Below are excerpts from the article recently posted by the PACE Center for Civic Engagement.

Given in honor of A. James Fisher, Jr ‘36, the Fisher Award is awarded to Princeton University students who have demonstrated an entrepreneurial spirit, a zest for life, a love of people, and a loyalty to Princeton. The Fisher Award was presented to seniors Alison Parish ‘24 and Isabella Shutt ‘24. The Community Engagement Award is presented to community partners and Princeton University faculty and administrators who exemplify a commitment to service that inspires others to respond to the needs of the community. The Community Engagement Awards were presented to Eleanor Letcher, Executive Director of CONTACT of Mercer County NJ, and Dr. Alberto Bruzos Moro, faculty member in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese. 

Dr. Alberto Bruzos Moro received the Community Engagement award in his faculty role as University Lecturer in the Department of Spanish and holds the position of director of the Spanish Language Program and co-director of the study abroad program Princeton in Spain. Bruzos is an ardent and active collaborator with the Program for Community-Engaged Scholarship (ProCES), a program that connects community perspectives, knowledge, and priorities with academic courses. Through his course, Spanish in the Community, Bruzos equips students with critical resources to address topics of significant importance. The course focuses on the relationship between language and identity, political debates surrounding Spanish and English, and bilingualism, with his most recent partnership with the English as a Second Language (ESL) program at El Centro of Catholic Charities in Trenton NJ. The meaningfulness and intention of the community-oriented work associated with his course is replicated in his collaborations with many other local community agencies and programs, including among others, Princeton Young Achievers, the Princeton YWCA, the Princeton Arts Council, and HomeWorksTrenton. 

In her introduction of Bruzos, Tara Carr-Lemke, Associate Director at ProCES, says that Bruzos, “... inspires students to participate in community engagement by inviting his class to learn alongside local Spanish-speaking community members. He is under no illusion that his students are merely providing a tutoring service or language exchange at El Centro; instead, he prompts students to consider the contextual ailments that form the environment for English language learning and the factors that shape the people in it.” 

Upon receiving his award, Bruzos shared, “I am very happy for the award. That is not a surprise. But I feel…wonder…do I really deserve this? There are so many people at this university that build this community.”

Congratulations!