Saúl Lopez, a fifth-year doctoral candidate in the Department of Educational Policy and Leadership, is an Arthur J. Schmitt Fellow who studies Latinx student experiences in Midwestern higher education institutions that are — or strive to be — Hispanic serving institutions. HSIs are federally designated higher education institutions with at least 25% Hispanic undergraduate students enrolled full-time. Lopez uses qualitative research methods to examine how these institutions can best serve and support Latinx students.
A primary goal of the Arthur J. Schmitt Fellowship is to further students’ formation as leaders working for positive social change. Lopez credits the fellowship with allowing him to spend more time focusing on his research and pursuing leadership and community engagement opportunities, which keeps him quite busy.
Lopez is an adjunct instructor in the Department of Educational Policy and Leadership and co-operates the blog Cafecito414 with his colleague, Dr. Gabrial Velez, an associate professor in the Department of Educational Policy and Leadership. The two use their Milwaukee-based blog to share their thoughts on coffee, which includes a Coffee Map that highlights different coffee shops they love, as well as interviews with people from the Milwaukee coffee scene in an effort to highlight shops and positively promote the city.
Lopez is a Milwaukee native himself, and he connects his love for the city and his higher education experience as a qualitative researcher to his work on the blog by valuing the power of stories and lived experiences, which he feels creates meaning through community.
Lopez encourages all lovers of coffee to check out Cafecito414 to learn more about Milwaukee’s vibrant coffee scene. When Lopez isn’t researching or writing, you may find him at Oscar’s Pub & Grill across the 16th Street viaduct enjoying great food or playing soccer with his friends at Doyne Park.
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