Fellowship Draws UC Merced Alum Back to the Capitol

A first-generation college student born in Mexico and raised in southeast Los Angeles County, Franco attended Cerritos College in Southern California and earned an associate's degree before transferring to UC Merced as a founding student in fall 2005.

During his time at UC Merced, he made his mark helping to develop the newest UC's constitution and bylaws. He was elected by his peers as the campus's first student body president in 2006.

He also gained public policy experience at the state and federal levels, becoming well versed in state and federal lawmaking, regulations and policy.

He served as district intern for Congressman Dennis Cardoza from 2005-06. In 2007, he began working for California Lt. Gov. John Garamendi. When Garamendi ran for Congress and won the election in 2009, Franco moved to the district to work as Garamendi's senior legislative assistant and later his policy advisor.

Franco returned to UC Merced in the fall 2012 and pursued a doctoral degree in political science, working with Professor Nathan Monroe. After graduating in 2019, he began teaching political science at Cuyamaca College in San Diego County and is now a tenured faculty member.

"The APSA Congressional Fellowship is a truly elite award. Many of the intellectual giants in the study of congressional politics began their most influential research through this same fellowship," Monroe said. "To have a UC Merced Ph.D. alumnus from our first class of admits receive this distinction is remarkable."

After coming full circle from community college student to professor, Franco is steadfast in his commitment to introducing first-generation, low-income and historically underrepresented students to political science.

"I believe that my students deserve the best introductory experience to our discipline," he said. "Given that the gateway for students into political science is an introductory course on U.S. government and politics, I will update and expand my Congress in Action Workbook after I return from the fellowship."

This month, Franco is putting his successful academic career on hold to be part of the Congressional Fellowship, a highly selective, nonpartisan program aimed at expanding knowledge and awareness of the inner workings of Congress.

The nine-month program begins each November with an intensive one-month introduction covering topics such as congressional foundations, representation, policymaking, committees, leadership and media. Then each fellow will work in the placement of their choosing through mid-August 2025.

"I hope to gain firsthand experience of the dynamics of the Senate and House Judiciary committees and how they approach shaping the federal courts. This experience will help me complete my book manuscript, which is based on my dissertation," he said. "While previous research has examined instances when district court seats were created, we still know little about the structuring of the district courts by Congress in totality."

As an experienced congressional staffer and faculty member, he believes the fellowship will give him the chance to reflect on his time as a fledgling political aide versus now "in a time of intense policy differences, starker political divisions and a significant changing of the generational political guard."

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