National Hispanic Institute Selects USD as College of the Year Award Recipient

The University of San Diego has been named the College of the Year Award recipient by the National Hispanic Institute at its annual flagship conference event, Celebraciòn, taking place Nov. 16-19 in San Marcos, Texas.

The award honors USD, which has hosted the California Lorenzo de Zavala (LDZ) Youth Legislative Session, one of NHI’s fastest-growing programs, each summer since 2014.

Approximately 150-200 high school-age students in 10th and 11th grade come to USD, which is one of six host sites for the LDZ, to learn how to navigate, manage and create large organizations by taking charge of their own youth government and propose future community policies and projects. Students from over 25 states and four Latin American nations have participated in this leadership game of vision, influence and construction of communities of the future.

A Catholic university founded in 1949, USD was selected by NHI and deemed a good fit for several reasons, including its mission, in which it is “committed to advancing academic excellence, expanding liberal and professional knowledge, creating a diverse and inclusive community and preparing leaders who are dedicated to ethical conduct and compassionate service.”

“As we learned more about NHI and what they stood for, we knew it was a great fit for USD and our mission and values,” said Stephen Pultz, USD’s Assistant Vice President for Enrollment Management, who is in Texas to represent USD and receive the award. “It’s great to be able to support organizations that are like-minded, around this idea of developing community leaders, of bringing talented high school students committed to community social entrepreneurship.”

Other awards as part of NHI’s Celebraciòn are for high school of the year, college students of the years, school district of the year and counselor of the year.

— Compiled by USD News Center