Santa Clara University

When Jacklyn Alonzo Heredia ’26 first began her college search, she thought she needed to leave home to discover who she was.

Instead, she found that some of the most transformative growth can happen where your roots already run deep.

A San Jose native, Heredia chose Santa Clara University after a Preview Day conversation with the president of the Ballet Folklórico club helped her see that she wouldn't have to choose between honoring her culture and pursuing her ambitions. At Santa Clara, she found a community where she could do both.

Four years later, she leaves as a triple major, director of the Multicultural Center, and a leader who has helped countless students find a sense of belonging on campus. After graduation, she will begin work at a local immigration nonprofit, taking the next step toward her long-term goal of earning a Ph.D. and helping shape immigration reform.

How Jacklyn Alonzo Heredia ’26 turned four years at Santa Clara into a legacy This triple-major, director of the Multicultural Center, and tireless community advocate is just getting started.

A'Zhae Turay '26 arrived at Santa Clara University ready to focus on engineering. Music was something he planned to leave behind.

He had spent his childhood studying classical piano and trombone, performing in school bands and, at 16, on national television. College was for something new.

His first week on campus, he found himself in the music building anyway, looking for a place to practice. He found room 203, a studio with two baby grand pianos and a view toward Franklin Street. Music professor Teresa McCollough heard him playing from across the hall, knocked on the door, and encouraged him to get involved. Turay chose to pursue both: engineering and music.

He won the Santa Clara University Symphony Orchestra Concerto and Aria Competition twice. He competed on the Design Build Vertical Flight team, helping design an electric aircraft for wildfire response. And through Santa Clara University's 4+1 program, he's earning both a bachelor's in mechanical engineering and a master's in aerospace engineering.

"I've become somebody who can say, this is who I am—and no matter what or who might try to sway me off that path, I won't budge," Turay says. "I've come to really understand that you can be a whole person and pursue different interests."

An engineering and music major finds perfect harmony on stage and in the lab A’Zhae Turay ’26 arrived at Santa Clara with one focus: engineering. What he discovered was a community that encouraged him to pursue all his passions.

When Audrey Schroeder ’26 came to Santa Clara University, she was looking for a community that would help her grow and find her purpose. She found that and more.

This fall, the finance major will begin her career at Apple as an analyst in the company's Finance Development Program, rotating through teams in retail, treasury, and worldwide sales.

Audrey credits much of her success to the support she received from Santa Clara University Leavey School of Business and the Bronco network. Now, Audrey hopes to give future Broncos the same guidance that helped launch her career.

‘Santa Clara has given me the confidence to take risks and bet on myself’ The guidance Audrey Schroeder ’26 received at Santa Clara University helped her land an analyst role at Apple. Now, she hopes to offer future Broncos that same support.

The heart of the Bronco community is in the way we care for each other, especially when it matters most. ❤️

See the first comment for a list of wellness resources available for current students and employees.

Can music help children cope with the emotional challenges of medical treatment? Can augmented reality transform the way we tell stories?

These are just two of the questions explored by six Santa Clara University's Center for the Arts and Humanities (CAH) fellows.

At this year's CAH Showcase, students presented interdisciplinary research projects spanning music therapy, emerging technology, literature, culture, and human experience. Through the CAH Fellows Program, students and faculty receive support to pursue innovative research and creative work that crosses traditional academic boundaries.

Biology major Ava Garcia ’28 examined how music therapy could support pediatric patients, while other fellows explored non-Western perspectives on mourning, overlooked women writers, and new approaches to storytelling.

‘Broadening the horizons of what arts and humanities work looks like’ Six Santa Clara student fellows presented interdisciplinary research at this year’s Center for the Arts and Humanities showcase, including projects on music therapy and augmented-reality based storytelling.

Barbara Chung ’26, a Flex J.D. student at Santa Clara Law, turned a class assignment into a poetry chapbook inspired by Plyler v. Doe, the landmark Supreme Court case protecting immigrant children’s right to public education.

Her work, Merit and Grace, explores the human stories behind legal systems and educational access. All proceeds from the collection support Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, continuing the fight for educational equity and civil rights.

A law student’s poetry collection makes the case for immigrant children’s rights Inspired by her love of English, Flex J.D. student Barbara Chung ’26 turned a class assignment into an act of advocacy.

For Gabrielle Pitre ’26, undergraduate research became a journey through generations of Black Catholic history that uncovered a surprising ancestral connection to Pope Leo XIV.

Through a year-long Hackworth Fellowship at Santa Clara University, Gabrielle examined church archives, census records, museum collections, and family stories. Her work explores how Black Catholics reconcile their racial and religious identities while tracing her own Catholic Creole ancestry.

While her findings were later published in America, the nation’s largest Jesuit publication, Gabrielle notes that her personal growth was shaped just as much by the friendships, mentorship, and community she found at Santa Clara. After graduation, she plans to continue studying the intersections of race and politics in graduate school.

How a Hackworth Fellowship helped one senior trace her faith and family to a surprising connection to Pope Leo XIV Political science and ethnic studies major Gabrielle Pitre ’26 didn’t expect to find herself in the historical record, but that’s exactly what happened.

For Santa Clara University's 2026 valedictorian and management major Charles Silver ’26, finding community changed everything.

As a transfer student, Charles wasn't immediately sure where he fit in. Through experiences like Into the Wild, Santa Clara's outdoor adventure club, he found a welcoming community that transformed his college experience and shaped his approach to leadership.

That experience inspired a passion for community building that he hopes to carry into a career in real estate investment and entrepreneurship. After graduation, Charles plans to return to Rhode Island to work in property management before embarking on a year-long adventure in Australia.

Join us in congratulating Charles and the entire Class of 2026. 🎓❤️

Valedictorian Charles Silver ’26 on building a better world by building community The business management major felt embraced and cared for as a transfer student. He wants to pay that forward.