“I always had a curiosity for how things work,” Cazares Borbon said. “I’ve felt a deep connection with science. It just makes sense to me and scratches that itch in my mind of learning how things work.”

He will graduate this May from the ������Ƶ & Sciences with degrees in computer science and neurobiology and plans to work as a software developer in his hometown of Tucson, Arizona. Cazares Borbon’s work as a research assistant in the with , an assistant professor of rehabilitation medicine at Georgetown University Medical Center, has also influenced his career interests.

“I would love to do software development for researchers to help people do research,” Cazares Borbon said.

His contributions to the DARN Lab were multifaceted and important, DeMarco said. 

“Emilio is an impressive trainee,” he said. “He quickly understands complicated concepts and systems, both technical and conceptual. He is quiet but also does not shy away from asking clarifying questions. His independence, dependability and willingness to work hard cannot be overstated.”

‘Intellectual Courage’

Cazares Borbon attended a Catholic, Lasallian college preparatory high school in Tucson that was part of the national Cristo Rey Network. His first introduction to Georgetown University was through the , a three-week college prep program for rising high school seniors from select schools, including those in the Cristo Rey Network.

It became a catalyst of Cazares Borbon’s interest in Georgetown. 

“I felt connected and welcomed even online,” he said. “I thought, if I feel this way online, imagine how it is in person.”

When he arrived on the Hilltop, Cazares Borbon immediately remarked on how green the campus was. Seeing Healy Hall reminded him of Hogwarts from Harry Potter.

In high school, his main extracurricular activity was robotics. He discovered computer science by programming the team’s robots for .

Originally, Cazares Borbon figured he would major in computer science with a biology minor at Georgetown. But after attending a lecture about neurons, he decided he wanted to learn more about how the brain works. That led him to the neurobiology major.

“I would describe Emilio as optimistically bold,” said , an assistant dean in the ������Ƶ & Sciences. “I am always impressed by his genuine thoughtfulness and intellectual courage. I have known Emilio as someone always willing to venture into unfamiliar territory while consistently finding the constructive lesson in every outcome. …Our most enthusiastic conversations occur when he shares the connections he observes in the world between all his interests.”

, a professor of computer science, sees a “quiet confidence” in Cazares Borbon. “He is quite mature and measured,” Maloof said. “He is pursuing two rigorous courses of study, computer science and neurobiology, and I do not remember ever seeing him panicked or stressed because of what must be an arduous workload.”

Cazares Borbon is also a part of the (GSP), which supports first-generation and low-income students, and the (CSP), a decades-old program where first-generation students begin their Georgetown experience with a five-week summer program. Additionally, Cazares Borbon received support from the (RSSP), which is designed to expand opportunities for students from traditionally underserved communities pursuing studies in the sciences.

“Having a smaller experience of college before college fully started helped me grow as a person,” he said.

Trying New Things

Cazares Borbon enjoys trying new things.

Besides his classwork, he was involved in several organizations on campus. 

He danced and handled operations for (BFMG), a student-run dance ensemble dedicated to sharing traditional Mexican dance and culture. For the , he sang in the choir, was an altar server and helped with Spanish Masses.  This year, Cazares Borbon was the president of the Mexican advocacy club at Georgetown.

His friend even convinced him to become a volunteer tax preparer for , where Cazares Borbon has served on the board as president and treasurer, helping the organization grow to more than 200 volunteers.

When asked what he would share with his younger self, Cazares Borbon said, “trying new things really doesn’t hurt me.” That’s one of the main lessons he’s learned from his Georgetown education.

“Try new things out without worrying if you’re going to fail or not, because you’re probably going to succeed,” he said. “And then find friends that push you to do new things, because, sure, you can do new things on your own, but doing them with friends is so much better.”

Making Memories

Coming to DC from the Southwest meant new experiences for Cazares Borbon. Here are some of his favorites during his time on the Hilltop: 

Favorite spot on campus: The table next to the chemistry labs on the second floor of Regents Hall. Because that floor is the coldest floor in Regents and also the table has a good view of the Regents patio. That’s where I study before an exam.

