{"id":91331,"date":"2014-05-13T08:44:14","date_gmt":"2014-05-13T12:44:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=91331"},"modified":"2014-05-13T11:37:00","modified_gmt":"2014-05-13T15:37:00","slug":"portraits-of-strength-bessy-reyna-72-ma-82-jd","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2014\/05\/portraits-of-strength-bessy-reyna-72-ma-82-jd\/","title":{"rendered":"Portraits of Strength: Bessy Reyna ’72 MA, \u201982 JD"},"content":{"rendered":"

This article was first published in the Spring 2014 print edition of\u00a0<\/em>UConn Magazine<\/a>. To access more stories and videos like this, visit\u00a0s.uconn.edu\/spring 14<\/em><\/em><\/em><\/em><\/em><\/a> or download\u00a0<\/a><\/em>UConn Magazine’s<\/a> free app<\/a>\u00a0for tablet devices.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n
It was 1933 when UConn students so insightfully designated the husky as the symbol of strength, grit, and resolve that has come to define the true spirit of the University. In this special feature, UConn Magazine<\/em> invited 11 proud UConn alumni to speak out about what defines them, from their darkest struggles to their greatest triumphs. And no matter how different their backgrounds, their hardships, or the mistakes they may have made along the way, that same enduring strength and indomitable spirit remains, living on at the heart of every Husky.<\/h5>\n

 <\/p>\n

[yframe url=’http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Ci1T2FL1wlY’]<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Born in Cuba, Bessy Reyna \u201972 MA, \u201982 JD immigrated with her family to Panama before the revolution. Curious and intellectual, she rebelled against the traditional roles expected of women in Latin American society. Adversity takes many forms, she says: \u201cSometimes it\u2019s surviving a culture when you don\u2019t want to be part of that culture.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her mother\u2019s life served as a warning. \u201cShe was so bright, with so much to offer, but all she could do was take care of a husband and children,\u201d Reyna says. \u201cShe was not allowed to work, and I knew I couldn\u2019t do that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Bessy<\/a><\/div>\n

Reyna discovered a love of poetry as a child in Cuba, and soon found that writing helped clarify her feelings. \u201cA teacher selected me to recite \u2018Los Zapaticos de Rosa\u2019 by Jos\u00e9 Mart\u00ed, the poet and martyr of Cuban independence. It was a long poem and, as I stood in front of the school reciting it, the beauty of the words and the meaning of the poem greatly affected me.\u201d A few years later, she began writing seriously, in response to the death of a school friend.<\/p>\n

Today, Reyna is an award-winning, bilingual poet<\/a>; an activist and opinion columnist who writes on issues of gender, ethnicity, and equality; and a sought-after lecturer and guest artist. She is the author of two bilingual books of poetry: The Battlefield of Your Body<\/em> (Hill-Stead Museum, 2005) and Memoirs of the Unfaithful Lover\/ Memorias de la amante infiel<\/em> (tunAstral, A.C., 2010, Toluca Mexico). In 2010, she was one of 10 women honored by the Connecticut Women\u2019s Hall of Fame.<\/p>\n

I never wanted to depend on anyone else. \u2013Bessy Reyna \u201972 MA,
\n\u201982 JD<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Reyna first came to the United States in 1968 on a scholarship to Mount Holyoke College. A first-generation college student, she says her father, who never finished high school, dreamed that both his children would attend university \u2013 something she and her brother, now a civil engineer, accomplished.<\/p>\n

If there is a thread that weaves through the tapestry of Reyna\u2019s life it is determination. \u201cI saw women in cultural quicksand who couldn\u2019t get out. I didn\u2019t want that. I never wanted to depend on anyone else,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Graduating magna cum laude from Mount Holyoke, Reyna never did return to Panama to live, in part because of the military dictatorship. Instead, she arrived at UConn, where she earned a master\u2019s in child development and family relations and a law degree.<\/p>\n

UConn was also where she found community through activism. Joining students in working to establish the Women\u2019s Center and the gay and women\u2019s movements on campus, Reyna helped create various educational and social programs, including a gay speakers bureau that gave informative talks in classes. \u201cJust being there and for people to see us as human beings was, by itself, an educational experience,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

On her trips to UConn nowadays, she enjoys visiting the Student Union. \u201cI see the Women\u2019s Center and the Rainbow Center and the Cultural Centers, and I feel like a little part of me is there,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

It was also at UConn that Reyna met Susan Holmes, then-manager of von der Mehden Recital Hall. The two, who were both activists in the marriage equality movement, have been together for 35 years, marrying just weeks after same-sex marriage was legalized in Connecticut in 2008.<\/p>\n

Now retired, after 16 years at the Reporters of Judicial Decisions office of the Connecticut Supreme Court, Reyna is teaching and lecturing, and pens an arts page for Identidad Latina<\/em>, a Hartford-based newspaper.<\/p>\n

And there are poems, always poems. \u201cEver since reciting the poem in fourth grade,\u201d she says, \u201cpoetry has integrated my life.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hear audio clips from UConn Magazine<\/em>‘s one-on-one interview with Reyna:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Reyna discusses her memories of Cuba, and why she and her family left.<\/a>
\n<\/i>Reyna reads her poem “Penelope” in English.<\/em><\/a>
\n“Penelope” en Espa\u00f1ol.<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

Learn more about Reyna’s work at bessyreyna.com<\/a>. <\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This article was first published in the Spring 2014 print edition of\u00a0UConn Magazine. To access more stories and videos like this, visit\u00a0s.uconn.edu\/spring 14 or download\u00a0UConn Magazine’s free app\u00a0for tablet devices. It was 1933 when UConn students so insightfully designated the husky as the symbol of strength, grit, and resolve that has come to define the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_crdt_document":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,70],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[49],"class_list":["post-91331","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","category-video"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-07 18:09:35","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91331","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=91331"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91331\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":93506,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91331\/revisions\/93506"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=91331"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=91331"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=91331"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=91331"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=91331"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}