Rising Senior Becomes Third Beinecke Scholar in Rutgers History

The prestigious national honor supports students immediately after college through graduate school

Rigo Salvatierra, 20, is always looking for a way to help others. Before he came to Rutgers, he considered working in the biosciences to find a cure for dementia because he thought it was the most impactful career he could pursue. 

Then people started marching in the streets during the pandemic fighting for social justice, which changed Salvatierra’s perspective.

“I started looking at everything that was happening around us and I became really interested in politics,” said Salvatierra, a rising senior double-majoring in political science and Latino and Caribbean studies with a minor in sociology in the Rutgers-New Brunswick School of Arts and Sciences.  

Salvatierra, who is also a student in the Honors College, was recently named a Beinecke Scholar. He is one of only 20 students nationwide – and only the third Rutgers student ever – to receive the award created to help students advance their education.

The program provides each scholar $5,000 immediately prior to entering graduate school and another $30,000 while attending graduate school.  

Salvatierra plans to study border politics and global migration after graduation. His goal is to advocate for immigration policy reform. 

"Our office is incredibly proud of Rigo and deeply grateful to the faculty and staff who have mentored and encouraged him throughout his journey as a scholar and advocate,” said Raffaella Fusco, assistant director in the Office of Distinguished Fellowships. “Rigo is well-suited for a research career in political science, and the Beinecke Scholarship is a transformative step in helping him achieve that goal." 

When he came to Rutgers in the fall of 2022, Salvatierra thought majoring in political science meant learning how governments work.  

“Then I got more into it, I was like, ‘Oh, it's actually a whole science and there are so many different areas of it,’” he said. “There's so much more to it than politics. I took my own route, specifically looking at international relations. Rutgers broadened my horizons of what it could be.” 

Salvatierra has accumulated an impressive resume of academic achievements. He served as a research assistant under Kenneth Sebastián León, an associate professor of Latino and Caribbean Studies, looking into the meatpacking industry, investigating the impact of food corporations on immigration and labor policies.  

In his sophomore year, Salvatierra was selected for the Lloyd C. Gardner Fellowship, a highly competitive year-long program that gives undergraduates the opportunity to work on a research project focused on civics. Under the tutelage of Michael Kenwick, an assistant professor of political science, Salvatierra studied the impact of the Migration Protection Protocols (MPP) – commonly known as the “remain in Mexico” policy. The policy requires certain asylum seekers to stay in Mexico while their immigration court proceedings are pending. Salvatierra presented his findings last month at the Gardner Research Conference. 

For his senior honors project, he is looking at the impact of religion and religious institutions on migrants’ journeys. 

Salvatierra is engaged in his community, working as a peer mentor on campus and volunteering outside campus reading to children. As a learning assistant in Christine Cahill’s course on political science research methods, for example, he learned how to break down complex ideas and make them more accessible to a broader audience. He is also an sustainability ambassador in the Rutgers Office of Climate Action, working toward promoting a culture of sustainability on campus.

“When you first meet Rigo, you cannot help but notice his commitment and concern for other human beings,” Anne Wallen, director of Office of Distinguished Fellowships, wrote in the letter nominating him for Beinecke. “Our committee was in awe over how Rigo balances his academic pursuits with activities that bring him joy and creative expression.”

Salvatierra is eyeing three schools after graduating next year – Brown; Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri; or University of Pennsylvania – because he says they have faculty members who specialize in border and immigration studies.

“I’m interested in immigration, like, why people immigrate and how their lives are kind of forever changed when they come to a different country,” he said. “And depending on the context in which they immigrate, the positive or negative reception that they can receive.”

His family history influenced his interest in studying immigration and border policies. His parents emigrated from Guatemala decades ago with the hope for a better life in America. They were able to achieve that, starting and running a small business.

Salvatierra, the second of five siblings, is the first in his family to go to college.

“I've always loved school,” Salvatierra said. “Ever since I was a little kid, my dad tried to put me in soccer practice, and I'd rather do homework. I’d always rather be at the library reading – just for fun – than be outside playing.”

It took a lot of strategic planning and part-time jobs, but Salvatierra will graduate from Rutgers next year debt-free. The Beinecke Scholarship will ease his and his family's concerns over financing the next round of his education journey.

“I'm the product of my parents’ hard work, but also their foresight, because I've benefited so much from the American education system,” Salvatierra said. “I just love it so much and I love learning, and I wouldn't have had that if I was in Guatemala.”