What Kamala Harris' College Years Were Like

Vice President Kamala Harris is in the midst of a heated Presidential race with Donald Trump. One of the topics that has arisen during the race has centered on Harris' background as Trump has questioned Harris' multiracial upbringing or educational history. However, Harris' upbringing and college experiences have had and continue to have a profound effect on her life and future career.

Harris is Black and Indian American and grew up in California. When her mother, Shyamala Gopalan, secured a teaching job at McGill University's medical school in Montreal, Harris ended up spending her high school years in Canada. She attended Westmount High School in Montreal. According to The Washington Post, Harris' time in Montreal would be influential for the rest of her life and career. While at Westmount, she experienced bullying for being one of the few biracial students at the school. Also, while in Montreal, she was influenced to become a prosecutor after learning her high school best friend, Wanda Kagan was being molested.

While Harris had spent formative years in Montreal, another big change was soon to come. Her Westmount classmate, Jamie Ward told The Washington Post that Harris felt the city was "just too racially divided." Harris knew it was time to return to the United States, and her next stop was Howard University.

After leaving Canada, Kamala Harris attended the historically Black college, Howard University. Harris' aunt was the inspiration for her choosing to go to Howard, as she told Essence. "My aunt Chris, who was the one who really had a big influence on me, was an AKA and pledged at Howard," Harris revealed. After feeling like an outcast in Canada due to being biracial, Harris felt at home at Howard surrounded by others that looked like her. In her 2019 memoir "The Truths We Hold" (via The Washington Post) she wrote, "This is heaven!" and walked away believing "we were young, gifted, and Black, and we shouldn't let anything get in the way of our success."

During her time at Howard, Harris was very involved in several clubs and activities. She quickly dived into campus politics, serving on the College of Arts and Sciences Student Council as a first-year representative. Harris got to hone skills on the debate team that she's put to use during her presidential campaign, and also joined the Black sorority, Alpha Kappa Alpha. 

Harris told Howard University's "The Dig" that her experience at the university taught her she didn't have to be put in a box. "The thing that Howard taught me is that you can do any collection of things, and not one thing to the exclusion of the other," she shared. "You could be homecoming queen and valedictorian. There are no false choices at Howard." After graduating from Howard in, Harris studied at the University of California, Hastings College of the Law, serving as president of the Black Law Students Association during her time there.