Alexa Benitez, a first-generation college student from Blackfoot, was named the recipient of the Lindley Award in the College of Letters, Arts and Social Sciences at the University of Idaho, according to an April 15 announcement. The award recognizes the top student for excellence in scholarship and character as selected by a panel of administrators and professors.
The recognition highlights Benitez’s achievements both academically and through her involvement in campus organizations. The Lindley Award is considered the highest annual honor offered by her college.
Benitez graduates in May with a double major in political science and psychology, along with a minor in philosophy. She has maintained a 4.0 grade point average while serving as an ASUI senator, director of student services at ASUI, president of the PoliSci Society for two years, member of several advisory boards and editorial committees, and participant in numerous other organizations.
Florian Justwan, associate professor of political science, said: “Alexa is an extremely driven, hard-working and motivated student. Beyond her performance in her regular semester classes, Alexa brings additional skills to the table that may not be immediately obvious from studying her resume.”
Benitez attributes much of her drive to watching an attorney help her grandfather attain U.S. citizenship when she was a child. “I was a little kid, and my grandfather always talked highly of lawyers like the one who helped him,” Benitez said. “He thought studying law was the highest educational achievement one could attain.”
She recently applied to attend law school at University of Idaho College of Law after reflecting on her grandfather’s legacy following his passing during her first semester at university. “When my grandfather died, I kind of went through an existential crisis… I wanted to make him proud and to achieve something he never had,” she said.
Winners receive $1,000 from a memorial fund established by Ernest K. Lindley—former president of University of Idaho—as well as having their name engraved on a plaque outside the dean’s office.