Spanish Program

Larry (Lorenzo) Blackshear -Recent Graduate

Studying: Spanish  
Expected Graduation: Spring 2025 
Mentor: Alyssa Martoccio, PhD, Associate Professor and Department Chair of Modern Languages 

Raised in Aurora, Blackshear always knew he wanted to go to college. He started at CSU Pueblo, which was where he got his first exposure to education policy through an internship. Missing a sense of community, he transferred to CU Denver and got a job, again in education policy, at a local organization. 

At CU Denver, his research is fueled by his passion for public policy and Spanish. “I’ve always loved other languages, particularly Spanish,” he said. “To me, there was this big problem staring me in the face. … [There is] not a lot of support for [second language] learners in many [k-12 and postsecondary] schools.” Over the past year, Blackshear and his mentor have been analyzing data collected from students in CU Denver’s Spanish program to determine common themes, barriers, and needs. Their goals are to provide more opportunities for community engagement and career readiness. 

Research Highlights: As part of his research, Blackshear helped start CU Denver’s Spanish and Linguistics Student Association (SALSA), which is a student-led organization dedicated to promoting Spanish language education and multilingualism. He also founded his own company, The Multilingual Project (TMP), to “reshape and reimagine a more robust and responsive multilingual education system in Colorado and beyond,” he said. 

Written by Alex DeWind, University Communications