Six first-year students were greeted by the ILS community during Welcome Weekend. With only a week of rest after hiking together in the Wyoming mountains, the ninth cohort of merit scholars marched up the steps of Bond Hall to meet their mentors, faculty, and family for the next four years as members of the Latino Studies Scholars Program.
Daniel Contreras of Huntington Beach, California; Dariel Herrera-Rosales of Plymouth, Indiana; Isabel Creixel of Austin, Texas; and Austlynn Quiroz, Mario Carmona, and Adilin Garza, all three stemming from the Rio Grande Valley of Texas, make up the newest cohort of scholars.
A committee of ILS faculty and staff evaluates nominees provided by the enrollment division selected for their track record of leadership in Latino communities across the United States. Students of all backgrounds are considered. Those awarded the scholarship of $25,000 per year are notified shortly after gaining admission to Notre Dame.
ILS Associate Director Paloma Garcia-Lopez manages the selection process in partnership with the enrollment division, and directs the year round programming for the scholars. “This program offers support for outstanding students who have made an impact in their school, church, or community. We want to show them strategies to manage their leadership roles and responsibilities. By pursuing both their career and community objectives, surrounded by faith and fellow scholars, they don’t have to pick individual success over becoming a force for good,” said Garcia-Lopez.
Professor of Political Science Luis R. Fraga founded the program in 2015. Since then, 27 alumni have graduated and 36 scholars are thriving on campus as leaders in the dorms, student government, and undergraduate clubs. They also serve as “big siblings,” mentoring the newest cohort of scholars. Fraga says, “This is the only merit program of its kind nationwide. These students can have it all.”
WONDER Trip
The cohort met each other in person at the airport in Utah before heading to the trail in Wyoming. For six nights, the students cooked over a campfire, grappled with leadership and spirituality topics in evening discussions, and hiked over three miles a day. Pictured below:
The University of Notre Dame offers a limited number of merit scholarships to admitted first-year students. Recipients demonstrate exceptional accomplishment, leadership, commitment to service, and intellectual promise. Financial need is not a factor. Students of all backgrounds are considered for the program.
ILS shapes the future of undergraduate and graduate students as transformative leaders with a depth of understanding about the capacity of Latino communities to enrich all aspects of American society and the world.
Meet the people involved in the Institute for Latino Studies.
Visit latinostudies.nd.edu for more information.