Associate Director, Student Government
University Of Nevada, Reno
Leadership & Involvement
Leadership, for me, has never been a title. It has been a practice pursued across honor societies, professional associations, governance structures, and community engagement. The memberships and affiliations documented on this page represent deliberate investments in professional community, disciplinary identity, and the kind of peer accountability that keeps a scholar-practitioner honest about their own growth. I did not join Psi Chi, Kappa Delta Pi, Pi Lambda Theta, Omicron Delta Kappa, and the National Society of Leadership and Success because they look impressive on a page. I joined because each one represents a community of people committed to the same standards of scholarship and service to which I hold myself. The same is true of NASPA, NACA, ACPA, AAHHE, and NACADA: these are not boxes checked; they are rooms I have chosen to be in, with people whose work I want to be accountable to. The civic engagement work that earned UNR the 2025-2026 Voter Friendly Campus designation, the Senate advising, the facilitation work with ASUN officers, and the practicum at Nevada Wolf Pack Athletics are all expressions of the same conviction: that leadership is only meaningful when it is practiced in relationship, on behalf of others, and in service of something larger than the leader.
Honor Society Memberships
Professional Associations
Campus & Community Leadership
Higher Education Leadership and Impact Award, Summer 2026
Awarded by the ASU Higher and Postsecondary Education faculty in Summer 2026. This award honors a graduating student who demonstrates exceptional academic performance, meaningful engagement, and a strong ability to apply higher education theory to practice. Recipients are nominated and selected by HED faculty.
The faculty citation reads: “Luís Aguilar-Herrera is a bilingual higher-education professional and scholar-practitioner with ten years of experience in K-12 and postsecondary education. He currently serves as the student government advisor at the University of Nevada, Reno, overseeing undergraduate student programming, staff supervision, assessment, and administrative operations with the Center for Student Engagement. He also holds a practicum appointment in Student-Athlete Development with Nevada Wolf Pack Athletics. Luís is pursuing a Master of Education in Higher and Postsecondary Education at Arizona State University. His scholarly interests center on agency, belonging, resilience, and identity-conscious leadership development, with a commitment to supporting students historically underrepresented in postsecondary pathways. Guided by the belief that true leadership lifts everyone, not just those already positioned to succeed, Luís aspires to advance student development practice at the intersection of scholarship and community.”
ASUN New Officer Training, April 4, 2026
Designed and facilitated a full-day leadership development training for incoming ASUN officers in the Rita Laden Senate Chambers. Curriculum grounded in agency development, featuring SAY THIS scripts, WATCH FOR coaching notes, three distinct small group formation methods, and a Leadership Promise closing activity.
Northern Nevada Diversity Summit, April 2026
Presented Close to Home, Ready to Work: Supporting Rural Nevada Students Toward Workforce Success, a 29-slide session organized around the 4R framework, drawing on federal and regional data on rural student outcomes.
NACA Conference, November 2025
Presented Thriving, Not Surviving: Applying Positive Psychology to Student Development at the NACA National Conference in Riverside, CA, bringing the Positive Psychology framework into a national practitioner venue.
2025–2026 Voter Friendly Campus Designation
The University of Nevada, Reno received the 2025–2026 Voter Friendly Campus designation from the Campus Vote Project & NASPA, one of 272 institutions nationally designated, valid through December 2026. Served as an Election Worker at the UNR on-campus voting site during the November 2024 General Election. UNR’s efforts were featured in KUNR Public Radio, November 2024.