Trinity Student Alynn Jimenez Miranda Selected as a Truman Scholar

Alynn Jimenez Miranda ‘27, a powerful voice for human rights and a junior at Trinity University majoring in political science and international studies, has been named a 2026 Truman Scholar, one of the nation’s highest and most competitive honors for undergraduate students.

Jimenez Miranda is Trinity’s fourth Truman Scholar and the first since 1998. This year, she’s one of 55 scholars chosen from 781 candidates. 

Scholars are chosen based on academic success, leadership accomplishments and their “likelihood of becoming public service leaders.” They receive funding for graduate school, leadership training, and special internship and fellowship opportunities in the federal government, according to the scholarship’s foundation. 

“I am committed to public service and public policy not only because of my personal experience but also because I have the privilege of entering spaces where stories like mine and the stories of many people around me are often underrepresented and deserve a seat at the table,” said Jimenez Miranda, who works to prevent violence against women. “That is why I wanted to bring who I am to this space (public policy), not only bringing myself but also a lot of people, like my family, my friends in school, people from immigrant backgrounds, women like myself. I feel very proud to be selected.”

Trinity University President Vanessa B. Beasley, Ph.D., and other university leaders, surprised Jimenez Miranda with the news in a brief ceremony outside the offices on campus where Jimenez Miranda works part time. A crowd burst into applause. Jimenez Miranda’s eyes widened and she raised a hand to her mouth. 

“Thank you for the work you’ve done. Savor this moment and know how proud we are of you,” Beasley told Jimenez Miranda. “Alynn is Trinity’s first Truman Scholar in over 25 years, and yet I suspect this national recognition of her work is just the beginning of her impact.”

“I’m very grateful for everyone here,” Jimenez Miranda said. “It’s so amazing to be surrounded by such a welcoming and supportive community.” 

Her selection came as a surprise to the first-generation student. She said she gave herself 10 days to complete the extensive application and submitted it with minutes to spare.

But Jimenez Miranda’s public policy work began years ago. As a teen, she saw that violent crime was committed disproportionately against women in Victoria, Mexico, where she lived. In 2021, she organized workshops on gender-based violence for 250 attendees, and she debated policy on femicide and women’s rights in the Mexican Congress. In 2023, she founded Revolución Violeta, a bilingual organization that fights gender-based violence across borders. Her first post, “Why Mexico Doesn’t Celebrate International Women’s Day,” received 400,000 engagements within a week. 

“I received hundreds of messages from Latin American women thanking me for creating a space to share their struggles,” Jimenez Miranda wrote in her Truman application. “I realized that my experience was not only mine, but shared by many Latinas around the world.”

Revolución Violeta now has more than 22,000 followers on Instagram. 

When asked on the application to recount a meaningful public service activity, Jimenez Miranda described her experiences accompanying individuals to their ICE check-ins, where she gained a deeper understanding of the challenges many migrants face throughout their journeys. She learned about the violence, and especially the sexual abuse and exploitation, that many women endure during migration. Within months, Jimenez Miranda had mobilized community members and secured resources to provide food, legal support, and other essentials for people waiting for their appointments.

“Alynn’s record is preternaturally active,” said David Crockett, Ph.D., professor of political science and Trinity’s Truman Scholar contact. “Her grades are very good, but it was Alynn’s level of public service and leadership that probably made her stand out to the Truman selection committee,” he said.

While many students come to college to find their purpose, Jimenez Miranda “came with a specific goal in mind: Violeta,” said Rosa Aloisi, Ph.D., chair of the political science department. Jimenez Miranda weaves her academic work and her personal work together, “writing about violence against women and rape in times of war. All these topics that are very much dear to her heart,” Aloisi said. 

Jimenez Miranda was born in Texas but her family moved to Mexico when she was a baby. When she was 16, she moved to San Antonio without knowing English. She wrote about her experience in January for the San Antonio Report. She shared other details about being a Trinity student in this University story from earlier this month, including her activities as a Harvard Public Policy Leadership Scholar, a UNESCO Worldwide Youth Multimedia Competition winner, a Harvard Undergraduate Latina Empowerment and Development Scholar, and her internship with the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute in Washington, D.C.

In summer 2027, through the Truman Scholars program, Jimenez Miranda hopes to work in the Department of Justice Office on Violence Against Women. She plans to earn a master’s in public administration with a concentration in International Development from the Harvard Kennedy School, then return to San Antonio and run for city council.

The Truman scholarship means graduate school “is not only an aspiration, it can be a reality,” Jimenez Miranda said. But beyond academics, Jimenez Miranda says she appreciates the support and encouragement from the network of people who are similarly interested in public service, from her family who continues to support her from afar, and from the “people who want to make a change in our country and their communities by opening doors for young leaders like myself.”