2020 Graduates

Recipient of the Neider Family Alumni Service Award
Recipient of the Environmental Studies Research Award

• Major: Environmental Studies
• Minor: Sustainability
• Immersion Participant: Oakland
• Immersion Coordinator: Appalachia

"I was accepted to serve in the Peace Corps as a Community Environmental Promoter in Paraguay. However due to Covid-19 my service has been postponed which has required me to look for service opportunities more locally. As such I am in the application process for several domestic service opportunities including Climate Corps and Americorps. I’m actually hoping to hear about a climate corps position working with the City of Sunnyvale as an Environmental Programs Associate and have interviews with Earth Team and a sustainable transit position with the City of Honolulu."

• Major: Environmental Studies & English
• Immersion Participant: Cholula, Mexico
• Immersion Coordinator: East LA

"In a few weeks, I will be moving to Detroit, MI with the Jesuit Volunteer Corps to participate in a year of service. I will be working as a paralegal for a nonprofit that works with people in the city who are dealing with housing issues by assisting them in court and helping submit paperwork."

Recipient of the Francisco Jimenez Scholar Award

• Major: Spanish Studies
• Minor: Mathematics & Urban Education 
• Thriving Neighbors Fellow: Visual Arts and Performing Arts (VAPA)

"Next stop, Grad School! I will be applying to Teaching Credential programs with the goal to become a Math & Spanish Teacher with a Bilingual Authorization."

Recipient of the Robert P. Balles SCU Mathematics Scholars Award
Recipient of the Paul R. Halmos Prize
Recipient of the Orella Prize

• Major: Mathematics & History 
• Minor: Political Science
• Immersion Participant: New Orleans
• Immersion Coordinator: San Francisco
• Member: Alpha Sigma Nu

"This fall I will start a PhD program in mathematics at UC Davis. I’m excited to pursue the world of academics and abstractions as well as remain grounded in the values and insights I learned throughout my experiences with the Ignatian Center."

Recipient of the Peter-Hans Kolvenbach, S.J., Award

• Major: Sociology & Spanish
• Minor: Urban Education & Latin American Studies
• Immersion Participant: San Jose
• Immersion Participant: Dominican Republic
• Immersion Coordinator: San Jose
• Thriving Neighbors Student Mentor: After-school Enrichment Program
• Thriving Neighbors Student Assistant: Education Pipeline

"I was hired by Sacred Heart Community Service as a temporary Housing Specialist for a rental relief program for families affected by COVID-19 and in danger of eviction. I have to thank the community in Campus Ministry for helping me find what faith meant to me, and for the Ignatian Center in teaching me how to transform my faith into action for solving social justice issues, particularly at a local level. I know it is a long route ahead, but I am forever thankful for the difficult conversation, the privilege-checks, and the life-long friends I made during my time at SCU."

Recipient of the McPhee Award

• Major: History
• Minor: Political Science & Sustainability
• Immersion Participant: San Francisco
• Immersion Coordinator: Ecuador

"Starting in August, I will be doing a year of service with the JVC where I'll be working at the West Side Catholic Center, a nonprofit in Cleveland, Ohio that advocates for and provides assistance to those who are housing insecure. I am specifically responsible for coordinating programs for the organization's Workforce Development Center and Expressive Arts Program, which is group therapy through the arts. I am so excited to begin a new chapter of my life in a completely new state and thankful that SCU and my experience with the Ignatian Center guided me down this path."