Philosophy and Spanish major Michelle Cordova (class of 2028) was selected as a spring 2026 Humanities in Action scholar by We CU and the Humanities Research Institute.
The Humanities in Action program aims to remove some of the financial barriers that prevent undergraduate humanities students from taking advantage of community engagement opportunities. Selected scholars are matched—through the Community Learning Lab in the School of Social Work—with a community partner to address a vital area of need in the Champaign-Urbana community. The students also attend workshops to strengthen their community partnerships and build connections with like-minded peers.
Cordova, who is on a a pre-law track, serves as co-enrichment coordinator for Latinx in Law and is also co-vice president of education for I-CAUSE (Illinois Coalition Assisting Undocumented Students' Education). During the Fall 2025 semester, she served as a volunteer at the Refugee Center in Champaign.
Her cultural background as a first-generation Mexican-American and daughter of an immigrant drives her passion for social justice. In the summer of 2025, she was a pro bono intern at a Chicago-based law firm, where she saw firsthand how complex the criminal justice system can be. Since then, she's become passionate about advocating for incarcerated individuals and learning how criminal justice reform can reduce crime and prevent mass incarceration. She is equally passionate about immigration reform and expanding access to justice for immigrant and undocumented communities. After seeing the impact of immigration policies in her own life and community, she hopes to use her future legal career to support both immigrant families and people affected by the criminal justice system.