Each year the Fair Election Center’s Campus Vote Project selects students to serve as Democracy Fellows. These hard-working, civic-minded individuals dedicated to increasing voter engagement and empowerment at institutions of higher education across the country. This year the Campus Vote Project honored 13 outstanding fellows nationwide with a prestigious Distinguished Democracy Fellow Award in recognition of their above-and-beyond efforts to cultivate civic engagement in their communities. The recipient for the 2026 Arizona Distinguished Democracy Fellow Award is Rio Salado’s own Angelo Lopez.
Lopez started as a Democracy Fellow in Spring 2025, serving alongside fellow Rio students Marielena Aguirre Foster, Lucero Arciniega, and Mario Bradshaw. It isn’t the only feather in Lopez’s cap: he was also selected to be an All-Arizona Academic Scholar, joining the 2025 team alongside Sarah Nichols.
Lopez began taking classes at Rio through the college’s Incarcerated Reentry program. He has enrolled in the college's Addictions and Substance Use Disorders program since his release; he’s also a member of the college's Phi Theta Kappa (PTK) chapter and regularly engages in community service. Lopez would go on to transfer in NAU in Fall 2025 to pursue a degree in Public Administration.
“My experience as a Democracy Fellow was wonderful and insightful,” said Lopez. “Wonderful because it addressed an issue close to my heart - rights restoration. Insightful because I was able to do a deep dive into the history of restriction of rights as a punitive measure. The racial and political undertones and how these undertones affect voter registration and participation until this day is something that the voting public should be cognizant of.”
The Campus Vote Project’s Emma Burns nominated Lopez for his well-deserved award. Burns had this to say about Lopez: “Angelo was thoughtful, helpful and kind throughout his time as a Democracy Fellow. He constantly went above and beyond, and created an atmosphere of understanding and openness. He continues to offer assistance today, despite no longer being in the program."
All of us at Rio are proud of the work Lopez has done and excited to see what this distinguished fellow will accomplish next.
Article by Austin Brietta