Bridging Barnard Generations

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The interests of Sumaiya Khalique ’09 and her Barnard intern, Sabrina Stark ’26, diverge and merge in ways that make a solid argument for a liberal arts education. Khalique, an attorney specializing in immigration law at her own boutique firm, is inclined by profession to make such an argument — and she does. After working this summer at Khalique’s World Trade Center office, Stark, an architecture and human rights major, also sees plenty of overlap in their seemingly distinct career paths. 

“I know for sure that my architecture studio has made me incredibly meticulous and organized and also very creative,” Stark says. “A big part of immigration law is staying on top of things — receipts, contacting clients, organizing petitions and forms. Architecture has given me that patience and that meticulous nature.”

 Khalique is no stranger to taking an interdisciplinary approach to problem-solving. During her time at Barnard, she majored in anthropology and minored in English, which, she says, laid a solid foundation for the work she does now.

 “Anthropologists, they tell stories,” she says. “They study people, cultures, and then they tell the stories of their experiences. When we’re doing immigration — people’s lives and their stories, whether it’s asylum, whether it’s through business visa, etc. — it’s their journey and a part of their story that we’re telling.”

Still in the nascent stages of her career, Stark says the specificity of her educational path didn’t really reveal itself until her sophomore year when she took her first human rights course. “I just felt this drive to start doing things and help other people, rather than pursuing architecture solely as a designer,” she says. 

After a stint helping refugees with their asylum paperwork, Stark saw the posting for the internship with Khalique on Beyond Barnard’s Handshake. “One of the biggest lessons that I’ve learned from this internship is that a law degree is a really powerful tool to have to make a difference in the United States,” she says.

In addition, working with people looking for a safe place to call home has influenced her approach to architectural theories underscoring that the human right of safety to live in a home underpins society. “If we can make an architecture — a home — that people feel is theirs and their property, they’ll be invested in that community.”

On hearing the concept, Khalique agreed. “I can’t articulate it in terms of architecture, but I can definitely say that if the United States is a place for freedom, then immigrants need to be able to access the legal pathways and processes to become permanent residents and become part of the American community.”