Alumni
Breaking with Tradition
It wasn't until she made her escape to America and then became a non-traditional student that Maria Velez de Berliner '87 found the home she had always wanted.
By Victoria Tilney McDonough
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| Photo by Hilary Schwab |
First there was the feel of shag carpet under her bare feet. Then there was the shocking surprise of an automatic door the first time she set foot in a grocery store. There was learning to ignite the gas stove in the tiny kitchen and figuring out how to boil water.
These were some of Maria Velez de Berliner's '87 first memories of being in the United States. She was 21. Born into one of Colombia's most wealthy and influential families, Velez de Berliner had never had to do much for herself. Had she not made her escape to America, she would now most likely be the eyes and ears of some wealthy diplomat husband. She would have had no formal education beyond that provided by private tutors, and she certainly would know nothing about lighting a stove or leaping out of the way of sliding doors in public markets. Least of all, she would not now own and run her own international security and intelligence consulting company.
Since her parents died in a car accident when she was only nine-months-old, Velez de Berliner grew up with two older brothers under the iron rule of her grandmother. "I'd have to say that Queen Victoria was a harlot compared to my grandmother," says Velez de Berliner, who believes in speaking her mind. She never felt at home in Colombia, feeling lost in her family's estate and having to go along with the patriarchal traditions of her privileged class.
It wasn't until she got to America without her family's wealth to rely on, and more specifically, until she started as a non-traditional student at Lake Forest College, that Velez de Berliner found the home for which she had always yearned. "At Lake Forest, I found the receptive, accepting, tolerant, and interested family I had never had," she says. "The College gave me a home and a great education."
Finding a Home
Newly transplanted in the States, Velez de Berliner - with her independent streak, her knowledge of Latin American culture and politics, and her this-is-me-take-it-or-leave-it attitude Ń quickly found her way as an executive in international business. "Maria was very successful for many years, but her dream had always been to go to college," says her husband, Jordan de Berliner.
Through various references, encouragement and support from her husband, and some serendipitous twists and turns, Lake Forest allowed Maria (who had no official high school diploma) to take one class as a test run. Associate Professor of History Carol Gayle, who advised non-traditional students, told Maria that she couldn't promise her anything but that, if it were up to her, she would not deny her what her family had denied her, a formal education. "I'll always remember those words," says Velez de Berliner.
College, which started with a cultural anthropology course, was like a rebirth. "I loved that first class. It was absolute heaven," she says.
"But Maria definitely gave her professors a run for their money," says Jordan de Berliner. "She always worried about her grades and whether she was doing well enough, and then, of course, she would get the top grade. She could be exasperating!"
Her classmates - a good decade or more younger - loved being in her study groups. They'd come to her home for a good meal and then benefit from her meticulous class notes and insights. "I remember some of their faces when I'd tell them that 'Yes, I know the book says this happened regarding that historical moment in Latin-American history, but this is what really happened, I, or my family, was there.'" she says.
Because of her age, experience, and background, Velez de Berliner became a sort of peer to her professors. "She was a delight because she sparkled with an eagerness to learn, because of how hard she worked to always be well prepared for class, and because her life experience and knowledge of current and historical events gave her context for understanding the course material," says Professor Emeritus of Economics Richard Dye. "Maria has an aggressive intellect tempered by a good and generous nature. I have been greatly rewarded with many wonderful conversations we've had over the years - starting from teacher-to-student and moving to scholar-to-scholar and friend-to-friend."
Graduation day was memorable for her husband. "She walked off with almost every academic honor," he says. "It took the dean a good two minutes and several deep breaths to list them all. I felt bad for the guy who came after her alphabetically; he only had a diploma to claim."'
Leaving a Legacy
Since graduating summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa in international relations, Velez de Berliner has become a much sought-after international consultant, specifically in international security and intelligence for both the private and government sectors.
She is president of her own consulting firm, Alexandria, Virginia-based Latin Intelligence Corporation, which provides private companies with in-depth market intelligence to help them plan and implement customized strategies to enter or expand profitably and safely in markets in Europe, China, and Latin America. The firm also works for U.S. government agencies, analyzing economic and political threats to U.S. interests in Latin America.
Velez de Berliner also teaches Latin American politics and economics at schools of the U.S. military services. Her regional analyses and forecasts have appeared in Harvard Business Review Amrica Latina, Harvard Business Review Brasil, Bloomberg News, and more. She is a source for myriad newspapers and appears on business programs, such as Bloomberg's Reporte Financiero, International Investor and others.
"I love my work because I get to help people understand the Latin America that is, not the Latin America my family thinks it is, nor the Latin America the U.S. government wants it to be," she says. "And I love to teach. My Lake Forest professors taught me what excellence in teaching is all about. They taught me to write clearly and concisely, to think analytically, and to always listen to the positions and views of others even if I disagree. As a professional consultant, I have found it invariably useful - and wise - to truly listen."
But Velez de Berliner is never too busy to return to campus or to offer support, intellectually or financially, or participate in the College's mentor program. She returns to lecture on topics from Latin American politics and culture to issues of international policy and security. Her husband created a Spanish essay contest in her honor soon after she graduated. Annually, three winners receive monetary prizes that go toward books to further their study.
If that is not enough, in the midst of Lake Forest's 150th Anniversary Campaign, she and her husband, a University of Chicago graduate, have donated their estates. "One thing my Colombian family did give me was a devotion to excellence, a compass of morals and ethics, of grace and propriety, and a commitment to public service," Velez de Berliner says. "Since we don't have any heirs of our own, Jordan and I will leave our estates to the children of the world who attend Lake Forest. We want to help other people's children, particularly from Latin America, to achieve their dreams and learn at Lake Forest how to be responsible world citizens. We want that to be our legacy."
Path Breaker
Velez de Berliner has already left another legacy, something of which she is incredibly proud. She was the first woman to leave her family's fold, refusing to marry young and perpetuate what she believes to be the antiquated mores of her family. Much to her surprise and pleasure, many of the women in her family's next generation have followed in her footsteps. "When I was growing up in Colombia, I was always seen as the black sheep of the family, the one with the fiercely independent streak," she says. "But now I am known as the path breaker."
She admits that some of the women in her own generation still see her as "the one who put the big, black blot on the family's reputation for proper conduct by its women." But those she inspired have become career women and independent thinkers, no longer playing second fiddle in their own lives.
Nostalgia for Blue Books
Recently, while cleaning out her storage room at home, Velez de Berliner found her college papers. The sight of those blue books and the feel of all those essay pages on thin, oniony paper with her professors' notes and grades brought tears to her eyes. She couldn't throw them out, she said. "It would be like getting rid of an intimate part of me."
"Lake Forest gave my classmates and me the tools to think critically, write clearly, construct an argument, and respect others' points of view. I believe those values still live in all of us, and I hope we can use what we learned to help solve the world's problems." She adds, "What Lake Forest gave us was something truly precious."
Victoria Tilney McDonough is a freelance writer living in the Washington, D.C. area.
For more information about the 150th Anniversary Campaign, please visit www.lakeforest.edu/alumni/150campaign.asp. We also want to thank Roy Palmer '61 for generously underwriting the cost of the campaign video, which you can view on the campaign Web site.