Immigration lawyer Mariana Beyer Chapa ’21 believes we need brave people to meet the current moment—and that Reed is where they're made.
By Cara Nixon
October 2, 2026
“We need brave people right now,” says Mariana Beyer Chapa ’21. “We need people with strong morals and values, and also creativity and ingenuity. Reed supports people who have those skills, and helps bring them out in people.”
For Mariana, Reed helped bring out the bravery in her. Bravery she’s drawing on every day as an immigration lawyer in the making, facing a rigorous workload at Harvard Law, ever-changing immigration policy, and a tenuous moment in United States history. Reed prepared her for such difficulties, she says, as a place that encourages students to struggle in a good way—to push themselves. It fosters an internal curiosity, an eagerness, and an appreciation for the process of learning and growing. “It helps you keep going no matter what,” Mariana says.
When she first arrived at Reed as a shy 18-year-old, Mariana wasn’t sure what she wanted to do—all she knew was that she wanted to be academically challenged. She got her wish and more. “Reed is an institution that really lets people be themselves,” she says. “I really benefited from being around so many people who knew themselves, who were able to genuinely be themselves and not change. That was really empowering to me.”
Such experiences encouraged her to be herself, too, and pursue something she didn’t know she’d wanted—law school. Professor Mariela Daby [political science] told Mariana after she graduated with her political science degree that if she wanted to make a direct, everyday impact, becoming a lawyer could be the pathway for her.
The state of immigration law can sometimes leave one feeling hopeless or unmotivated, but Mariana is carrying the tenacity she cultivated at Reed with her into her career. “If you actually feel like you’re working towards something that will even make a small difference, that’s grounding, and then you feel in control,” she explains.
Mariana’s Reed education laid the foundation for her to meet a key moment affecting our society. Today’s campaign invites you to do the same—for the students who will shape what comes next.
“Most of the Reedies that I’ve met, they’re not very willing to accept the status quo,” Mariana says. “They have a fight in them, and I think they should take that wherever they go. We need progress. We need change.”
Mariana arrived at Reed shy and uncertain about her path. She leaves with the bravery, values, and tenacity to meet one of the most consequential moments in immigration law. Your gift helps Reed create the next generation of people like her.
