Leonardo Lupiano: DSU’s first international valedictorian took risks, advantage of opportunities across campus

As Dixie State’s 2021 valedictorian Leonardo Lupiano prepares to graduate, he has much to celebrate and reflect on from the course of his college career. Not only is Leo the first international student ever to be named valedictorian in the University’s history, he also connected with other students by serving as a resident assistant in student housing, founded DSU’s Legal Clinic while working in DSU’s Office of the General Counsel, and lent his creativity and innovative spirit to the entrepreneurial process by working at the University’s Atwood Innovation Plaza.

However, he never would have accomplished all this without taking a risk.

Leo first came to the U.S. in 2014, leaving behind his family and friends in Sao Paulo, Brazil, to take the fist steps of pursuing his dream of enrolling in an American university by attending high school and playing basketball in North Carolina. Being only 16 years old, alone and knowing very little English, transitioning to the United States was a daunting chapter in his life. “It was scary, but at the same time, it was very exciting,” Leo says.

After transferring and completing high school in Layton, Utah, Leo moved to Billings, Montana, where he attended college on a basketball scholarship. It wasn’t long until he realized that winters were his least favorite and gravitated toward the warmer climate in Southern Utah. While looking at options for college, Leo became impressed with the wide variety of scholarships DSU had to offer. “If it wasn’t for the scholarship opportunities, I would have returned home,” he says.

As a double major in Criminal Justice and Business, Leo’s journey at DSU was a busy one. While serving his internship for DSU’s Office of the General Council, Leo found that a number of students were in demand of legal assistance but often lacked finances to receive support. With this inspiration, Leo reached out to the student body president and made phone calls to the Southern Utah Bar Association (SUBA), asking members if they would be willing to offer free legal advice to DSU students. In partnership with SUBA, Leo began running a free legal clinic that provides DSU students with resources and networking opportunities that can lead to legal advice and representation.

Leo’s involvement with Innovation Plaza also has been a major focal point of his college career. Since being intertwined with Southern Utah’s hub for innovation and entrepreneurialism, Leo has worked with over 20 companies and business leaders including Rick Adkin, who provides peer coaching throughout the campus community.

In reflecting on his college career, Leo said one of the biggest moments he will never forget is when he had the opportunity to attend a legislation session at the Utah State Capital with a professor. “I was surrounded by a lot of important people who were discussing and voting on bills, doing something that was important to the whole state,” Leo says. “I remember sitting there and thinking, ‘How did a Brazilian boy end up sitting here serving the State of Utah with the American flag on my chest?’” That was the moment that Leo understood how much of an impact that deciding to attend DSU has had on his life.

Paying this changing experience forward, Leo encourages anyone thinking about attending DSU to apply. This advocacy is thanks, in part, to his wonderful professors and mentors who have cheered him on during his time at Dixie State. “When you attend DSU, you are going to be put in the best position to succeed,” he says.