Isabel Argoti: Founding Sisterhood for Generations to Come
Isabel Argoti | she/her/hers | ARCH ‘16
Bachelor of Science Architecture
Isabel Argoti graduated from the University of Virginia’s School of Architecture in 2016. The beginning of her journey to UVA ties back to the same organization that she works for now (as of March 2020), Collegiate Directions Inc. It was through this program that serves first-generation students that she heard about the University of Virginia. Through their program, she matched with UVA and received an Access UVA scholarship-- a huge contributing factor that made her lean towards choosing UVA. After an overnight visit during a Hispanic weekend, she made the decision to enroll.
Despite being the middle of three sisters, Argoti was the first to leave home as her older sister stayed local. When it came time to leave for UVA, Argoti’s family was a mix of excited and scared. There were questions about why Argoti would choose a school so far from home, and moving out felt bittersweet as she said goodbye to her family and grandmother. Despite the mixed feelings that accompanied the transition to college, Argoti’s family were supportive throughout her time spent on Grounds and stayed in contact with her often.
Coming to UVA was a bit of a culture shock for Argoti, as she came from a high school that was more diverse than UVA. Upon arriving and starting classes, she felt like she was surrounded by people that had different experiences from her own. She came into college with the mentality that school was all about academics; she was at UVA to learn. However, Argoti quickly noticed that there was a big social mentality at UVA as well. This also meant learning to adjust to a balance between the two mindsets, especially in a demanding program like that of the Architecture School.
When it comes to her experiences in the School of Architecture, Argoti looked back on them with gratitude and critique. She expressed that her professors were phenomenal and exposed her to experience, research, and studios in different cities and countries. She got to learn from people that were experienced in the field and had research going on concurrently with her education in the classroom. However, by the time she was a fourth year, Argoti found herself wondering if architecture was actually her passion, and if it was what she truly wanted to do for the rest of her life. Some of these questions came from Argoti wondering how prepared she was for her career. Since her time as a student, Argoti has seen changes be made to the School of Architectures curriculum that she believes are for the better, and will definitely leave students feeling more prepared as they go through their four years.
Argoti shared memories of several different extracurricular involvements during her time at UVA. During her first year, Argoti participated in the Latinx Peer Mentoring Program (PMP). She reflected that this involvement gave her a sense of community at the University that would impact the remainder of her college career. Her mentor in PMP actually ended up being one of the students with whom she would start the Alpha Rho Chapter of Sigma Lambda Upsilon in 2013.
“It worked out for the better because I did have that support system of a couple people saying, ‘This is something you can start and bring to other people for future years and future classes.’”
Deciding to start the UVA chapter of Sigma Lambda Upsilon (SLU) during her first year was a big decision for Argoti. However, it was ultimately a decision that she knew was worth it because of the impact it could have for future generations of Latina women to come. The decision to start SLU at UVA was largely inspired by her mentor, Vanessa Villalobos’s sister’s involvement in the chapter at Virginia Commonwealth University. Isabel Argoti, Vanessa Villalobos, Jennifer Arcilla, and Jaqueline Restrepo founded the chapter at UVA together. Argoti commented that she felt like UVA was missing Latinx spaces, especially ones that valued and focused on women’s empowerment. SLU provided an outlet for that kind of support.
Argoti also intensely valued the philanthropy that SLU participated in that centered around literacy. She shared that coming from a family where she was the first one to go on to higher education, she was passionate about doing work to increase literacy around Charlottesville. Argoti believed that this was work that UVA needed to focus on.
“I thought of [SLU] not only as a club I could join, but that I could leave behind for future women, and also I could carry with me after I graduated. And I think that’s what I love the most about it.”
Outside of her commitment to Sigma Lambda Upsilon, Argoti participated in many other organizations around Grounds. From Alternative Spring Break to studying abroad, she took advantage of many opportunities that allowed her to learn outside of the classroom and give back to communities outside of the School of Architecture. As a leader in the UVA community, Argoti also got to be a part of the hiring process for a new person on the Greek Council. She also served as a Resident Advisor in Gooch dormitory. She shared how important it was to her to be a leader for students on Grounds, especially minority students and those that haven’t quite found their way yet. As a culmination of her time at UVA, Argoti lived in 30 East on the Lawn during her fourth year.
Throughout her four years at the University, Argoti saw how deeply UVA students have an opportunity to influence the young girls in the Charlottesville community. Argoti established the Ladies Program through SLU in 2015 that focused on volunteering in Charlottesville’s Southwood community through the national SLU program. SLU partnered with Sin Barerras and mentored young girls through Southwood’s church program. Argoti emphasized that this effort was so important because there were young Latina girls who had lived twenty minutes from Charlottesville their entire lives, yet had never stepped foot on Grounds.
Despite her efforts to support UVA and Charlottesville’s Latinx community, there were still times when Argoti felt like an outsider at UVA, especially when talking with students of affluent backgrounds. However, none of these moments stopped Argoti, but instead just made her a bit more cautious as she navigated UVA. There were challenges within the Latinx community as well. Argoti described it as a time when the community was figuring out exactly how to work as one unit. There were challenges, but through them all Argoti still found opportunities for effective service, and a group of close friends. Ultimately, Argoti felt an immense sense of pride being a woman of color living on the Lawn and occupying a place of leadership.
“We were learning to work together as a community.”
While Argoti looked back on her UVA experience fondly, she also lived through two historically tumultuous events of the University’s history. In 2014, a now retracted Rolling Stone article was published entitled, “A Rape on Campus.” The story described an alleged rape at a UVA fraternity house. Following this article, UVA punished greek life across the University-- including Sigma Lambda Upsilon. Argoti reflected on how challenging this was for her sorority, especially given that they had no physical spaces on Grounds to gather, and that the bulk of their programming was in the form of service to Latinas girls in Charlottesville. While facing all of this, Argoti was a Resident Advisor, and had to be able to be there for her residents and worried parents. The following year in 2015, a Black student named Martese Johnson experienced police brutality outside of a Corner bar. Not only did this event spark reactions from a mass amount of students at UVA, but Argoti shared that she also knew Martese Johnson personally as well.
Despite the many difficult moments of UVA’s history that occured during Argoti’s four years, she also commented on pieces of the University that have given her hope for the future. Specifically, she shared how hopeful it was to see the launch of the Multicultural Student Center that meant having a physical space on Grounds. She also looked back on memories from her college experience that made it worthwhile. From laughing at late night streakers on the Lawn, to sitting on the Rotunda steps with her friends after a night out, to swiping all of her friends in for Newcomb breakfast, she remembered the people and the time she spent with them.
“If [a goal] doesn’t happen now, then hopefully in the future, when someone revisits it, it’s just a little bit more possible.”
Ultimately, Isabel Argoti came into UVA with the mentality that college was all about school. She didn’t realize how much moving to a different place would impact her, nor how involved she would be in different organizations. She learned so much more than just what she was taught in the classroom. From being forced to live on Grounds, she believes that she learned how to find her own space. As advice to her younger self and to students today, she shared that it is worth it to branch out and take advantage of everything UVA has to offer. For Latinx students specifically, she reminded them not to be afraid, and that just showing up to UVA is a monumental step in and of itself. Latinx students today have the foundation of the older community that came before them, and can continue to build upon it for future students to come.
