Increasing opportunities and visibility for Indigenous Communities at Harvard

Anthony Miguel, A.B. '25, has always sought to improve the opportunities and visibility for his communities. He grew up in California, but his family is originally from Santa Maria Tataltepec, a Mixtec community in the Oaxaca region of Mexico. As he spent time in both locations, he saw challenges that could be solved through increased access to science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).

“I noticed real health disparities in my communities in California and Oaxaca,” he said. “In addition to socioeconomic and language barriers, social stigmas deprived people of full access to healthcare.”

His desire to use STEM to benefit his communities motivated Miguel to double-concentrate in Computer Science and Molecular & Cellular Biology at the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS), while pursuing a secondary in Ethnicity, Migration and Rights. His goal is to someday become a doctor with a background in coding, able to not only practice medicine, but build health tools to help people.

“I’ve wanted to be a doctor ever since I was 5 or 6 years old. It’s been my dream ever since,” he said. “The field of computer science is becoming more and more important. It's a growing field that continues to intersect with other fields, including medicine. It’s important to know how it works to use it to benefit our communities.”

Miguel initially got interested in computer science towards the end of his senior year in high school. His younger nephews were getting into it at the time, and he wanted to learn the basics as well so he could help them out.

“I wanted to help them so they wouldn’t struggle as much, since computer science is difficult conceptually,” he said. “I didn’t take ‘CS50: Introduction to Computer Science’ until my first-year spring at Harvard, but I liked it and decided to keep going.”

Motivating young people in his communities is Miguel’s way of helping counteract the lack of representation for Indigenous Peoples in STEM. Native Americans and Alaska Natives made up less than 1 percent of the science, technology, engineering and mathematics workforce in 2021, as reported by the National Science Foundation. Miguel will work this winter as a hometown recruiter through the Harvard College Admissions & Financial Aid Office’s Hometown Recruitment Program.

“I still feel community support even when I’m so far from home,” he said. “I go back to Santa Maria Tataltepec as much as possible. Hearing stories about the needs of my community in Oaxaca, and hearing similar stories about my community in California, keeps me motivated to finish college and go on to medical school.”

Miguel has also tried to expand the opportunities and visibility at Harvard for Indigenous Communities. He’s done this in multiple ways: as co-president of Natives at Harvard College (NaHC); as an intern with the Harvard University Native American Program (HUNAP); and as a fellow in the SEAS Office for Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DIB).

As a DIB Fellow, Miguel was part of the promotional team for “Beyond Western Approaches: Recognizing Indigenous Traditions in Engineering,” which featured a series of panels focused on SEAS academic programming and initiatives that explore how Indigenous Communities contribute to creating knowledge in engineering and applied sciences.

“Indigenous Peoples have been producing knowledge since the beginning,” he said. “The methodology might be different from that in institutions, but our knowledge persists, inclusively worldwide.”

Although not the first person in his family to go to college – an older sister attended college a couple of years ahead – Miguel is still part of the first generation. His parents always encouraged him from a young age to pursue a higher education. Growing up on the West Coast, he thought Harvard’s East Coast location would make the experience more unique.

“My parents helped me understand the power of a higher education, especially in the context of the U.S.,” he said. “The school that was always being thrown around was Harvard. Everyone knew about Harvard, so being instilled with the idea of higher education and Harvard from a young age motivated me to apply here.”

Within a few weeks of being on campus as a first-year, Miguel joined NaHC. Having grown up with Indigenous Peoples from certain parts of Abya Yala, he wanted to meet more Indigenous Peoples to create cross-continental connections. NaHC welcomed him.

“I was trying to find a space that understood to some degree my customs and traditions. In other words, me,” said Miguel. “The co-presidents of NaHC at the time really helped bring attention to that. They were ready to engage in conversations that weren’t restricted to the context of the U.S. or Canada. They were willing to create events and expand the ideas of Indigeneity.”

While the majority of NaHC’s programs have been for just its own members, Miguel is hoping to expand the reach of the undergraduate organization in his final year.

“Oftentimes we’re erased from higher education,” Miguel said. “What Lena Tinker, the other co-president, and I are trying to do is expand outward and get more community engagement. Not only Indigenous Peoples inside NaHC, but also Indigenous Peoples outside NaHC and even non-Indigenous Peoples. The aim is to make our presence apparent at Harvard.”