Alejandra Vazquez, Presidential Award Winner, Author, Future Graduate Student, y Hija

 

Alejandra Vazquez is one of four Portland State University undergraduates to receive a 2025 Presidential Award for service to the university! I (David) have known "Ale" (as our students call her) very well throughout her years at Portland State. She was an outstanding student in our Freshman Inquiry class her first year, then a beloved Peer Mentor for the next four. This year we are collaborating to research and write an ebook on how "New Majority" PSU students experience, or not, a sense of belonging at Portland State. She has also been a leader at La Casa Latina, MEChA, and in many other contexts.

But what has always most struck me about Alejandra is her commitment to her family. First and foremost, she is a Latina daughter, sister, niece, and cousin. Family is where she finds her greatest joys and strengths and role models, and that love of and commitment to family informs everything she does. She has taught me that the most responsible and joyful way to use the privileges that higher education brings is to make places at the table for people who have been marginalized, that our lives and choices should always be informed by the needs of others, that the first responsibility of a leader is to serve.

This is a theme she developed in a recent piece for Amplify journal in which she joined six other former members of Freshman Inquiry classes in reflecting on how written assignments for our class related to their families and communities. Ms. Vazquez essay is about Reyna Grande's memoir, The Distance Between Us, a bittersweet story of how her family's move from Mexico to the U.S. affected each family member.

Here is a paragraph from her introduction to the essay:

As I read, I often found my mother in the pages. It didn’t feel like just another assignment; it felt like a glimpse into my mother's life — one she rarely shared, due to the trauma and heartbreak she carries. For the first time, I was able to relate to a character and see the people I love reflected in the words on the page. Reyna Grande’s story, though heartbreaking, was also deeply empowering. 

Here is the link to the full article: https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/amplify/vol3/iss1/6/.

In a few months, Alejandra will be headed off to Maryland as a graduate student in the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. Portland State will miss her, but she has enriched the lives of hundreds of students, as well as many faculty and staff. 

Gracias por todo, Alejandra.