{"id":125,"featured":0,"modified":"2025-05-28 21:19:28","latitude":30.637764826860443889700036379508674144744873046875,"longitude":-97.66759279261378878800314851105213165283203125,"title":"Who is Esther Ramos?","subtitle":"2019 KDChi Alumna reflects on the importance of spaces of belonging for all students","fullsize":"https://placingmemory.southwestern.edu/files/fullsize/8027459aefcc4b0ada4a7ec51ad19cc4.jpg","address":"","all_locations":[],"zoom":17,"creator":["Chloe Jordan ‘26"],"description":"As a first-generation student and the daughter of immigrants, Esther Ramos felt out of place when she first arrived at Southwestern. She knew she needed a space she could identify with, but finding it at predominantly white Southwestern was a journey in itself.
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\r\nWhen Ramos first came to Southwestern in 2015 from the Pleasant Grove neighborhood of Dallas, she was a Biology major on the Pre-Med track, but she quickly discovered that she disliked working in the medical field.
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\r\n“I hated seeing patients come into the ER and being told to go see their primary care physician and them not knowing what that even was, much less having insurance to go see one,” Ramos said.
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\r\nBecause of this and the encouragement from KDChi sister and SIRA supervisor Tori Vasquez De La Paz, she switched her major to Latin American & Border Studies. Ramos wrapped up her Southwestern career with a deeply personal Capstone project, tied to her identity and upbringing.
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\r\n“My capstone was working with Dr. Sendejo, where I did a lot of testimonial and historical memory work around my dad’s experience of fleeing the Salvadoran civil war,” Ramos said.
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\r\nWhile her LABS major gave her an academic space where she could both honor her experiences and learn more about them, KDChi became a home away from home for her.
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\r\nRamos joined KDChi in 2016, initiated with the Emerald Penguin Kappa Class. “It was definitely hard because I was the only one,” Ramos said. “There was another girl that was gonna rush with me, but she ended up dropping pretty early on.”
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\r\nIronically, she had not intended to rush the “pink sorority,” as sororities seemed so stereotypical to her, and KDChi’s commitment to pink didn’t challenge that. However, her priorities changed after she attended a Panhellenic event. The Annual Panhellenic Pajama Party reminded Ramos that she needed a space where she could feel like herself and resonate with others who had similar experiences to her. She came to this conclusion in a roundabout way, however.
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\r\n“I remember walking into most of the sorority events and just seeing a sea of white and kind of being like, ‘Oh, this is interesting’,” Ramos said. “I only stayed for a few minutes until I left, because I was just super uncomfortable.”
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\r\nFor Ramos, it was a familiar feeling–a feeling of being out of place while still wanting to find a place.
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\r\n“I didn't realize how bad the cultural shock was going to be once I arrived at Southwestern,” Ramos said. “I think one of the first things was that the tortillas were really nasty in Commons, and that shook me, because I was just eating tortillas every day.”
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\r\nKnowing her parents spent their savings to cover her education expenses, she knew she couldn’t fail. “And that is quintessential in the experience of children of immigrants, I feel, especially at a private university,” Ramos said.
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\r\nIt was when she started working as an official for SIRA and refereeing games that her supervisor, Tori Vasquez De La Paz, approached her with the option to rush KDChi. Soon after, she realized that KDChi’s values resonated with her.
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\r\n“I think that KDChi really just helped me find my footing on campus and helped me find a place where I could belong and relate to other sisters who had been through similar stuff.”
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\r\nRamos works with one of her KDChi sisters to this day. She looks back fondly on the memories she had with her, which were intertwined with their shared identity.
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\r\n“I remember staying up late with her, studying with her, and talking about her experiences with racial profiling that she faced at HEB or out and about in the Georgetown community when she first got there,” Ramos said.
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\r\nWith KDChi, she no longer felt like an outsider at Southwestern. She had a place and a space where she could truly be herself.
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\r\n“The chapter room might have been small, but it was definitely a very warm place,” Ramos said. “It was a solace from the rest of the red tape or bureaucracy that comes with SU.”
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\r\nIn addition to the solace of the chapter room, Ramos says that the Big-Little Sister tradition provided her with support and mentorship during her New Member process, especially since she was the only pledge the semester she joined.
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\r\n “I do really value guidance, and especially on a campus where it's so small and making connections are so important, it was really nice to have somebody that could guide me in that sense,” Ramos said. As a result, she loved giving back when she was herself a Big Sister. Eventually, Ramos took things one step further by serving as President of the chapter.
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\r\nToday, as Ramos looks back at her time at Southwestern, she recognizes that most of her favorite campus memories are ones she shared with her KDChi sisters, especially the Step and Stroll and the Dolores Huerta Cesar Chavez Dinner.
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\r\nStep and Stroll is an annual multicultural performance that celebrates the diversity and unity on campus. Both stepping and strolling are a labor of love that requires creativity, cultural knowledge, and syncretization.
