In honor of Hispanic Heritage Month, we want to celebrate some influential Hispanic Americans and challenge you to a round of trivia. Do you know where they went to college? Take the polls below and let us know!
Sandra Cisneros
Sandra Cisneros is a Mexican-American writer, poet, performer, and artist. She is widely known for her awarding winning novel, The House on Mango Street, for which she won several awards including the 1985 American Book Award.
Where Did Sandra Cisneros Go to College? (Pick two)
- University of Chicago
- Loyola University Chicago
- UC Berkeley
- University of Michigan
- University of Iowa
Sylvia Méndez
Sylvia Méndez is a civil rights activist from a Mexican and Puerto Rican family. When she was eight she was at the center of the Méndez v. Westminster case which fought segregation in California public schools. The case, which lawfully integrated California schools in 1946, paved the way for Brown v. Board of Education in 1954, the case that resulted in the national integration of public schools. Méndez was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2011.
Where Did Sylvia Méndez Go to College? (Pick two)
- Orange Coast College
- UC Irvine
- California State University, Los Angeles
- UCLA
- Loyola Marymount University
Lin-Manuel Miranda
Lin-Manuel Miranda is a writer, composer, actor, and activist of Puerto Rican descent. He is most famous for creating the award-winning Broadway musicals, Hamilton and In the Heights. He has won a Pulitzer Prize, three Tony Awards, two Emmys, three Grammys, a MacArthur Fellowship grant, and more.
Where Did Lin-Manuel Miranda Go to College?
- Amherst College
- Wesleyan University
- Williams College
- Wellesley College
- Bowdoin College
Juan Felipe Herrera
Juan Felipe Herrera is an author and poet. In 2015 he became the first Mexican-American to be appointed as U.S. Poet Laureate and served as the official poet of the United States between 2015 and 2017.
Where Did Juan Felipe Herrera Go to College? (pick up to 3)
- UCLA
- Harvard University
- Stanford University
- California State University, Fresno
- UC Riverside
- University of Iowa
- UC San Diego
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is a politician and activist from a Puerto Rican family. She is currently serving as the U.S. representative for New York’s 14th congressional district. When she won the Democratic primary in 2018, she became the youngest women to ever be elected to congress.
Where Did Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Go to College?
- Queens College
- Boston University
- Yale University
- New York University
- Harvard University
Ellen Ochoa
Ellen Ochoa is an astronaut and engineer from a Mexican family. In 1993, on her first space mission, she became the first Hispanic woman to go to space. During her time as an astronaut she flew on four space flights and logged over 1000 hours in space. In 2013 she became the first Hispanic director of the Johnson Space Center.
Where Did Ellen Ochoa Go to College? (pick up to 2)
- Stanford University
- UC San Diego
- California State University, Los Angeles
- UCLA
- San Diego State University
Dolores Huerta
Dolores Huerta is a labor leader and civil rights activist from New Mexico. She helped co-form the National Farm Workers Association with Cesar Chavez, through which she fought to improve working conditions and wages of farmworkers. In addition, she has also fought for the rights of women, immigrants, and people in poverty. In 2012 she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Where Did Dolores Huerta Go to College?
- The University of New Mexico
- San Joaquin Delta College
- New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology
- UC Berkeley
- UCLA
- California State University, Sacramento
Laurie Hernandez
Laurie Hernandez is an award-winning Olympic gymnast from a Puerto Rican family. When she was 16, became the first Latina to earn a place on the U.S. Olympics Gymnastics team in 30 years and she earned gold and silver medals at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
Where Will Laurie Hernandez Go to College?
- Rutgers University - New Brunswick
- NYU Tisch
- The College of New Jersey
- New York University
- Harvard University
Sonia Sotomayor
Sonia Sotomayor is an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. She first made history for being the youngest judge in New York’s Southern District and the first Hispanic federal judge in New York State. In 2009 she became the first Latina to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court.
Where Did Sonia Sotomayor Go to College? (pick up to 2)
- Stanford University
- Yale University
- Harvard University
- Princeton University
- Brown University