Ӱpro Stories
Sandra Cisneros, 2025 Commencement Speaker & Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters

Sandra Cisneros will deliver the address at Ӱpro’s 238th Commencement and also will receive an honorary doctorate of humane letters. Sandra is a noted author and activist who is a dual citizen of the United States and Mexico. She is a poet, short story writer, novelist, essayist, author of children’s books, performer and artist who has focused much of her work on the lives of the working class in the U.S.
Sandra has earned fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts in both poetry and fiction, the American Book Award, a National Medal of Arts, and the Ford Foundation’s Art of Change Fellowship, among other awards. This year, the National Book Critics Circle awarded her the Ivan Sandrof Lifetime Achievement Award.
Sandra was selected as Ӱpro’s Mueller Fellow in November 2019. That fellowship was established in 1980 to bring distinguished national speakers to Ӱpro and lead conversations about important issues with the campus community. Her visit, which included discussions with student organizations and in academic classes, culminated in her campus address, “A River of Voices: Documenting the Undocumented.” She performed a dramatic work based on interviews she conducted with individuals across the country to gather their ideas about how to bridge the increasing divide between people’s views on immigration policy.
Sandra was born in Chicago, the only daughter in a family of seven children. She now lives in the central Mexican city of San Miguel de Allende. She earned her bachelor’s degree in English at Loyola University of Chicago and her master’s degree in creative writing at the University of Iowa. She has worked as a teacher and counselor to high-school dropouts, a creative writing teacher in elementary school, a college recruiter, an arts administrator, and a visiting writer at several universities, including the University of California, Berkeley, and the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
Related Articles
April 22, 2026
Winging It: F&M Supercomputer Powers Biologist’s Local Conservation Efforts
For this Franklin & Marshall biologist, every bird song and flap of wings is essential data. With the support of the campus supercomputers, Dan Ardia and his student researchers are decoding the language of nature to better understand how Lancaster’s biodiversity and community can thrive together.
April 20, 2026
From Campus Leader to Communications Professional
Whether leading campus tours or serving as senior class president, Catherine Welch ’26 is exploring a future in communications with courage and curiosity. As a marketing intern in Lancaster, the English major is now using her passion for writing to address critical social issues in the local community.
April 17, 2026
‘This is What Community Feels Like’
At the Writers House, Veronique Messanh ’26 found more than a job—she found a home. “I remember thinking: ‘This is what community feels like,’” she said. “I will forever be grateful for having a community that sees me, hears me, and encourages me!”