Student Earns Top CSU Award
The award is presented annually to one student from each of the CSU system's 23 campuses.
A Cal Poly biology student studying to become a medical practitioner who helps low-income minority groups gain better access to health care has received a 2023 California State University Trustees’ Scholar Award for Outstanding Achievement.
The awards are presented annually to one student from each of the CSU system’s 23 campuses. Like her counterparts throughout the state, Christina Benitez Ruiz, a junior from Bakersfield, California, was selected for superior academic performance, personal accomplishments, community service and financial need.
The 20-year-old will receive a $7,000 scholarship as one of the four William Randolph Hearst Scholars. She and the other 22 awardees were publicly recognized Sept. 12 at the CSU Board of Trustees meeting in Long Beach.
“The life stories of these extraordinary students who have triumphed over personal hardships to stand among the university system’s most distinguished scholars are a testament to the transformative power of public higher education,” said CSU Interim Chancellor Jolene Koester. “Through donor support, the CSU is able to provide students who have faced educational barriers the opportunity to pursue a college degree and apply their life experiences and classroom knowledge to elevate their communities and our great state.”