“The Knight-Hennessy scholarship is not only an excellent way to advance my leadership skills, but it also provides an incredible opportunity for me to connect with other leaders in various fields. I am going to be a law student at Stanford, but this program allows me to engage with people from every graduate school at Stanford.

My goal is to become a civil rights attorney. I was born in Mexico and grew up in West Valley. I am a Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipient. As an immigrant myself, it’s always been important for me to advocate for others and to fight for all marginalized communities, whether or not I am a part of them.

I completed my undergraduate degree in communication at the University of Utah in 2021 and received the College of Humanities Outstanding Senior Award. As a student, I worked for the Utah nonprofit Comunidades Unidas, first as an immigration clinic and immigrant rights intern, and then as a rapid response organizer during the COVID-19 pandemic. I continued this work after I graduated before becoming a legislative fellow in the U.S. House of Representatives. Now I work as an immigrants’ rights policy analyst at the American Civil Liberties Union of Utah (ALCU).

The next step in my career is to become an actual attorney and to be able to safeguard people’s civil rights and civil liberties. We are living in a time where it is crucial to protect civil rights as we’re experiencing attacks on the free speech rights of students all over the country, censorship of our ability to advocate for a much-needed permanent ceasefire in Gaza, and a limitation of the rights of immigrants, the LGBTQ+ community, women and much more. I start my degree in the fall and I am looking forward to all that I will learn. I have always been really interested in the law, so I am excited for the opportunity to be challenged in new ways and gain the skills I need to be a better advocate.

I think the Knight-Hennessy Scholars program will broaden my perspective and help me learn about things I’ve never even thought about. I hope my participation will help me find innovative solutions that I haven’t thought of before for the issues I care about. I also think it will be an excellent way to become more open-minded. This is something I already try hard to do, but is an area that I want to grow in. I look forward to the opportunity to learn from inspiring individuals who are focused on great things.”

— Andrea Daniela Jimenez Flores, a 2021 U alum and the school’s first Knight-Hennessy Scholarship recipient