Jenifer Alvarado Rivadeneira, a member of the class of 2026 at Connecticut College, was awarded the 2026 Claire Gaudiani ’66 Prize for her honors thesis and senior integrative project during the college’s 108th Commencement on May 17. Alvarado Rivadeneira is a triple major in English, Latin American studies, and sociology, as well as a scholar in the Toor Cummings Center for International Studies and the Liberal Arts.
The Claire Gaudiani ’66 Prize is named after Connecticut College’s eighth president and is given annually to the student with the best senior integrative project from one of the college’s interdisciplinary centers. The award recognizes excellence in research and scholarship among graduating seniors.
Alvarado Rivadeneira’s thesis, titled “Civil Disillusionment: Citizens’ Perceptions of Governance in Guayaquil,” explores political perceptions within Guayaquil, Ecuador. Her work draws on both quantitative survey data regarding civic knowledge and institutional trust, as well as qualitative analysis of anonymous political street art. She spent two summers working as a legal intern in Guayaquil to inform her research. The study identifies civic disillusionment as a defining feature of contemporary life in Guayaquil and argues that this sentiment emerges from inconsistencies between constitutional promises and lived experiences.
Associate Teaching Professor of Hispanic Studies Jessica Koehler said, “Jenifer does an excellent job of analyzing a complicated and shifting political reality. She effectively shows the patterns of corruption and other factors that have led to the disillusionment of Guayaquil’s citizens, and her discussion of the street art that she photographed provides a genuine representation of their lived experiences.”
In support for Alvarado Rivadeneira’s nomination for the prize, Associate Professor Suzuko Knott described her thesis as “a truly innovative, insightful and interdisciplinary” work that “embodies the core mission of CISLA to educate students to become interculturally competent, socially engaged and politically informed leaders.”
The recognition highlights both academic achievement at Connecticut College and ongoing scholarly interest in understanding civic engagement through interdisciplinary research.
