Eleven students in the University of Notre Dame’s Class of 2026 graduated on Sunday with a minor in civil and human rights.
The minor, administered by the Klau Institute for Civil and Human Rights as part of the Keough School of Global Affairs, attracts students from many different interests. This year’s graduating minors had majors as diverse as finance, history, philosophy, political science, and sociology.
Bella Vasquez said she came to Notre Dame knowing that she cared about civil and human rights, but her experiences with the Klau Institute pushed her to engage with those issues with deeper purpose and discipline.
“When people hear ‘civil and human rights,’ they often think of big ideas, landmark cases, or distant injustices. What Klau taught me is that this work is much quieter, and much closer to home. It is in conversations, in relationships, and in the moments when someone chooses to care a little more than they are required to,” said Vasquez, a political science major.
She added that growing up as a Mexican-American with Native roots, she understood that laws and rights are not neutral. They shape who is protected, who is heard, and who is overlooked. “The civil and human rights minor gave me the language and the framework to make sense of that,” she said, “but more importantly, it pushed me to think about what responsibility comes with that understanding.”
In addition to the minor, Vasquez was also involved with the Klau Institute as a Melsheimer Fellow — a two-year experiential learning program. Through the fellowship, Vasquez volunteered last year at One More Citizen, helping South Bend residents prepare for the U.S. naturalization exam, and this year worked at Notre Dame Law School’s Exoneration Justice Clinic, where she assisted in the clinic’s Program for the Defense of Mexican Nationals.
Vasquez will continue to work at the Exoneration Justice Clinic as a member of the clinic’s staff after graduation.
“I do not think this program has made me certain about everything. If anything, it has made me more aware of how much I do not know. But it has made me more careful, more thoughtful, and more committed to doing this work in a way that is grounded in both rigor and empathy,” she said. “So if I had to say what Klau has meant to me, I would say this: It taught me that understanding injustice is not enough. You have to decide what you are willing to do about it and be willing to stay in the work, even when it is difficult.”
For Natalia Rodriguez, the Minor in Civil and Human Rights felt like a culmination of her passions.
“I wanted to learn how to put into practice the care and empathy that I already felt for others. I wanted to learn how to intentionally explore what it means to help others feel seen, valued, and dignified,” she said. “I was also interested in learning about other communities that I have not been in close contact with, especially as I wanted to understand how civil and human rights can be threatened or preserved depending on varying individual contexts.”
Rodriguez, a political science major who completed a supplementary major in Latino studies, will participate in City Year after graduation. The year-long AmeriCorps program will place her at a school in the Boston area, where she will help in the classroom and with after-school programming. She will also prepare to go to law school during the year.
“My education in civil and human rights has provided a grounding and compassionate perspective for which to view the world,” Rodriguez said.
“In the future, I hope to practice law, more specifically to represent and protect the rights of those our society has relegated to the margins. Because of my education in civil and human rights, I have become a more confident advocate, especially for those whose ethnic, racial, and cultural background and accessibility needs have influenced their access to certain rights and sense of empowerment,” she said. “For this reason, I’m really excited to put this informed, moral framework into practice during my next step, getting my hands around the issues that impact educational equity for Boston’s diverse communities.”
Learn more about the Minor in Civil and Human Rights.