Having been a Middlesex student only a dozen years ago, Rebecca Hatcher ’12 understood her audience well as she reflected on her own school experience with candor, warmth, and humor during morning assembly on April 15. Speaking after the annual Day of Silence – during which many students and adults remained silent to protest the harmful effects of harassment and discrimination of LGBTQ+ people in schools – she encouraged students to find supportive communities and to use their voices to create a more just and equitable world.
As an only child from Brooklyn, New York, Rebecca found the transition to Middlesex initially challenging. “I was learning how to have a roommate of a completely different culture and going from being the top student in middle school to definitely not being the top student or athlete or musician here,” she recalled. Being “catapulted into a world so different from mine,” she said, “gave me my first lesson on what happens when we cannot be our authentic selves.”
But she started coming into her own during her sophomore year. “By then, I had the nickname of ‘Reba,’ which has now become synonymous with my identity,” she said. “Becoming Reba meant becoming a lot of the woman I am today. I was speaking my mind. I didn’t let my GPA define who I was.” And though she was not “out,” she noted, “I also wasn’t not out. I sought community in many places but not specifically within spaces designed for LGBTQ+ folks.”
Continuing to gain confidence, especially after coming out to her closest Middlesex friend, Reba said, “My college self knew that showing up as my true self meant I could be my best self.” Not surprisingly, she excelled – both academically and as a leader on campus.
Today, Reba is not only the executive chair for the diversity, equity, and inclusion committee at her workplace but also serves on the board of a girls’ camp and as a personal and professional coach. “It shouldn’t be a luxury to feel accepted for who you are at work or anywhere, and it’s one of my core missions to make it a basic right, at least in my little sliver of the universe,” she stated.
“My voice is my superpower,” Reba affirmed in closing, emphasizing, “and it is yours, too.”