Each year, the Dean of Students recognizes graduating seniors who, through their involvement on- and off-campus, embody Oxy’s four pillars of Equity, Excellence, Community and Service.
The Dean’s Award winners are selected by Dean of Students Vivian Garay Santiago in consultation with others at the College, and the award recognizes a select number of exceptional seniors who, through their activities, have been the embodiment of the College’s four cornerstones of Equity, Excellence, Community, and Service. It's among the most prestigious awards that a student can receive at the College regarding leadership and involvement outside of the classroom.
The College recognizes these exceptional undergraduates for their passion, dedication, hard work and commitment to the Oxy community and beyond. This year, eight winners were selected from the Class of 2026, and two of them are Obama Scholars:
Liliana Madrid Larrañaga: Excellence Award
Liliana Madrid Larrañaga
Major: Kinesiology minor: public health
Hometown: Albuquerque, NM
As a woman of color with profound hearing loss, Liliana is passionate about improving health equity and strives to provide for those underrepresented in healthcare. She has worked closely with the Albuquerque Student Health Advisory Council and the New Mexico Alliance for School-Based Health Care for many years to identify and address barriers to accessing healthcare in low-income and rural areas across New Mexico.
At Oxy, Liliana has interned with Essential Access Health, where she was certified as a family planning health worker, providing equitable reproductive health care to her community. On campus, she is part of the Peer Power Program (PPP) and has worked with Emmons Wellness Center to provide free sexual health and harm reduction information as well as materials such as condoms, Narcan, and fentanyl test strips to all students. She is also a residential advisor, president of Newman Catholics on campus, and a Hispanic Scholarship Fund Scholar. She plans to pursue a career as a midwife and advocate for the rights of Indigenous women and others underrepresented in rural New Mexico.
Jhozibel Medina Gonzalez: Service Award
Jhozibel Medina Gonzalez
Major: Economics
Hometown: Los Angeles, CA
Jhozibel grew up in a predominantly immigrant working-class community in Los Angeles, hence her deep commitment to making legal aid and resources accessible to undocumented immigrants and immigrant youth.
On campus, Jhozibel was an administrative coordinator for the Neighborhood Partnership Program. There she worked to plan events that brought students and parents from partner LAUSD schools to Oxy’s campus, such as College and Career Access Day, as well as encouraging first-generation college students to pursue higher education. Jhozibel was also a labor liaison on the Diversity and Equity Board (DEB), a branch of student government. Through DEB, she worked closely with Campus Dining and Facilities Management to ensure workers on campus felt their needs were heard and their essential hard work was appreciated. Specifically, Jhozibel worked to cater special lunches, put together care packages, and build close connections with workers on campus.
Off campus, Jhozibel has continued her advocacy work for the immigrant community of L.A. As an intern at CHIRLA, Jhozibel assisted the legal staff in translating evidentiary documents and client-attorney meetings, where she witnessed the difficulties of navigating the legal system with a language barrier in place. At Esperanza Immigrant Rights Project, working alongside social workers, Jhozibel developed English language curriculum and led workshops to meet the need for remote community spaces during a time of heightened ICE activity. Post-graduation, Jhozibel plans to attend law school and become a legal resource and political advocate for her community of immigrants.
Read the full article in the Oxy.edu Newsroom