Irene Franco Rubio, a doctoral student in the UC Berkeley Department of Ethnic Studies, has been selected to receive the 2025 Dr. Iris Hui Memorial Graduate Student Scholarship.
Established in 2021, this scholarship honors the vision and goals of Dr. Iris Hui, a PhD graduate of Political Science from UC Berkeley. Family and friends raised funding for this memorial scholarship in Dr. Hui’s name to support researchers and students tackling issues that meant so much to her — urgent, real-world problems facing all of us, including the governance of natural resources, climate change, political empowerment, and migration. As a former graduate student herself, Dr. Hui understood how funding like this can benefit graduate students.
Social Science Matrix is honored to be chosen as the institutional home for this memorial scholarship. Visit this page for more information about future opportunities to apply, and visit this page to read about past winners of the award.
About Irene Franco Rubio
Irene Franco Rubio is a doctoral student in the Department of Ethnic Studies at UC Berkeley, pursuing Designated Emphases in Gender, Women, and Sexuality Studies and New Media. Born and raised in Phoenix, Arizona, she is a first-generation scholar-activist whose research explores multiracial coalition-building, grassroots resistance, and social movement histories in the U.S. Southwest. Her work is grounded in participatory methods and shaped by her ongoing community organizing, examining how cross-racial solidarity emerges in response to racialized, state-sanctioned violence. Irene’s scholarship bridges academic inquiry and movement-building, committed to uplifting directly impacted communities through collaborative, justice-oriented research.
Abstract
Forging Solidarity: Multiracial Coalition Building in Arizona’s Grassroots Resistance examines how Black, Latinx, and Indigenous communities in Arizona organize together in response to systemic violence and criminalization. Amid heightened anti-immigrant sentiment and racialized policing, grassroots organizations continue to form powerful cross-racial coalitions rooted in mutual care and collective action. This project draws from ethnographic fieldwork, oral histories, and participatory action research to document the strategies and stories of those directly impacted in Arizona. It explores how communities navigate tensions, sustain solidarity, and adapt to shifting political landscapes, raising broader questions about the conditions under which multiracial coalitions emerge, thrive, or dissolve. The project bridges academic research and community movement-building by collaboratively archiving these narratives. It offers a framework for understanding coalition-based resistance in the contemporary U.S. Southwest while preserving the lived experiences of frontline organizers. In alignment with Dr. Iris Hui’s vision, this research addresses urgent real-world challenges—from immigrant criminalization to the struggle for racial justice—and seeks to contribute to liberatory futures grounded in community resilience and solidarity.
