Meet Our Scholars

Growing up in Brownsville, Texas, Michael David Lopez is the younger of two siblings. From an early age, he realized the value of education and support.

After a strong academic and extracurricular career in high school, he found himself attending the University of Texas, Rio Grande Valley, for his freshman year. While there, he was elected to lead the Political Science Association which had the goal of making students more aware and active in both local and national political change.

After a strong freshman year, Michael was able to transfer to the University of Texas at Austin, joining the humanities honors program, with prospects of attending law school and working in queer rights law.

Michael's passion for law started after having to go through the process of changing his parental custody and eventually watching court proceedings whenever possible. He saw the potential impact the legal system could have on a person. This was solidified after an ill-received coming-out experience and being put through conversion therapy.

Michael currently works with two nonprofits, at the Trevor Project as a crisis lifeline responder, which is an organization he heavily relied on, and Matriculate, a free college access advising program.