Moses Camarena and Maria Chavoya will be honored tonight as the Arizona Western College Hall of Fame's 2025 inductees. The occasion? The AWC Foundation's fourth annual Schoolhouse Soirée, a fundraising event that celebrates scholarship recipients and donors.
As a newer event, the soirée combines two longtimeAWC Foundation events, the Hall of Fame and the Celebration of Scholars. By celebrating both, the foundation looks to the future of scholarship while looking back on those who helped pave the way.
This year's inductees were selected for their significant contributions to the college and Yuma and La Paz communities.
Maria Chavoya has been an active member of the AWC District Governing Board since 2012 and per AWC's press release, she' "has amplified student voices and shaped policies for student success." Chavoya's influence in the region extends further back, however. In the 1990s up to 2009, Chavoya was editor of Bajo El Sol, the main local newspaper for Spanish readers in Yuma County.
After some time working for nonprofit Campesinos Sin Fronteras and the Gadsden Elementary School District, Chavoya would go on to work for what is now known as Arizona Complete Health. Today, she continues to serve the community as Arizona Complete Health's Regional Manager in community affairs.
Moses Camarena is best known to Matadors as the founder of AWC's annual La Cosecha event. The event, which celebrates graduating from college despite hardships, is part of Camarena's history empowering first-generation and low-income students in the community.
He has previously interviewed with KAWC as part of a 50th anniversary special called "Matador Memories." Having been in high school when the college was built, Camarena became an AWC Matador and after earning his master's from Northern Arizona University, he'd go on to become a math professor and head coach of AWC's wrestling team. From 1971 to 2013, he also served as an academic advisor to students.
After Camarena and Chavoya are inducted to the hall of fame, their portraits will hang inside the Schoening Conference Center at AWC's Yuma campus. Although their legacies linger in other ways, the hall of fame offers a more tangible reminder of their dedication to the communities they serve.
This reporting is supported by a grant from the Arizona Local News Foundation.
