By Amanda Alaniz

EDINBURG, TEXAS – DEC. 11, 2025 – A special holiday gift came early for six UTRGV students, who were chosen to join the brand-new cohort of Kemper Scholars.

The Scholars’ program is designated by the Kemper Corporation’s philanthropic arm, the Kemper Foundation, to continue its efforts in empowering future business leaders.

The new UTRGV scholars are:

• Elisami Salinas, junior information systems major, from Edinburg.
• Megan Pedroza, junior accounting major, from Mission.
• Valeria Escobedo, senior accounting major, from Weslaco.
• Samuel Barrera, senior accounting major, from San Perlita.
• Kenya Alvarez, junior international business major, from Mission.
• Kevin Ramirez, senior accounting major, from McAllen.

Maria Leonard, assistant professor of practice in management, has overseen the UTRGV Kemper Scholars program since it started in 2022. This is the fifth Kemper cohort at UTRGV, with a total of 24 students being awarded the Scholars designation.  

The foundation announced in 2022 that over the next five years it would award 650 scholarships to high-achieving college students at 10 partnering Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs) and Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). In addition, students are offered an opportunity to apply for an internship with the Kemper Corporation.

Leonard, director of Social Impact and Sustainability, said seeing the scholars’ success creates a ripple of effect that inspires other students and builds a legacy of excellence.

“We are deeply grateful to the Kemper Foundation for investing in our students’ future and removing barriers that could hold them back,” she said. “Supporting them means affirming, ‘We believe in you, and we are committed to your success.’”

LEGACY OF EXCELLENCE

A breakfast banquet was held on Wednesday, Dec. 3, at the Region One Center in Edinburg, to congratulate the scholars and welcome their families. Each scholar was given the opportunity to express what being a Kemper Scholar means to them, and to speak about their future endeavors.

• Elisami Salinas, the information systems major from Edinburg, hopes to become an IT auditor or to work in risk management. “Coming in as a first-generation student, I want to take every opportunity that helps me continue growing and push myself toward my goals,” Salinas said. “The Kemper program opens doors for us to mentorship and real-world experience.
  
  
• Accounting major Samuel Barrera, from San Perlita, emphasized the program’s impact on his family and future career. “Being selected from the UTRGV Brownsville Campus is huge for me!” he said. “This scholarship will help tremendously by paying for part of my master’s program and will contribute to my CPA (certified public accountant) exams.”
  
  
• For Megan Pedroza, the junior from Mission, the scholarship is validation that dedication brings rewards. “It feels like proof that all of the late nights, extra projects, student involvement and sacrifices my family and I have made are paying off,” the accounting major said. She plans to become a CPA, and recently secured a summer internship in Boston, a major step toward her long-term goals.

Some of the scholars spoke about the program as a beacon of hope and opportunity.

• Kenya Alvarez, the international business major from Mission, said the impact on her family has been pivotal. “I want to show them that, even if we came from a difficult lifestyle, there’s always that one hope remaining. For me, that was the Kemper Scholarship.”
  
  
• Weslaco senior Valeria Escobedo highlighted the confidence the scholarship has brought her. “Being selected as a Kemper Scholar is incredibly meaningful. It represents recognition of my hard work as a first-generation student, and it gives me confidence to pursue my goals,” she said. Escobedo will intern with KPMG in Austin this summer as she works toward her CPA license.
  
  
• And senior accounting major Kevin Ramirez said the Kemper serves as reinforcement for his commitment to growth and community impact. “Opportunities open up when you work hard, stay committed to your purpose, and always strive to be better than you were yesterday,” Ramirez said. His goal is to join a Big 4 accounting firm and, eventually, start his own business.

Leonard said she is proud of this fifth and newest Kemper Scholars cohort.

“They represent the resilience, the ambition and the leadership that define UTRGV’s commitment to student success,” she said.

PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS

• Maintain a minimum 3.0 GPA on a 4.0 scale.
• Be in an academic field related to financial services or insurance, such as finance, data analytics, actuarial science and business.
• Be eligible for a Pell Grant or demonstrate financial need.

For more information on the UTRGV Kemper Scholars Program, email Maria.Leonard@UTRGV.edu.