Editor’s note: People of UW is a human interest series produced by The Badger Herald staff members. The series aims to highlight a student or student group at the University of Wisconsin making an impact on the campus community. These Q&As are lightly edited or shortened for clarity and style.
Please introduce yourself (hometown, year, major, role on campus).
My name is Ariadna Marquez. I’m currently a senior studying Communication Arts. I’m from Milwaukee, and I’m the President of AISES.
What is AISES? How does the organization impact this campus, the community and its members?
AISES, or Advancing Indigenous Science & Engineering Society, is an organization that aims to provide a safe and supportive space that elevates Indigenous students in all areas of STEM. So we want to foster an inclusive community that’s also open to all students, regardless of their background, what they’re studying. We mostly just want to open it up to anyone who respects and wants to support Indigenous voices and STEM fields.
We try to get involved in all areas of campus. We want to help pass down that knowledge of historical practices that have been taking place on this land for thousands and thousands of years, because it’s beneficial for everyone in the community. We also have relationships with many of the tribal nations of Wisconsin, which is really cool because we get to collaborate with them and offer even more opportunities to our members or to help out with event planning.
What led you to taking on this role?
As I said, I’m not in STEM. I used to be, but I originally joined the club mostly because of my boyfriend who is Ho Chunk. All the students were very welcoming and it felt like a sense of family. So I stayed in the club. It was, it was great. There were a couple members that were that were like, “Ari, you should run for president.” And I was little like, I’m not even in STEM, how am I going to lead this club that’s about STEM? But I kind of just drew from classes that I took that were in STEM, like nutritional science, game design, things like that. And I wanted to offer my perspective, while also learning about our members that are in STEM, what their needs were and trying to elevate their voices as well.
What have been some of your goals for AISES under your leadership?
My main goal overall has been to revitalize the organization and kind of ease the transition process for the next president with increased recruitment efforts and increased programming. I wanted to set the tone that, yes, everyone is welcome in this space and everyone is welcome to learn about our knowledge. So we opened the events, we increased the reach, we increased marketing for them.
So, yeah, that has been my main goal, to start a new chapter almost and create new events that haven’t been done before, because some of the old like signature AISES events are no longer able to happen because of budget cuts on the national level. So I wanted to work around that and come up with completely new things that we can do on our own, fundraising for ourselves.
How would you describe the importance of having organization like this on campus?
Indigenous peoples were America’s first scientists, right? They have a unique worldview that’s invaluable to the advancement of STEM in general. So it’s super important we support any Native American student or Indigenous student that’s interested in STEM to keep pursuing their interests and help them get the resources they need in order to be successful, which is something we can offer them here at AISES.
A big example would be the opportunity to attend the National AISES Conference, which gets our members connected with other AISES students across chapters in the U.S., and connects them with Native American professionals already in their fields who could potentially offer mentorship.
In general, having an organization like this helps create that very important sense of community, especially for marginalized students. We can offer that sense of community that ensures students keep their motivation and they feel like they have a support system. Here at AISES we can create this sense of family that has each other’s backs no matter what. And I think it’s a very important part of our University’s retention rates, honestly.
How has your experience as President of AISES shaped your time at UW and impacted your personal goals?
Being in this community has helped me learn more about my own Indigenous identity.
Like I said, my boyfriend is Ho Chunk. But for me, I don’t even know how to explain it. I’m Mexican, so I’ve been mixed, white and Indigenous since, like, the 1500s. I don’t even know my tribe very well. But I’ve heard stories and by being in this community that has been so acceptive of me and other students, I’m able to learn more about their culture and I did research to learn about my own Indigenous culture. It’s just been very uplifting. It’s something that before college or AISES, I don’t think I would have identified as being Indigenous. But after this, I have come to terms and with history and, yeah, I am part Indigenous, that is who I am and there’s no shame in having to go back and relearn everything.
What has been your favorite and/or most rewarding experience as part of this organization?
I would say the most rewarding has been seeing that sense of community in fruition, like seeing new faces at our meetings, or after an event will be like “should we go to Denny’s or Perkins?” and then we’ll spend hours there. It’s just amazing seeing the friendships and, like I said, that sense of family continue within our organization. Also just seeing the events we have planned, all the hard work that goes into planning these new events and seeing them happen is awesome.
I just love seeing that our hard work bonds us together. We get to see the finished event and then enjoy our time together after.
How can students learn more about and get involved with AISES? What types of events or activities do you have to look forward to?
The easiest way to learn about us will probably just be following our Instagram @ aisesuwmadison. We also meet every Monday from 7-8 p.m. at the Indigenous Student Center, which is in 215 N Brooks St. Like I said, we welcome anyone and we’re here to learn some Indigenous knowledge.
