Priscila Coronado makes history as the first Latina president of Harvard Law Review

The Harvard Law Review, published by an independent student group at Harvard Law School, has a new president, and she is the daughter of Mexican immigrants. California-born Priscila Coronado is the first Latina to assume the position and guide from the top of the prestigious U.S. law journals.

© Lorin Granger/HLS Staff Photographer

The Harvard Law Review staff gathers the top students from law schools in the country. Among the legal and political figures who have worked at the journal is President Barack Obama. Mr. Obama became the first Black president of the Harvard Law Review in 1990.

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As reported by NBC News, the 24-year-old student said that her experiences growing up as a Mexican American gave her perspective and that now her goal is to “work hard to show how being a Latina is an important part of who I am.”

Coronado told Harvard Law Today that she is also cautions because she does not want her achievement to be “morph[ed] into some kind of ‘model minority’ narrative.”

“I believe with every ounce of my soul that there are countless other Latinas who are equally incisive in their logic and reasoning but will never get an opportunity like this,” she says.

© Lorin Granger/HLS Staff Photographer

“It is an honor that my peers have entrusted me with this institution. I don’t take this role lightly. It also means a lot to be a part of a historic moment.” she said.

The publication informed that Coronado was born and raised in Downey, California, and is the first person in her family to attend college. Priscila’s legal interests include education law and disability rights, and she plans to work at the Munger, Tolles & Olson law firm.

“I graduated magna cum laude from the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) in three years, earning a B.A. in English with college honors, departmental honors, and Phi Beta Kappa. I was also the Community Advocacy Program Coordinator at the Disability Rights Legal Center before beginning my J.D.,” she said.

According to Coronado, her vision for the Harvard Law Review includes keeping it “running as smoothly as it always does.”

“That would be a victory, since the Review’s normal operations put it at the vanguard of legal scholarship written in the United States. This is a testament to both the incalculably valuable work done by our editors and the legacy of stability and excellence left by previous presidents, such as my predecessor Hassaan Shahawy [’22],” she said.

Coronado’s election succeeded Hassaan Shahawy, which became the first Muslim to serve as president last year. After the decision, Shahawy praised Coronado as a “rigorous scholar and a passionate advocate.”

The Harvard Law Review selected Andrew Crespo as its first Hispanic president in 2007, while the first female president was Susan Estrich, elected in 1977. NBC News also informed that the journal elected its first openly gay president in 2011 and first Black woman in 2017.