Gamez moved to Louisville five years ago from her hometown of Holguin, Cuba. She is a Finance major who serves as a counselor in the Office of Admissions for Hispanic/Latinx students. She is also involved in the Hispanic and Latin@ Faculty and Staff Association and the Louisville Welcome Academy. 

She chose to attend UofL because it was “full of academic opportunities, research, a beautiful campus, but a place I knew I was going to be welcomed.” 

Cooper, a Social Change and Political Science major from Owensboro, chose to attend UofL because “it was in a community I could connect with and get engaged with. It was also home to a lot of diverse opinions and diverse people.” 

Cooper is part of the James Graham Brown Fellows Program and is the services VP for the Student Government Association, as well as a U.S. Department of State intern. 

“I’m not only part of the Louisville community, but I’m also part of the UofL community and I’m using my passion to make both of these things better,” Cooper said. “My experience at UofL is going to help me move beyond and be even more impactful in the type of work I want to do.” 

Check out more from Gamez and Cooper below.

Formerly known as Mr. and Ms. Cardinal, the Cardinal Awards are presented by UofL’s Student Activities Board and is based on academic excellence, co-curricular activities and service to the university.

Ford is a Woodford R. Porter Scholar and a Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation Scholar. She serves as the regional publications chair for the National Society of Black Engineers, the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, and the Speed School Mentoring Program. She has performed many hours of service in the community with Fed with Faith Program, as a West End School Tutor, Cabbage Patch Settlement House Volunteer, and a speaker for the Black Achievers Engineering Cluster. 

Goli is a Barry Goldwater Scholar, a Henry Vogt Scholar, and a KEES Scholar. He serves as the founder of both the Louisville Social Innovation Lab and the Droplet Water Project, and serves as a member of the Indian Student Association. The Droplet Water Project is a philanthropic project to help college students get involved in a global effort to provide access to clean drinking water by expanding clean water intervention from Cachipay to Tauramena, in Colombia. He has been involved in research in diabetes care and treatment at the University of Louisville and Harvard Medical Schools.