The Department of Latino and Caribbean Studies at Rutgers University-New Brunswick is pleased to announce the recipient of this year’s Dra. Maria Josefa Canino Arroyo Leadership Award.
Fifty years after the establishment of the Program in Puerto Rican Studies at Livingston College in 1970, the department created this award to honor Dr. Canino’s bold leadership, the exceptional students who demanded equality and representation in their education, and the past, present, and future of student activism at Rutgers. Dr. Canino is Professor Emerita, Public Administration, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. She holds a doctorate in Education (Ed.D.) in Administration, Planning and Public Policy from Harvard University. Her leadership of the department from 1970-1974 and 1979-1980 continues with a lifetime of work as scholar and social advocate of education and public policy.
The award celebrates a graduating senior in Latino and Caribbean Studies who has demonstrated transformative leadership at the university, local, and global levels and who embodies the intellectual activism central to Latinx Studies.
This year’s recipient is Samantha Carhuaricra, who is graduating in May 2025 with a Major from the Department of Latino and Caribbean Studies in the School of Arts and Sciences and a Minor in Education as a Social Science. Ms. Carhuaricra has served in leadership roles in several Latino and Latin American student organizations on campus, including Rutgers University Student Assembly (RUSA), Latin American Student Organization (LASO), Celebrating Latinx Arts and Works (CLAW), Latin American Womyn’s Organization (LAWO), and Latino Student Council (LSC). She has an impressive academic trajectory and list of accomplishments. A non-traditional, first-generation student and single parent, Ms. Carhuaricra embodies resilience as well as the kind of passion for critical inquiry that we aim to champion among students in the department. Faculty in LCS speak highly of her student work and she is a coveted speaker at various events across campus. Ms. Carhuaricra will begin graduate studies in Education at Rutgers University, New Brunswick in Fall 2025.
The leadership award was presented at the LCS graduation celebration on May 7th. Congratulations Ms. Carhuaricra on this recognition and your graduation!