Student Spotlight: Roberto Orozco

Roberto Orozco is a current full-time Ph.D. Higher Education student in the GSE’s Higher Education Program. Furthermore, Orozco serves as a Graduate Assistant for the Division of Enrollment Management.

With recently being selected as a 2020 Graduate Fellow of the American Association of Hispanics in Higher Education (AAHHE), Orozco has certainly made his mark at the Rutgers Graduate School of Education.

Orozco’s attraction to GSE’s program is its distinguished faculty of the Ph.D. and Higher Education program, but he’s also particularly interested in student activism around queer and Latinx students. For Orozco, the most enriching experience at GSE is interacting with other students, faculty, and staff as it also allows him to take part in occasional academic and professional opportunities.

Originally from Sioux City, Iowa, Orozco received his undergraduate degree at Iowa State University majoring in Marketing and International Business. In addition, he received another bachelor’s in Psychology. Following that, he received a master’s degree at Florida State University in Higher Education. 

As someone who grappled with the reality of being one of the few students of color and the only Latino male in the program, Orozco receiving the 2020 Graduate Fellow of the AAHHE was a way of connecting with a community outside of Rutgers and contributing to its future building. Furthermore, the AAHHE supports his preparations for the job search process and hopefully earning himself a tenured position in Higher Education. With his AAHHE selection, Orozco can now disseminate his research regarding queer and Latinx student activists at the International Conference, in a predominantly Latinx setting as it will also fortify his intimacy with the research.

To destress, Orozco enjoys traveling (preferably international), traveling back to his hometown of Iowa, and going to conferences as the interaction of peers and mentors serves as an intellectual rejuvenation.