Born to a Dominican family, Baruch College graduate Miguel Guzman (’11) spent much of his childhood in that economically challenged country and later lived in a low-income Brooklyn neighborhood with below-average public schools. Yet this combination of experiences turned out to be exactly what set him on the path he’s now on. Having worked with his father in construction for a year after high school, Guzman decided to obtain a college degree. His goal: “To educate myself about the social, political, and economic issues faced by disadvantaged communities, especially in Latin America.” The first in his family to earn a college degree, Guzman is continuing to pursue his goal thanks to a Fulbright Research Grant.
Guzman’s ambition to one day work in Latin America and promote social justice and economic growth was key to his being named a Fulbright Grant recipient. With the financial support of the 2011–12 grant, he is studying the effects of a Peruvian initiative to alleviate poverty. Guzman is working closely with the Institute of Peruvian Studies in Lima as well as the Juntos organization, which developed the antipoverty plan that is the subject of his research. “I hope my research will help determine the effectiveness of this social program, which aims to end the cycle of poverty that traps a large segment of women and children in Peru,” he says. “I look forward to learning more so that I can one day become an agent of positive change.”
In recognition of his outstanding achievement, Guzman was also included on CUNY’s 2011 “All-Star Team” (in its third year, the All-Star Team honors a small group of highly accomplished students from across CUNY’s campuses). CUNY Chancellor and former Baruch College president Matthew Goldstein proudly says of the group, “Coached by our world-class faculty, CUNY students continue to win the nation’s most prestigious awards.”
—Adrienne Preuss (’07)