![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sites.udmercy.edu\/magis\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/530\/2025\/04\/CHASS-SOCIALS-2.png?resize=300%2C169&ssl=1\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
CHASS is proud to celebrate Cristal Guzm\u00e1n, a Political Science and Pre-Law Honors student, who has been named the University of Detroit Mercy\u2019s 2025 Valedictorian.<\/p>\n
Cristal is a first-generation college student and a standout leader on campus. She currently serves as President of the LatinX Student Association and Vice President of the Student Government Association, where she advocates for student voices and fosters community among her peers. Her leadership, academic excellence, and commitment to service embody the mission and values of CHASS.<\/p>\n
Reflecting on the honor, Cristal shared, \u201cTo be named the University of Detroit Mercy\u2019s 2025 Valedictorian is truly both an honor and a surprise. If I\u2019m being completely transparent, I hadn\u2019t planned to apply. It was never a title I actively pursued, and I would be lying if I said I immediately felt deserving of such a distinction. While I\u2019ve worked hard, broken barriers, and overcome many challenges, especially as the first in my family to reach this point, I\u2019ve also struggled with imposter syndrome. It took the encouragement of the amazing people in my corner to remind me that I, too, deserve to reach for something as prestigious as this.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Cristal will deliver the valedictory address at this year\u2019s commencement. Look for her feature on CHASS social media and digital signage as we celebrate her remarkable achievement.<\/p>\n Congratulations, Cristal!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" CHASS is proud to celebrate Cristal Guzm\u00e1n, a Political Science and Pre-Law Honors student, who has been named the University of Detroit Mercy\u2019s 2025 Valedictorian. Cristal is a first-generation college student and a standout leader on campus. She currently serves as President of the LatinX Student Association and Vice President …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":682,"featured_media":1814,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0},"categories":[17,13],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sites.udmercy.edu\/magis\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/530\/2025\/04\/CHASS-SOCIALS-2.png?fit=1920%2C1080&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/magis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1813"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/magis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/magis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/magis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/682"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/magis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1813"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/magis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1813\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1838,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/magis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1813\/revisions\/1838"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/magis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1814"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/magis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1813"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/magis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1813"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/magis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1813"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}