Desire to Help

Interview with Veronica Meinhard, Ohio State's First Lady

by Rolando Rubalcava

“When I was little, I absolutely adored and worshipped my grandfather. My grandfather was a physician, a surgeon. We were very, very close… we lost him when I was fourteen, and I used to carry around his medicine bag”

Verônica Meinhard

Earlier this year, I sat down with Veronica Meinhard, philanthropist, swimmer, and First Lady of The Ohio State University. It’s never easy to have a chance to meet Latinx leaders in academia, in part because there are so few. To have a chance to sit down and interview one was a highlight during my time as Editor for our magazine. Mrs. Meinhard shared with QuePasa Magazine her experience moving to Columbus, Ohio and what it has been like. The dark cloud over this experience came from a public health crisis no one could have planned for: the COVID-19 pandemic. At the time of this interview, she has been at OSU while never seeing swaths of students walking up and down campus, or having a preference between Jeni’s or Grater’s Ice Cream.

We sat down in the new Latinx Student Success center, hardly ever been occupied, wearing facemasks. When we started the interview, her calm and coolness reminded us that living with this virus is one of the many obstacles we will work to overcome. We continued to chat, amicably and with a dissipating fear of the virus outside.

Mrs. Meinhard and I discussed her experiences moving to Ohio State. Learning about her work in the philanthropy sector was the most interesting, as it paired well with the story of her athletic background. Her journey towards philanthropy work was inspired by seeing the opportunities scholarships and donors bring to students, including herself. Mrs. Meinhard came to the United States from Venezuela on a swimming scholarship. It was her student athlete experience that taught her about hard work and persistence, exactly what philanthropy work interested in increasing opportunities for students in need is made of. “Any craft that requires you to invest a significant amount of time and get better at it, year after year after year, teaches you a lot of different things…I would say that a lot, most everything I have learned about leadership style and work ethic, I learned in the pool”, she shared. Speaking to Mrs. Meinhard reveals a person who found out how to weave a passion with a mission interested in helping others the way others have helped her. It’s not difficult to see how both of these areas have helped shape her point of view.

How her athletics background and work ethic influenced how she works through challenges was beginning to be the overarching theme to our discussion. As her first year at OSU was wrapping up, we at QuePasa were interested in asking about something everyone was struggling with: How did you manage your first year while surviving a pandemic? “Swimming just has a way of focusing you. It’s an individual sport…you spend a lot of time in your head…I found the easiest way to get through this is by finding a new routine”, she said. It’s always interesting to see how even leaders in high positions handle challenges, especially when their solutions are so similar to ours, sifting passed sourdough starter kits and Netflix ques, into the universal tools that will always be helpful. “In terms of support, Kristina has been phenomenal, and we’re always there for each other. And family, too…and then friends. We’re all sorta going through it”, she said, as we discussed the new routines we had to shape.

The further we spoke, the less it was about speaking to a person in leadership, and more about someone who is genuinely interesting. She shared more about her interests, giving great answers. QP: Which do you prefer? Basketball or Football? VM: Both QP: Sopes or tortillas? VM: Both. I imagined asking my final question being so intimidated to ask, but that all went away as we came to a close. I asked, “What did you envision as your dream job when you were little girl, and did you imagine doing the work you do now when you were younger?” She shared this wonderful story about her grandfather, a surgeon, and how she emulated him, carrying his medicine bag around. Out of this story came more insight into the intersection of her childhood dreams and her interests in helping others. She closed her story, tying it all together, stating, “I have found that same nurturing spirit and that same desire to help others comes through in other ways…For me, it was that passion to help and serve because of the opportunities that it gives”. It is just as rare to find Latinx leaders in academia as it is to find leaders who emphasize what they can do for their students. Veronica Meinhard’s work encapsulates both, representing the kind of leaders we need. We are happy to see someone dedicated to helping others in such a leadership position, and look forward to seeing her work with our community.