Brother López Awarded MIT’s “2020 Mens et Manus”

Brother Josué J. López from the University of California Berkeley (CA Tau Chapter), and PhD Candidate at MIT was recently awarded the 2020 Mens et Manus Award during the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Convocation. The award goes to a doctoral candidate who has made a lasting impact and gone above and beyond to bring awareness to issues of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) at MIT.

During his time graduate studies, Josué worked with MIT Senior Administration to improve DEI strategy. His contributions included co-authoring three memos that called for more resources for the institute-wide DEI Strategic Plan, more DEI efforts within the College of Computing, and improvements to the search process for the Institute Community and Equity Officer. He was also the Co-Chair of the MIT Forum on Racial and Environmental Equity and Justice.

López recalls the lasting impact the experiences at the CA Tau Chapter had on him, “As a first-generation college student who is the son of immigrants, I brought a unique set of experiences with me. However, living in a truly multi-cultural fraternity made me understand the range of experiences and backgrounds that people could have growing up. Regardless of where we came from, living together forced all of the brothers to have a better understanding among each other.”

Brother López has dedicated his life to living our Creed. He emphasizes, “It’s easy to recite The Creed, but it’s much harder to live it every day. I want to be an example of how we should eliminate prejudice, have a better understanding ‘twixt men, and be devoted to justice.”