Araceli Flores: Your 2021 Kate Hevner Mueller Awards Recipient

Kate Hevner Mueller served Indiana University from 1937 to 1969 as Dean of Women, Senior Counselor for Women, and Professor of Education. Dr. Mueller was a national pioneer for women professionals and developed the Master’s Program in College Student Personnel (Higher Education and Student Affairs) at Indiana University in the early 1950s. The Kate Hevner Mueller Senior Awards were established in 2013 to honor IU seniors who have proven leadership on campus both inside and outside of the classroom and who have improved the IU community by their presence.

This year, Indiana University has selected 28 outstanding recipients for the Kate Hevner Mueller Outstanding Senior Award. In this article, we congratulate Araceli Flores for her ability to represent Dr. Mueller’s essential goals of the university: to promote intellect, develop personality, and inspire citizenship and leadership to all students.

Araceli Flores

Araceli is graduating from the College of Arts and Sciences with a Bachelor of Arts in International Studies with a minor in Education Policy. Araceli was selected as the recipient of the 2019 National Study Abroad Award and the Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship. Her academic achievements include her study abroad experiences in Spain and Ghana, as well as a capstone project titled “Language Rights in ‘This is America, Speak English’” which honors the experiences of non-native English speakers and immigrants who face adversities a new language brings.  She serves as a Resident Assistant for the Civic Leaders Learning Community, and Director of Public Relations and Treasurer of Sigma Lambda Upsilon (Señoritas Latinas Unidas Sorority Inc.). In addition, Araceli held leadership roles as part of the executive team of Undocu-Hoosiers, where she collaborated with local advocacy groups to provide guidance for undocumented immigrants and organized information sessions for K-12 students in immigration policies.

For Araceli, her support system inspired her and believed in her. She said:

Thank you friends and family for being my greatest support system. Thank you for believing in me when I often failed to do so. Thank you for seeing in me the qualities of a leader and inspiring me to be my best self during some of the toughest years. This award is not just for me, but it’s for all of you, so thank you.”