The CLS Program is delighted to announce that juniors Xochitl Ortega-Mendez (’27) and Prisila Balderas-Rascon (’27) have been awarded this year’s Jesús Salas Academic Activist Scholarships, and Ashley Gorostieta (’27) and Kalani Rodríguez-Jiménez received Somos Student Professional Development Awards.
A Political Science/International Relations major, Xochitl is pursuing the certificate in Chicanx/e & Latinx/e Studies. Originally from Milwaukee, she has volunteered extensively with the Community Immigration Law Center, Voces de la Frontera, and with ChiLaCSA, the CLS Program’s student government. She also served as an intern with the office of Rep. Mark Pocan in 2024 and has worked as a Resident Assistant in the UW-Madison residence halls. This summer, she plans to intern with the Hall Render Killian, Heath & Lyman, P.C. Law Firm in her home town. In the long term she hopes to pursue a career in law in order to provide services to immigrants and refugees in need.
Prisila, who grew up in the Madison area, is a double major in Chicanx/e & Latinx/e Studies and Human Development & Family Studies. A PEOPLE Program scholar, she was named to the Dean’s List in Fall 2024. Having become a mother during her transition from high school to college, she has seen the importance of supportive organizations for student parents and sought to provide a positive example for others through her work, her studies, her involvement with Centro Hispano of Dane County, and volunteer work with her church. Looking ahead, she seeks to work in human resources or a similar field where she can help and advocate for people and families.
Ashley, a junior from Waukesha, is pursuing a triple major in Community and Organizational Development, Latin American, Caribbean, and Iberian Studies, and Chicanx/e & Latinx/e Studies. This spring, she interned in Costa Rica with a program called Go Tico!, helping with a group that was creating a community center in the town of La Flor. She has also worked as an assistant teacher with the Center for Child and Family Excellence in her home town and interned as a researcher with the School for Workers here at the University. With her Somos award this summer, she will use her Somos award to travel to Kenya to work on a project organized by the University’s Women & Wellbeing in Wisconsin & the World (4W) initiative, which is led by Prof. Emerita Araceli Alonso. Ashley will participate in community health education efforts aimed at adolescent girls in the areas of menstrual hygiene and reproductive health, assisting Nurse Josephine Martini. Kalani is pursuing a triple major in Legal Studies, Chicanx/e & Latinx/e Studies, and Latin American, Caribbean, and Iberian Studies. During her time at the University, she has volunteered with the Community Immigration Law Clinic and interned with the Department of Justice and the firm Coe, Cuskey, and Stevens, Inc. in Rice Lake. On campus, she has volunteered extensively as chair of the Latine Heritage Month committee and with the Latine Pre-Law Students Association, in addition to working with Campus and Visitor Relations. With her Somos award, she will travel to Costa Rica this summer to pursue an internship related to the law, gender, and intimate partner violence.
The Jesús Salas Academic Activist scholarship is awarded annually to a Chicanx/e and Latinx/e Studies Program Undergraduate Certificate student who has excelled in academic pursuits and has made outstanding service contributions to the Chicanx/e and Latinx/e Community. The award is named in honor of longtime activist Jesus Salas for his continuous commitment and dedication to the advancement and wellbeing of the Chicanx/e and Latinx/e community. Regent Salas earned a Master’s degree in Political Science at the University of Wisconsin Madison, and in 1964 he helped found the Obreros Unidos, a Wisconsin agricultural labor union. He was also the first Latino executive director of United Migrant Opportunity Services, Inc. He served on the University of Wisconsin Board of Regents from 2004 to 2007, and was an instructor at the Milwaukee Area Technical College for many years. The Chicanx/e & Latinx/e Studies Program takes applications for the Somos Professional Development Student Awards every Spring. The awards are supported by the generosity of Assistant Dean Emerita Dr. Andrea-Teresa Arenas with proceeds from the sale of her book Somos Latinas, and by her husband, former Chancellor John Wiley. The awards support professional, academic, or artistic initiatives for students enrolled in Chicanx/e & Latinx/e academic programs.
