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LPPI celebrates student accomplishments at end-of-year celebration

Sophia Pu
Students working with LPPI smile with Scrolls of Recognition from the California State Assembly. Many are wearing blue graduation stoles.
Students working with LPPI smile with Scrolls of Recognition from the California State Assembly at the End of Year Celebration.

LPPI celebrated the 2025-26 policy fellows, field fellows, student workers, volunteers, and graduating class. This year’s cohort included a total of 28 students, whose contributions to the institute spanned the academic year.

Hotel Angeleno’s poolside was buzzing with chatter and mariachi music as attendees – including LPPI staff, LPPI Advisory Board member Xochitl Castañeda, and graduating students’ loved ones – mingled and enjoyed food and drinks. Shimmering decorations and graduating students’ sashes blew in the wind as they took pictures with friends, family, colleagues, and partners.

LPPI deputy director Lila Burgos’ keynote speech commemorated the impact students have made through their work at LPPI. Students have contributed to 87 research publications, engaged over 100 legislators, and organized several convenings in the past year.

“We are in a period of time of misinformation and dehumanizing narratives about Latinos, communities of color, and so many others in this country,” Burgos said. “Representation of our communities as leaders, innovators, and builders of a better future remains less than it is in real life, but that is exactly who you are as graduates of UCLA. Trust your intuition about who you are and all that you’ve learned.”

Jesus Angel Rodriguez, a graduating leadership fellow, shared about the inspiration Latinos in higher education gave him, from his childhood in the foster care system to being a graduating student now, in his speech.

Miriam Torres Sanchez, a graduating research fellow, reflected in her speech on the support she found at LPPI as a new mother and the skills she gained using her lived experiences to inform research and policy.

“It is so important to have spaces like LPPI – to be around people who look like you, who guide you in all aspects of your life,” Torres Sanchez said.

Policy fellows and student workers received a certificate of completion from LPPI and a Scroll of Recognition from California Assemblymember Celeste Rodriguez. Graduating students also received an LPPI stole.

The night rounded out with friends, family, colleagues, and supervisors taking pictures and mingling together.

“We are a story of resilience, perseverance, and accomplishment,” Angel Rodriguez said. “We studied long nights for our degrees, made meaningful friends along the way, created life long memories here, and attended countless LPPI zoom meetings – all while being able to serve our comunidad.”