo Villavicencio, author of The Undocumented Americans. Unlike a regular visiting speaker event, Villavicencio was invited to have an all-school conversation about the theme “Citizenship and Service,” where Sierra Dickey, English teacher and faculty advisor of the school newspaper, Lamplighter, presented her with questions that students submitted prior to the all-school meeting.
Karla Cornejo Villavicencio is Ecuadorian-American and was born in Ecuador and later immigrated to America. In her book, The Undocumented Americans, she wrote about her personal story as an undocumented immigrant as well as incorporating work, education, and many more topics in a much larger context.
Gillian Fletcher ’25 read Villavicencio’s book and introduced her at the beginning of the all-school meeting; she said, “Karla was able to give me a unique perspective that I did not have as a white woman born in America.”
For Villavicencio, writing has always served a purpose. She wrote The Undocumented Americans to shed light on the immigration experience she does not see fully represented in American Literature.
After the all-school meeting, students in the Student Diversity Committee (SDC) and students with similar experiences or backgrounds were invited to have lunch with Villavicencio.
“Her book was fantastic.” said Delphi Lyra ’24, a student who had lunch with Villavicencio. “As someone with an immigrant father who has dealt with the government immigration system numerous times, it was very exciting to read stories of people I felt connected to and feel power in that identity, rather than the disempowerment in the ignoring of these American people and their stories.”
Some students expressed excitement in discussing the book with the author herself and sharing their thoughts and opinions on related themes.
“We had an in-depth conversation surrounding themes in Karla’s work including transcultural experiences, education systems, and writing.” said Peter Luo ’23, “She is really approachable.”
The same sentiment was echoed by Lyra, who said, “Karla was very approachable and easy to talk to and was also interested and excited about what we had to say.”
According to many students at lunch, the conversation was also profoundly personal, with students sharing their experiences.
“We talked about our experiences, where we had come from and what our goals were. We asked her about challenges she has overcome and aspects of her life and identity that have been hard to deal with. It was a very emotional and intimate experience,” said Delphi.
Through her speech and interactions with students, Villavicencio opened space for thinking and discourse surrounding some of the school’s central commitments to diversity, equity, and inclusion and what it means to act with humanity and purpose.