Favorite class that you didn’t expect to love: The Dynamic Brain in Biology with Professor and Professor . They really taught me how to actually read research papers. In previous classes, we’ve read a lot of papers. We sometimes analyze the figures, but in the Dynamic Brain, we had to actually know what the researchers were talking about and what methods they used. This really opened my eyes that not everything researchers produce is good. You have to identify how you can make things better.

Favorite local restaurant and order: Recently my friends and I discovered actual good Mexican food at Tortas Y Tacos La Chiquita. It’s a 24-hour Mexican restaurant, and we go there at all kinds of hours of the day. It’s located in Arlington. We get the chicken nachos. 

Favorite event that you’ve attended: One of my favorite events at Georgetown would be the Día de los Muertos celebration this past fall, because it landed on a Sunday and we had a bilingual mass followed by the reception, which had the biggest attendance I’ve ever seen of any event in Georgetown. More than 300 people attended.

Favorite memory or moment on campus: My favorite memory on campus was my first snow storm or snow day, because I had never seen snow fall and stick. In Tucson, we do get snow, however, it literally melts as soon as it touches the ground. So that first day when it snowed, it was all fluffy and we could still walk on it. That was pretty special, because I had never experienced that before. 

(Top photo by Amy Cazares, C’24)

After spending her first year at Occidental College in Los Angeles, Brandes transferred to Georgetown University, a place she believed she was meant to be. Born and raised in DC, Brandes felt like she belonged in the city and at Georgetown.

“I felt like I was a part of the community, and so that’s what really locked it in,” she said. “I really feel people look out for each other in this city in a way that is different than any other place I’ve been, and you feel that just walking down the streets here. I missed that a lot.”

Brandes will graduate this May from the ������Ƶ & Sciences with an interdisciplinary studies major focused on urban sustainability. In her three years on the Hilltop, Brandes has been studying the theoretical frameworks of place and the process of urban places. 

After graduation, she plans to backpack along the Appalachian Trail in Maine before moving to New York City in the fall to work in urban planning or urban design. One day, she hopes to own her own design firm.

“Cities are really complex, and there are a lot of things that are planned in cities, and there are a lot of things that happen spontaneously,” Brandes said. “And I think both things can be so beautiful.”

An Interdisciplinary Approach

Brandes arrived at Georgetown as a government major, but she knew even then that she wanted to study cities and the environment. 

She noticed that many classes explored those areas of study, just not within a single major. That’s when she discovered the College’s interdisciplinary studies major, where students can design their own academic programs around research questions. The major has existed in the College for almost 50 years.

“It was an opportunity where I really took a chance to go out on my own and do something bold,” Brandes said. “And it was such a good decision.”

She made a list of potential classes she would want to take, and each one, she said, was “super intentional.”

“My first impression of Justine was that she was a remarkably curious and composed student,” said , an associate dean in the College and the . “Justine is unhurried in her consideration of questions, directions and opportunities.”

Brandes said one of the most important courses she took was Urban Inequality with , an associate professor in the Department of Sociology. In that seminar, Brandes read works from writers like W.E.B. Du Bois and about theoretical approaches in urban cities like Chicago, Philadelphia, New York City and Washington, DC.

“I was most impressed by her enthusiasm for the course content, engagement with the readings, active participation in class and her generosity with her colleagues,” Shedd said. “It was truly gratifying to be a part of Justine’s academic journey.”

Other courses Brandes took included Water with , a professor of geography and the vice dean for undergraduate affairs in the School of Foreign Service, and Urban Ecology with , the associate vice president for strategic initiatives in the Office of the Provost and an adjunct professor in the Department of Biology. 

“Making your own way in an interdisciplinary studies major takes vision and passion, and Justine has both,” Whitmer said.

Brandes was also part of the , which introduced her to a community centered around urban studies. Another experience Brandes cherished on the Hilltop was serving as a board member for the student-run Georgetown University Farmers’ Market that features more than 15 vendors.

