AAHHE Doctoral Student Award

The AAHHE Doctoral Student Award recognizes doctoral students who aspire to join the academy and demonstrate their academic accomplishments and servant leadership at their university.

2024 AAHHE Doctoral Student Award Recipient

Diana Cervantes is a Ph.D. candidate in the Program for Higher Education Leadership and Policy (PHELP) at The University of Texas at Austin. Originally from Portland, Oregon, she is a product of college success programs that helped her navigate predominantly white institutions of higher education as a first-generation college student. Her experience working in the federal government in Washington D.C. and at Excelencia in Education inspired her academic research interests to inform research, policy, and practice to accelerate student success in higher education. Her dissertation research centers Latina/Latino/Hispanic community college students and their racialized experiences with free college policy design and implementation. Additionally, she has conducted research for the Free College Equity Lab, the Center for Community College Student Engagement (CCCSE), and Project MALES. She also currently serves as the Managing Editor for the Journal Committed to Social Change on Race and Ethnicity (JCSCORE). Diana earned Bachelor’s degrees from the University of Oregon and a Master of Arts in higher and postsecondary education with an emphasis in social/cultural and civic analysis from Teachers College, Columbia University.

List of Past Doctoral Student Award Recipients:

• 2023 Merylou Rodriguez
• 2022 Roberto Orozco
• 2021 Angel Gonzalez, MA, PhD