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\r\nThe Dolores Huerta Cesar Chavez Dinner is an annual, KDChi-hosted event, typically in collaboration with the Feminist Studies program. In Ramos’s first full year as a KDChi, it was held in the McCombs Ballrooms, complete with tasty food, a mariachi band, and Dolores Huerta herself as the speaker.
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\r\n“That event was also really, really memorable and the highlight of what that spring semester was,” Ramos said. “A bunch of sisters and a bunch of alumni came to the event, and we were able to take pictures with her and stuff and throw up our Kappas.”
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\r\nWith the collaboration of Tori Vasquez De La Paz, a few other KDChi sisters, and the Coalition for Diversity and Social Justice (CDSJ), KDChi was able to convince administration and secure a chapter room during Ramos’s time here.
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\r\nHer favorite memories were tied to the KDChi chapter room, reinforcing the importance of having a physical space reserved for multicultural groups to flourish. “So the chapter room was actually a really big deal, because when I rushed we didn't have a chapter room yet then,” Ramos said. “We didn't even have our letters up on campus anywhere and having our letters up on Caskey was also a big deal.”
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\r\nAccording to Ramos, there are major differences between Panhellenic chapter rooms and the KDChi chapter room. While the Panhellenic chapter rooms are more furnished and monetarily supported, and reflect that in their aesthetic as well, the KDChi chapter room has a charming, homey feel to it. In another Placing Memory entry, I show that to this day, KDChi prioritizes a cozy, arts-and-craftsy feel in the chapter room. The decor is diverse, much like the members of the sorority.
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\r\nFor KDChi, the chapter room is a precarious space that cannot be taken for granted. KDChi is one of the only two established multicultural Greek spaces on campus. Multicultural Greek life organizations like KDChi ensure their members graduate with academic excellence and have a support network after graduation. This network extends way beyond Southwestern, into different regions of Texas and the United States. But because they have had a shorter history on campus, their alumni network is much smaller than the Panhellenic sororities and they are less able to count on alumni financial support. Fundraising for rent is an ongoing issue that even sisters today must prepare for.
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\r\nIn her professional life today, Esther Ramos works as a Social Services Coordinator for the International Rescue Committee. She says there is a clear throughline between what she is doing now and the lessons she learned as a member of KDChi.
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\r\n“I work with unaccompanied migrant children that cross the border on their own,” Ramos said. “My office represents them in their immigration case, whether that be asylum or any other sort of legal relief.” Ramos provides resources like affordable medical services, school enrollment, emergency housing, and legal relief for victims of trafficking.
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\r\n“I think KDChi had a lot to do with service and I've always been a service oriented person,” Ramos said. “I've always been very community driven.”
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\r\nRamos’ ultimate dream is for new generations of KDChis to have to struggle less. To help achieve that dream, Ramos has dedicated her time as an alumna to help younger sisters be successful in their academic, professional, and personal lives.
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\r\n“Most of us come into the world of academia or come into the world of university and professional development with no connections,” Ramos said. “So as much as we can facilitate that process, I think that that's what really brings us joy and brings us pride.”","sponsor":null,"accessinfo":"","lede":"","website":"","related_resources":[],"factoids":[],"files":{"https://placingmemory.southwestern.edu/files/fullsize/8027459aefcc4b0ada4a7ec51ad19cc4.jpg":{"id":595,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Esther Ramos tables for KDChi and SIRA to encourage Latinx youth to vote.","description":"Esther Ramos | October 2, 2018 | unknown","thumbnail":"https://placingmemory.southwestern.edu/files/square_thumbnails/8027459aefcc4b0ada4a7ec51ad19cc4.jpg"},"https://placingmemory.southwestern.edu/files/fullsize/95b6cc001304d31ad304285a29fb5e1d.jpg":{"id":603,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Esther Ramos poses with her custom KDChi jacket and throws the Kappa hand sign.","description":"Esther Ramos | 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KDChi Advisor Anna Castillo (second from the left).","description":"Esther Ramos | November 30, 2018 | unknown","thumbnail":"https://placingmemory.southwestern.edu/files/square_thumbnails/ea21bb1cbb3ef82da4878c560b6aaf6e.jpg"},"https://placingmemory.southwestern.edu/files/fullsize/f2ce271e51da9ecde3d4498957709938.jpg":{"id":599,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Esther Ramos (second from the right in the back), dressed coordinated in white with her sisters and Diversity Enrichment staff.","description":"Esther Ramos | May 2019 | unknown","thumbnail":"https://placingmemory.southwestern.edu/files/square_thumbnails/f2ce271e51da9ecde3d4498957709938.jpg"},"https://placingmemory.southwestern.edu/files/fullsize/b6e55dad54bf8647ffde0095f16dba03.jpg":{"id":600,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Esther Ramos (furthest to the right), with KDChi alums.","description":"Esther Ramos | circa 2020s | 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right) stands with fellow volunteers for the organization Operation Dream.","description":"Esther Ramos | circa 2020s | unknown","thumbnail":"https://placingmemory.southwestern.edu/files/square_thumbnails/5614dc1378e573aa4dcc605526da0bc3.jpg"}}}