“Being able to see everyone gather in one space on Wednesdays and see the entire community come together gave me so much purpose as a Georgetown student,” she said.

A Connection to Place

Brandes had been thinking about her senior thesis ever since her sophomore year.

It started with a curiosity about what makes a sense of place. She asked herself: What makes DC so different from L.A.? What makes L.A. so different from Berlin? It goes back, Brandes explained, to the Latin term, genius loci, which means “spirit of a place.”

“This has really been a labor of love,” she said.

She eventually focused her thesis, “Searching for a Lost River: Remaking the River That Made L.A.,” on the Los Angeles River, a 51-mile river in L.A. that is nearly completely encased in concrete, and a plan by the late architect Frank Gehry and his team to design a public space near the Rio Hondo confluence in South Gate, California.

“The Los Angeles River is mostly seen as a movie backdrop, rather than a really important ecological asset to the city,” Brandes said. “That topic really fired me up.”

Brandes visited the site in January and returned with an understanding that the proposed design plan for a cultural center and platform parks by Gehry’s team has been polarizing. 

“What my thesis gets down to is belonging and connection to place and how that is 100% tied to the natural environment,” Brandes said. “And you cannot ignore the natural environment.”

Ultimately, her thesis argues that the platform parks that would be built on the top of the river would create a sense of placelessness for residents along the river, Brandes said, because it conceals the river, rather than re-naturalizing it. Brandes also argues that because Gehry is an architect and not an urbanist or community planner, he approached the river as a design opportunity rather than an ecological system, prioritizing bold structures over restoration.

“You have to engage with local communities in which you intend to design for,” she said. “When local communities feel ignored, it ends up not being good for anyone.”

Everything Is Nature

Brandes’ sense of place is rooted in the outdoors. 

Around the age of 10, her parents took her to the Grand Canyon National Park. In addition to the awe of seeing the natural wonder, they hiked and backpacked the . 

“I think that was my first experience of seeing nature in a way that really humbled me and made me feel small,” Brandes said. “And since then, it just took off.”

She went on an Outward Bound rafting trip, which eventually led to a 30-day backpacking trip during high school in the Teton Range in Wyoming with NOLS, a nonprofit outdoor education school. Navigating with only a compass and map on that trip solidified Brandes’ commitment to the environment. 

“I decided for the rest of my life, this is going to be something I fight for,” she said.

And while she has a deep commitment to the environment, Brandes has always loved cities and the human connections found in them. Her academic interests were bolstered by study abroad experiences in Bilbao, Spain and Copenhagen, Denmark. 

“I think Bilbao helped me start thinking about urban processes and urban change,” Brandes said. “Copenhagen really opened my eyes to sophisticated design and architecture.”

In DC, she often visits Rock Creek Park. Part of her academic growth, Brandes said, is the realization that nature is all around us. 

“I think a lot of times we think when we’re in a city that we aren’t in nature, and nature is something that you can distinctly step into, but in reality, there’s no difference,” she said. “Everything is nature all the time.”

As she prepares to leave Georgetown, Brandes said that her liberal arts education has inspired a commitment to service and helping others. It’s also taught her to always push the status quo.

“As a community, we push each other,” Brandes said. “We’re not afraid to disagree with each other in the classroom, and I think that’s really beautiful. I’ll always take that with me for the rest of my life. No matter what situation I’m in, I will take a step back and really think: How can I push this situation? How can I grow while supporting others? How can we grow together as a community?”

Reflecting on the Hilltop

For the past three years, Brandes has made the most of her time at Georgetown. Here are some of her favorites around campus and the city she calls home:

Favorite spot on campus: Healy Lawn. Way back on that one bench between the John Carroll statue and Lauinger Library. You can look up at the tower. I think I’ve spent the most time reflecting there. I have the most memories there. 

Favorite class that you didn’t expect you’d enjoy: I took Acting I this semester with Professor . It was totally out of my comfort zone, but super impactful. Amazing class. I would have never taken that if it hadn’t come on my radar.

Favorite local restaurant and order: Teaism in Dupont Circle. I would get the spicy glass noodles with a green tea lassi and one of the cookies for dessert.

