McNair Scholars Program – SMU Human Rights Program

JENNIFER TORRES ‘16, ‘19

Educational Background:
Southern Methodist University: BA in Human Rights, Public Policy (2016); MA in Dispute Resolution and Conflict Management (2019)

SMU Accomplishments: Within the SMU Human Rights Program, Jenny served as a Student Leadership Initiative: Costa Rica Research in Action member. At SMU, she was also involved with the Women and LGBT Center, Sigma Lambda Gamma, Multicultural Greek Council, and College Hispanic American Students. Her honors include the SMU McNair Scholars Program, SMU Engaged Learning Fellowship, and SMU Cary M. Maguire Center for Ethics and Public Responsibility Public Service Fellowship. For her leadership across campus, Jenny received the Emmie V. Baine Legacy Award and A. Kenneth Pye Outstanding Greek Leader Award.

Postbaccalaureate Career: After graduating, Jenny worked as Program Specialist for SMU College Access Programs from 2016-2021. She started a new position in 2021 as Program Associate of the Texas College Access Network (TxCAN) within the Communities Foundation of Texas’s Educate Texas initiative. Jenny says she is “So happy to be continuing my work in college access on a system’s level across the state.” She also volunteers as a translator for the Human Rights Initiative of North Texas (HRI). In 2019, she won the Friends of UB & UBMS Award.

Learn more about Jenny’s post-graduation journey through the following links:

Updated December 2021