Nadjee Jocelyn '23 and Juliana Pompilus '23 had packed schedules planned for senior year. They were both double majors, active on campus and gearing up for their job search. But while members of the New York Semester Program as juniors, deep conversations about their experiences as women of color at Holy Cross sparked an idea and led to an added undertaking for their final year on The Hill: create the kind of student organization they desired as first-year students.
In fall 2022, they co-founded ProspHER, a fast-growing new student organization providing a supportive and joyful space specifically for women of color students at Holy Cross to build solidarity and community as they share their day-to-day experiences, celebrate talents and connect with key campus resources. The creation of the grassroots group helps address a common challenge for students of color, one found nationwide at colleges and universities with a predominantly white student body.
"We both have said we’ve needed this space since freshman year," said Pompilus, a sociology and Africana Studies double major with a concentration in gender, sexuality, and women’s studies.
ProspHER hosts regular meetings and events, from group study sessions and wellness activities to career workshops, alumni networking opportunities and campuswide celebrations. "HER stands for holistic, empowerment and resilience," Pompilus said. "Those three values really drive our mission."
"It's such a powerful feeling, knowing you have people with you and beside you, and in your corner," said Jocelyn, a health studies and anthropology double major also completing the business certificate program in business fundamentals. "With an inclusive space like this, it's comforting to know you don’t have to say much to feel understood." Pompilus said ProspHER promotes a crucial sense of belonging on campus, and can be particularly valuable for first-year women of color who did not participate in an orientation program, such as the College's Odyssey program.
The ProspHER co-founders, who are also co-chairs, have a clear message for new members: "Come as you are," Pompilus said. "We value you, we value your talent, we want to connect with you." Jocelyn added, "Everybody is welcome in ProspHER. Yes, we are a space for women of color. But we also invite allies to engage in our movement of encouraging women of color on campus to prosper. Come to an event, come to a general meeting, apply to be on the e-board."
Members of the ProspHER e-board. (Photo by Michael Ivins / Holy Cross)
For Women's History Month, ProspHER held month-long celebrations, including co-hosting an alumni panel and a Goddess Gala, a showcase of spoken word, dancing and singing to benefit MamaBaby Haiti, a nonprofit working to lower the maternal and neonatal mortality rate in the country.
"Changing the story of Holy Cross"
ProspHER has already made a noticeable difference for women of color across class years, but particularly for first-year students, said Yandi D. Pierre '22, ProspHER co-advisor and assistant director of student involvement and media. “Seeing all these women of color come together — the strength, the support, the encouragement — really does impact the students coming into the College in their first year,” she said. "They’ve clicked so quickly, so easily; that community has flourished throughout these past months, and I think that's from groups like ProspHER."
ProspHER grew out of a former initiative, Women of Color @HC, which was "wonderful," Pierre noted, but stalled due to the pandemic. She said ProspHER's founders took the essence of what came before and built a legacy that’s even "bigger" and "very specific to students at Holy Cross right now."
Co-advisor Zae Valera, assistant director of student inclusion and belonging, said ProspHER is also deepening the College's understanding of what women of color students experience at a predominantly white institution: "They've provided more insight into what students are going through, what they're feeling in their day-to-day — insights that will make our work better."
"We see the Jesuit mission being carried out through this organization," Pierre said. "We instill that our students will go out and change the world, in the most optimistic, general way. ProspHER is starting at home — changing the story of Holy Cross."
"For Nadjee and Juliana to start this knowing they're leaving it behind is something so honorable, so selfless," Valera said.
Added Pierre, "I hope whoever hears this story realizes the impact these students have created on this campus and how much they did, not only for women of color, but for Holy Cross as a whole."
