Seventy-five-year-old Emily Salazar enrolled in the university’s Doctorate of Education of Leadership and Higher Education program back in Fall 2019 when it was first introduced, and she recently graduated in Fall 2022 as one of the first few with a doctorate from St. Edward’s. 

This was not Salazar’s first experience at St. Edward’s University. She was a professor and career counselor on campus for over 25 years and also worked closely with CAMP students and the program. While working for the university, Salazar made connections with  not only fellow professors and faculty, but with students she taught and guided. 

“I was encouraging them to go back to school and began to feel like I could be a role model for them while I do this,” Salazar said. “It’s all for them.” 

Salazar’s motivation for getting her doctorate was a personal goal rather than a career move. 

“It was a promise to my father,” Salazar said. 

Her father, who was a migrant, and the CAMP students at St. Edward’s were both the inspiration for her dissertation about migrant students and their experience in higher education.