Second-year communication Ph.D. student Carmen Gonzalez (pictured) recently earned a Ford Foundation Diversity Fellowship that will provide her with financial support to research Spanish-language media during her next three years at USC Annenberg.

Through its program of Diversity Fellowships, the Ford Foundation seeks to increase the diversity of the nation’s college and university faculties by increasing their ethnic and racial diversity, to maximize the educational benefits of diversity, and to increase the number of professors who can and will use diversity as a resource for enriching the education of all students.

"I am honored and excited to represent USC and Annenberg as a Ford Diversity Fellow," Gonzalez said. "I have always been very aware of the lack of diversity in higher education, and I look forward to addressing this issue in any way I can. For me, diversity in education means that everyone is given the opportunity to pursue their academic and personal dreams regardless of where they come from or what they score on a standardized test."

Gonzalez is currently working on a research study regarding the way in which Spanish-language media may be influencing Latino undocumented immigrants to become naturalized citizens amidst a hostile political environment.

"I am fortunate to be surrounded by very supportive colleagues and professors, without their guidance I would not be here, and I hope to make them very proud," she said. 

Ford Foundation Diversity Fellowship
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