Luis Garzón Scholars

We chose to name the scholarship after Luis Garzón, who was one of the earliest Mexican residents in Minnesota. An oboist with the Aires Nacionales de México, Luis Garzón arrived in Minnesota with the orchestra in 1886 to perform at the Minneapolis Industrial Exposition. Illness kept Garzón from continuing with the orchestra’s tour and he stayed in Minnesota to convalesce. He remained in Minnesota for more than 50 years, married, had three children, and lived on Colfax Avenue in south Minneapolis. Luis Garzón continued to work as a musician. He performed with the Minneapolis Symphony and during the 1920s he founded an orchestra, the first Mexican-American group to play publicly in the state. Garzón became a U.S. citizen in 1900 – fourteen years after he arrived in Minnesota.

As a Luis Garzón Scholar you honor this legacy. We hope that as a Garzón Scholars you will join us in our efforts to work with the community, with younger students, and with others to expand the pipeline of young people who will attend the University of Minnesota over the years ahead.