Favorite Georgetown tradition: Not walking on the seal outside of Healy is really funny. They always say once you get here, don’t step on it, or you’re not going to graduate. I don’t know if I believe in it, but I’m not gonna test it. 

Favorite thing to do off campus: Just walk to Dupont Circle and sit in the circle. I love doing that. I think it really connects me to DC beyond Georgetown. I really just enjoy sitting there on a nice day.

(Top photo by Maria Sophia Dyer)

As a middle schooler, instead of playing video games or sports after school, Feng would be at home, eagerly awaiting the 5 p.m. broadcast of CBC News. His dad also had a cable subscription to all of the American national news channels. Feng, born and raised in a suburb of Toronto, would watch news on politics — particularly from the United States — any chance he could. In high school, he wrote papers on the Cuban Missile Crisis and other historic U.S. political events.

“I had the bug of loving American politics and American news,” Feng said. “I thought about politics in a very analytical way very early on about why people believe the things they believe.”

That passion eventually led him to the U.S. and Georgetown University, and Feng will graduate this May with a degree in government from the ������Ƶ & Sciences. During his four years on campus, Feng has gained experience in immigration policy and organized labor. He plans to attend law school in the fall to become an immigration or labor lawyer. A Rhodes Scholarship finalist, Feng hopes to advise on the future of immigration law from the legal perspective. 

“I want to do appellate litigation for a plaintiff’s law firm,” Feng said. “I don’t think I can have a long career in law without addressing working-class issues.”

Immigration Policy Reform

Feng’s interests in immigration policy and labor are rooted in his personal history. 

In 1999, Feng’s parents left China with his older brother to immigrate to Canada. The move provided new opportunities for the family, but Feng’s parents left a part of themselves behind in China, he said. 

His mom was a kindergarten teacher, and his dad was an aerospace engineer. The extra education and re-certification required in Canada made it difficult for them to continue their old careers, Feng said. Instead, they took clerical jobs at a local bank.

“I can never give my parents their old careers back,” Feng wrote in his Rhodes Scholarship application. “However, I can still give back to Canada by making it easier for the next generation of skilled immigrants to economically integrate. My parents’ career sacrifices have pushed me to imagine a Canadian immigration system in which Persian doctors, Ukrainian scientists and Burmese care workers can easily continue these careers as Canadians — contributing to our nation in the ways they know best.”

“Economic immigration is much more than just a way to supply Canada’s labor market,” he added. “A moral immigration structure must first grant newcomers their innate humanity and basic social rights.”

Feng wrote his senior thesis on what he calls the critical juncture for economic immigration reform in Canada, the U.S. and the United Kingdom from 2008 to 2014. His key takeaway is that while the three countries originally revolved around different immigration systems, all of them converged toward an American two-step model for immigration. In that system, immigrants may be selected for temporary work by U.S. employers and then potentially transition to a non-guaranteed permanent residence. 

“Only a small percentage of all those who apply can get it,” Feng said. “If you don’t get it, you should, as logic, leave and end your stay in the countries. But the implication of my thesis is that many people don’t. That is driving some of the immigration issues we see as hot-button topics today.”

One of the goals for his thesis was to set the groundwork of how countries got to their current immigration systems before exploring possible solutions. Among the questions that Feng asks are: 

• Can there be an economic immigration system that minimizes precarity for those living life within it? 
• How can we make a system that protects the ability of immigrant workers to be safe and have a voice at their workplace, without fear of immigration action initiated by their employer? 
• How can we see these goals as top priorities alongside national growth and economic success? Is it possible?

“It’s an extremely privileged thing that I get to say the system worked for me,” Feng said. “I wish that were the case for more people.”

Standing Up for Workers

Feng’s commitment to workers’ rights has been shaped by his liberal arts education.

At Georgetown, Feng took The First Amendment class as a first-year student with (G’15), the Walter I. Giles Associate Professor of the Practice in Constitutional Law in the Department of Government. The course, he said, changed his life.

