MSU Sociology undergraduate honored for community work

March 19, 2026 - Karessa Weir

MSU Sociology junior Roberto “Marcos” Garcia is one of only four students nationwide to earn the Student Leadership Award for his community impact.   

Garcia, who is double majoring in English and Sociology, received Campus Compact’s Student Leadership Award. 
The award recognizes his leadership, community impact, and commitment to learning from and deeply engaging with communities. 

"Roberto has demonstrated an unwavering commitment to public service, consistently translating his values into meaningful action that benefits both campus and community," wrote MSU’s Center for Community Engaged Learning executive director Renee Miller Zientek in a letter supporting Garcia’s nomination. "He exemplifies the ideals of public service and possesses the determination, intellect, and compassion to create meaningful, lasting change." 

A Social Science Scholar, Garcia is a member of the 2025-26 Community Engagement Scholars Program (CESP), an initiative of CCEL and the Office of the President. Through this program, he works with the Tenant Resource Center to promote housing access in Lansing. Garcia previously served in the program’s 2023-24 cohort, during which he partnered with the Allen Neighborhood Center in Lansing to help expand youth programming. He has also served as a team leader for CCEL’s Alternative Spring Breaks, guiding peers through weeklong service projects, and volunteered with fellow Spartans on Days of Service. 

He has also earned the 2023 and 2024 Spartan Volunteer Service Awards. 

"I have spent many hours with Marcos as a teacher and as a mentor for his research and community-focused internships. Over this time, I have come to hold him in the very highest regard as a student, a person, and a future professor of Sociology with expertise in the ethnographic study of homelessness,” said Social Science Scholars Director Dr. John Waller. “Marcos has all the intellectual ability, enthusiasm for research, and drive that he will need to flourish as a doctoral student and as an academic. He also has the varieties of personal experience that will allow him to pursue research as a vocation.” 

In September 2025, Garcia was named a 2025-2026 Newman Civic Fellow by Campus Compact. This fellowship provides students with opportunities for learning, networking, and collaborating to effectively create positive change in their community.  

“Roberto is a dedicated, first-generation student fostering collaborations across perspectives,” said MSU President Kevin M. Guskiewicz, Ph.D. “His strong leadership skills will undoubtedly contribute to his success throughout the fellowship, and I look forward to seeing how his experience will create positive impacts for Michigan State and the broader community.” 

Carla A. Pfeffer, Chair of the Department of Sociology, noted: “Performing impactful engagement is one of the core missions of the Department of Sociology here at MSU. Our students and faculty exemplify the very best in engaged leadership and excellence. Congratulations to Marcos for winning this very impressive national award and for demonstrating so clearly the vital and necessary work that sociologists do to positively impact their communities each and every day.” 

Born and raised in Lansing, he is the last child in a family headed by an Afro-Cuban immigrant. He is involved in various student organizations, including the Creative Writing Club, Latino Leaders in Policy, and managed the Bridge Scholars Program, which provides opportunities for connection among students of color in the Social Science Scholars Program. Professionally, Roberto worked for the ASMSU as an Emerging Leader, a congressional intern for the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute (CHCI), and previously participated as a Community Engaged Scholar. Roberto aspires to become an author and pursue a career in which he can help others.