Growing up in San Jose, Karla De La Torre ’09, JD ’14, put Santa Clara University on a pedestal. College, she knew, wasn’t something widely accessible to undocumented immigrants like her. “In high school, I realized that being undocumented was going to be a huge barrier to my education and career goals,” De La Torre says. “But I knew Santa Clara had an accepting atmosphere. That made me less anxious to apply and talk about my status.” After graduating with a bachelor’s in political science, De La Torre taught middle school at San Jose’s Sacred Heart Nativity Schools for children from low income and immigrant families. Middle school, she jokes, prepared her for law school. “I was meeting often with my students’ parents and referring them to outside legal resources. I thought, ‘I want to be that resource.’” Following a stint as an attorney, De La Torre came back to SCU yet again as an adjunct law professor and admissions counselor. To give back to the school that allowed her “to thrive,” she established a living trust for part of her home, designating SCU’s School of Law and the Undocumented Students Fund as beneficiaries. “Through my gift, I can help the University grow and foster that sense of community in future students.”