College of Humanities Student Awards 2025

Meet the student awardees of the graduating Class of 2025! Three students are selected from a slate of exceptional student nominees from departments and programs across the college. The College of Humanities congratulates Tomas, Jasmine, and Muskan, as well as all of the graduating students this year.

Excellence in Humanities: Tomas Cruz Villalvazo

Tomas is graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degrees in Spanish and Political Science. Tomas chose to study Spanish, noting that, “I’ve always wanted to pursue a degree in Spanish, especially to continue developing my academic and professional Spanish. I was glad that I made that decision because from then on, I began to discover the amazing courses and professors who helped me discover my passion for literature, Latin American and Spain studies, and ultimately helped me gain a greater appreciation in the humanities.”

During his time in the College of Humanities, Tomas has served on the board of the Latinx Student Union, worked as a legislative intern in the Utah House of Representatives for Minority Leader Angela Romero, as a program instructor in afterschool programs, a translator for legal clinics, student-parent outreach efforts, and clean air initiatives.

Professor Jacqueline Sheean writes, “In all this, Tomas is a model humanities major. He is a deeply critical, ethical, and logical thinker, and an excellent multi-lingual and culturally sensitive communicator. Clearly, he is already putting these humanistic skills to use to serve our campus and local communities, and I expect his influence and impact will only continue to grow in the future.”

After graduation, Tomas plans to attend the University of Utah as a graduate student in the Master of Arts in Spanish program. He hopes to use his education to pursue community-based programming in Spanish to make education more accessible in the local community and eventually work in the public sector in public administration or law.

Outstanding Senior Award: Jasmine Aguilar Lopez

Jasmine is graduating with an Honors Bachelor of Science degree in Communication, with an emphasis in Science, Health, Environment, and Risk and an Honors Bachelor of Science in Health, Society, and Policy. She is also completing minors in Health, Medical Humanities, and Psychology as well as certificates in Health Communication and Quantitative Research Analysis in Social Science. Jasmine will continue to pursue her interest in public health inequities with Pfizer’s 6-year Breakthrough Fellowship Program, which includes two years of hands-on work experience and a fully funded master’s program, before pursuing her PhD.

A first-generation college student, Jasmine initially came to the U for its affordability and proximity to home and family. She quickly realized that she wanted to fully engage in campus life to get the most out of her college experience, saying “The people I encountered offered so much insight and wanted to see me succeed, which I didn’t see in myself.”

That decision changed the course of her education over the next three years. During her time in the College of Humanities, Jasmine has won scholarships, completed multiple internships, engaged in research and co-authored two articles, studied abroad in Ghana, attended and presented at conferences, served in numerous volunteer capacities with student organizations, and was named a Wilkes Scholar, just to name a few.
Reflecting on her undergraduate career, Jasmine writes, “All these experiences have built my character and bring me joy every time I look back on them. Within all the twists and turns of shifting from a premed focus to a more public health one, I am grateful for my professors…and other support systems…without them, I don’t know what I would have done to make sure that my college experience was successful.” 

Exemplary Undergraduate and Convocation Speaker: Muskan Walia

Muskan is graduating with a Bachelors degree in Philosophy and Mathematics, which has allowed her to pursue her interest in building mathematical models to address environmental issues and public health.

Her journey to this point began after school when she was working in her parents’ pizza shop. A chance encounter with a customer with a big messy bun, sweatpants, and an absurd pizza request led to a conversation about Muskan’s uncertainty about the future. The customer, who had dropped out of law school to take care of her sick father, soon became part of Muskan’s support system, helping her with the FAFSA, the Common App, admissions essays, and a connection to a U of U admissions counselor. The admissions counselor gave Muskan and her family such dedicated support, that, as she says, “I realized that this generosity and care was very unique to the U, a reflection of the culture of support, community, and genuine investment in students. I felt like I belonged and was taken care of before I had even stepped on campus and it’s the same spirit I’ve experienced throughout my time here.”

Muskan was initially a mathematics major, but she was not comfortable studying “math in a vacuum.” When an academic advisor recommended a philosophy of science class, she found the right fit for the social issues she wanted to work on. She says, “I realized that my math classes grounded me when I grappled with big questions that came up in philosophy, and my philosophy courses gave purpose to the quantitative methodology I learned in my math classes.” During her time as a student, Muskan studied abroad in Brazil through a FLAS Fellowship, became active in her community, ran for City Council, served as the only student representative on the Utah Board of Higher Education, and worked for the Harvard Kennedy School’s Computational Policy Lab as a researcher.

Professor Natalia Washington says, “Muskan is a prime example of how philosophy majors are best equipped to face our challenging futures.” Reflecting on her education at the University of Utah, Muskan credits faculty members with supporting and encouraging her. “Because of them, I found myself ahead in my education, more confident, and able to tackle more complex questions as the years have gone on. They are the ones that have built my capacity as a researcher and student and provided a safe place for me to learn, make mistakes, stumble through ideas, and succeed.”

After graduation, Muskan will be starting her PhD in Computational Public Policy at Harvard and NYU, developing mathematical models that investigate dynamics of complex systems to design policy interventions. Her goal is to “be a leader of a multi-disciplinary research team, bridge the academic-practitioner divide, and shift the narrative of mathematics.”