Ph.D. Candidate Cydney Y. Caradonna Awarded Prestigious AAHHE Fellowship
The College of Education is proud to announce that Cydney Y. Caradonna, a third-year
Ph.D. student in Educational Leadership & Policy, has been awarded the highly competitive
2025 American Association of Hispanics in Higher Education (AAHHE) Graduate Student
Fellowship.
The AAHHE Graduate Student Fellowship Program (GSFP) aims to prepare Latina/o/x doctoral scholars for successful academic careers. The program focuses on:
- Providing strategies to help scholars achieve their educational and professional goals
- Offering constructive feedback on fellows’ research
- Building a community and network among Latina/o/x scholars
Caradonna is one of only 12 fellows selected nationwide for 2025. She will participate in the AAHHE Annual Conference and engage in fellowship programming, including bi-monthly webinars, throughout the academic year.
"Applying to and being accepted into the AAHHE GSFP has been a goal of mine since the beginning of my graduate career," said Caradonna. "Specifically though, I am proud to become part of AAHHE’s legacy during a time where the graduate student leadership are troubling ideas of Latinidad among our community and pushing back on painful traditions that haven’t made room for Black and Queer comunidad. I am grateful for the familia of scholars waiting for me at AAHHE."
Dr. Laurence Parker, Chair of Educational Leadership & Policy, praised Caradonna’s achievements: “Cydney has taken classes and seminars with me, and I have found her work to be exciting and definitely worthy of this award. The College of Education should be proud of her accomplishments as an emerging scholar.”
Originally from California’s Bay Area, Caradonna is a queer Latinx scholar, activist, and poet. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Spanish from the University of California, Merced, and a master’s degree in Higher Education Administration and Leadership from California State University, Fresno. Her research explores the systems and potential ruptures that inform a de/carceral ethos for higher education.
Caradonna’s poetry, which intersects with her academic work, addresses experiences of marginalization and the ways in which these systems can be challenged. Her publications and performances highlight her lived experiences at the intersection of her Queer and Latinx identities.
In addition to her fellowship responsibilities, Caradonna serves as the Graduate Research Assistant for the Research Collaborative on Higher Education in Prison and supports the Utah Prison Education Project. She is also a founding member and current Graduate Fellow for the Black Feminist Eco Lab in the School of Cultural and Social Transformation at the University of Utah.
Congratulations to Cydney Y. Caradonna on this remarkable achievement!