We are writing to offer our support to the LEAD community amidst the recent incidents that have brought the racial injustice of our society to light. Like many of you, we are reeling from the death of George Floyd. We also realize that this is just one of many incidents that highlights the continued killing of Black people at the hands of police officers, and the ongoing structural oppression of people of color, with particular impact on our Black community members. 

While we all experience emotions in our own unique ways, LEAD staff members are feeling many of the emotions that you probably are, sadness, anger, pain, weariness. We are also feeling both hopeful and hopeless. We realize that significant structural change needs to take place both at Santa Clara University and the broader society to shift the inequality that exists. It is daunting. At the Vigil for Racial Justice, alum Kimberly Henderson called SCU to task. Since she graduated over twenty years ago, little has changed in the racial landscape of our campus. As an alum who graduated a year after Kimberly, I (Erin) agree. 

At the same time, we see hope in all of you. In the ways that you show up each day as first-generation college students to stand up to the structural inequalities in our society--your voice in classes, your academic achievements, your involvement in activist communities on and off campus. Your presence at SCU is an act of bravery and defiance. 

The LEAD community is also a diverse community-made up of students from many different racial, ethnic, socio-economic and geographic backgrounds who have the common thread of being first-generation college students. We urge you to join us in recognizing our own backgrounds, and as result, the ways we experience both marginalization and privilege. Let’s use our privilege to create space for marginalized people, especially Black people, to voice their experiences and lead us in creating the change that is needed. 

We are here to support you as individuals and a community. As LEAD Council shared in their statement, “We are all here for each other. That’s part of what makes LEAD so special.”

We are also here to learn from you. Please tell us how we can make LEAD and SCU more just spaces. We promise to continue to advocate for sustainable and substantive change. We are committed to you, our beloved students. We are committed to creating a campus and a world that is a better place for you and for students after you. Let us support each other on this long road to justice. 

LEAD Collaborates with 'Empowered Students' to Provide Career Coaching

Dec. 11th, 2018

Empowered Students is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization that empowers first-generation and low income students to land life-altering internships and jobs. Our mission is to empower first-generation and low-income college students with the skills, confidence, experiences, and networks needed to land life-altering internships and jobs upon graduation---which lead to meaningful careers, lives of impact, and positions of leadership. These outcomes radiate a positive ripple effect with family members, high school friends, and members in their hometown communities.  https://www.empowered-students.org

FALL QUARTER 2020 UPDATE: LEAD staff is currently working remotely and LEAD Commons is currently closed.

Back at campus, we are located in Alameda Hall (in between RLC's Graham and Finn). The LEAD Commons is located downstairs in Alameda 106 (walk towards the Amazon lockers), and the LEAD Offices are located upstairs on the second floor in Alameda 201, 202, and 204.

The LEAD Scholars Program staff is also here to support you via email, phone or video chat. If you need help with anything, please contact us: Erin Kimura-Walsh at ekimurawalsh@scu.edu; Andrea Jackson at asjackson@scu.edu; and Alma Llamas at allamas@scu.edu.

Thank you for going #AllInForLEAD during #AllInForSCU!

National First-Generation Celebration!

Congratulations to our class of 2019 Graduates!

One of our very own, Eoin Lyons, is officially the first LEAD Scholar to be named Santa Clara University's Valedictorian! We are extremely proud of all of our students and the community they create here at SCU.

Watch Eoin's speech here!

Thank you for your Day of Giving Support!

Thank you to everyone who supported LEAD during SCU's Annual Day of Giving!

On March 7th, 2019 there were 99 alumni, parents and friends donated $10,650 to support LEAD's Microgrant and Fellowships Program. The generous donations that are made help students with basic living and educational needs, and participation in high-impact co-curricular activities like unpaid internships, undergraduate research and study abroad. Check out the LEAD page here for more information and to possilby consider making a donation in the future!

Please considering making a gift to our Microgrant and Fellowships Program.

Congratulations to our IME Becas Scholarship Recipients!

Congratulations to our IME Becas Scholarship recipients: Divianna Navarro, Bernardo Quevedo and Fabiola Ruiz! We are incredibly grateful to the Mexican Consulate of San Jose which awarded us a fifth IME Becas Grant thus far! The purpose of this IME Beca is to provide financial assistance to students of Mexican origin in order to support educational opportunities.

Learn more about our recipients here! 

Congratulations to our 2018-2019 Koret Fellows!

With generous support from the Koret Foundation, the IME Becas Program through the Mexican Consulate, Parents Alliance and private donors, the LEAD Scholars Program awarded almost $90,000 in fellowships to 35 students to support participation in conferences, unpaid internships, study abroad and undergraduate research, summer courses, and immersion and other community-based learning travel. Click here to learn more about their experiences!