“It was a seminar,” Feng said. “It had no grades, no tests, and the only thing you would do is write a 25, 30-page paper at the end of class. …That really solidified me in the government space, because I thought if I could do stuff like this every semester, that’d be super cool.”

Feng made an immediate impression on his professor.

“From the outset Andy had an amazing talent for thoughtful consideration of — and understanding of — complex concepts, an innate intellectual curiosity and a very good sense of what he wanted to do after college, even as an incoming first year,” Hartman said. “Andy has always kept his focus on his long-term goals — specifically to work in support of organized labor, and both his academic work and his professional experience has been geared toward that goal.”

Feng also enjoyed Elements of Political Theory with , an assistant professor of government, and U.S. Working Lives with , a professor in the Department of History and co-director of the Kalmanovitz Initiative for Labor and the Working Poor. Feng’s interest in reading and writing led him to the , where he’s written scripts, fiction stories and poems. 

“I have intersected a lot with just the government degree,” Feng said. “I love the idea that there is such a broad network of folks. …It’s really nice to have the College just because of the diversity and breadth of all this.”

Fisher sees in Feng a “clear sense of seriousness to his boundless curiosity.”

“Andy exemplifies that purpose-driven pragmatism that makes our students so much fun to teach,” he said.

McCartin agrees, calling Feng, “one of the most curious students I’ve ever taught.”

“Andy embodies the idea that learning should sharpen one’s understanding of the world and preparing one to help make it more just and inclusive,” McCartin said.

On campus, Feng has served on the College Academic Council, which he called one of his top experiences at Georgetown. Feng was also the philanthropy chair and board member at large for , commonly known as The Corp, a student-run nonprofit and charitable organization at Georgetown. 

Off campus, Feng worked for the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) as a political and field mobilization fellow. There, he advised national political directors on the messaging strategy for the 2024 elections and constructed national worker support programs. 

“We’re in a time of great skepticism surrounding the purpose and value of higher education, and Georgetown is so well positioned to offer answers to those skeptics,” Hartman said. “In some sense, our students are our answer — and Andy is a perfect example of this. He works hard, tempers healthy ambition with grace, humility and altruism. I have no doubt he’ll have a significant impact when he leaves the Hilltop.”

People for Others

The word discernment comes to mind when Feng reflects on his Georgetown education. That means having the ability to think about things in an analytical manner, he said.

“I think that’s my pitch for Georgetown, the sense that you’re just going to have to interact with things in a humanistic perspective that deals with a lot and that can’t be just boiled down into one thing,” Feng said.

Being in DC, with its proximity to the federal government and all of its moving parts, has taught him to look at how decisions and policy directly impact people. It also reminds him that there will be challenges in any path, but that at the end of the day, whatever career path Feng takes, it will be about service to others.

“There is no way in which you come to Georgetown and you leave and think you’re not going to do anything for a community of people,” he said.

Four Years of Memories

Feng has accumulated a lot of memories and favorites during his four years at Georgetown — from taking classes on script writing to attending a cappella concerts on campus. Here he shares some of his favorites from the Hilltop:

Favorite spot on campus: In the summer, Copley Lawn, and in the winter, Midnight Mug or Uncommon Grounds or one of the coffee shops.

Favorite class that you didn’t expect you’d enjoy: Medicine and the Muse: Writing Through Change with , the director of the Lannan Center. It totally opened a whole new third eye for different things that are fictional but can be applied to real life. A second one is Script Writing with . I loved it especially from the perspective of talking about cultural issues through scripts.

Favorite local restaurant and order: Pho 75. No. 1. Large. All the fixings.

Favorite event you’ve attended at Georgetown: A capella singing festivals. Spring Sing. Cherry Tree Massacre. DCAF. Those three. I haven’t missed one. I don’t sing either. They’re amazing.

Favorite Georgetown tradition: The comfiest hoodie in your closet has to be a Georgetown one because you’re going to have to wear it to the airport and the airplane. That’s just how it goes. It feels strange wearing a non-branded thing nowadays.

(Top photo by Josh Rodriguez)