LULAC Lambda Awards Scholarships to 3 LGBTQ Scholars
LGBTQ Latinx advocacy organization doles out $5,000 to help recipients pursue higher educational goals.
Last month, LULAC Lambda, the local LGBTQ and Latinx advocacy organization, honored three college students as part of its annual scholarship program, which is intended to help those pursuing higher education cover some of their expenses without incurring additional student loan debt.
Scholarship recipients are chosen based on their stellar academic performance, as well as their record of community service or work on behalf of social justice causes. The scholarships were made available through a grant from the now-shuttered BHT Foundation, which allowed LULAC Lambda to award the scholarships at a time when fundraising efforts dried up due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
This year’s recipients are: D.C. residents Tania Cabrera, an undergraduate political science and Spanish double major attending George Washington University; Zoey McShane, a theology student pursuing a master’s degree at Wesley Theological Seminary; and Juan Carlos Mora, a public policy major pursuing a master’s at George Washington University.
“For a fifth year in a row, LULAC Lambda will provide scholarships to outstanding scholars who come from our LGBTQ+ Latinx community. Our scholarship program will help reduce student loan debt and help scholars achieve their academic goals,” Javier Aquino, LULAC Lambda’s president, said in a statement. “We want to thank the BHT Foundation for giving us a final grant and LULAC Lambda supporters who have helped support this annual program.”
Cabrera, who works in customer service at a local CVS and is a first-year representative for the George Washington University LULAC Council, was granted a $1,000 scholarship to help he defray the cost of pursuing a bachelor’s degree. She hopes to use her degree to become an immigration attorney.
“This award will tremendously help me further my education by providing funds to help pay for books and other materials,” she said in a statement. “Finishing college is a crucial goal as I am a first-generation student as well as having the huge need to give back to my community.”
McShane, a digital strategy coordinator at the Human Rights Campaign and a sexual education teacher at Mount Vernon Unitarian Church in Alexandria, Virginia, hopes to become a minister involved in social justice work. She was granted a $2,000 scholarship, which will help cover the cost of books, transportation, and tuition.
Mora, a legislative intern for U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) and the Assistant Legislator General for the GW Student Association, also received a $2,000 scholarship, He hopes to work in public policy at the federal level after receiving his master’s degree.
“I intend to utilize this scholarship to support me during the summer, when I will be conducting unpaid undergraduate research in the philosophy of intention and legal conventions for proving discriminatory action by the government,” he said in a statement.
LULAC Lambda’s scholarship program will begin accepting new applicants for next year’s scholarship class in early 2023.
For more information on LULAC Lambda’s various programs and initiatives, visit www.lulaclambda.org. For a schedule of meeting and upcoming events, email lulaclambda@gmail.com.
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