Luis Garcia
Director, Migrant Student Services

Luis Alonzo Garcia’s life experiences relate entirely to the work he does at Migrant Student Services. Raised by 11 brothers and sisters, he is from a migrant farm worker background who earned his high school diploma by attending night school after dropping out during his high school career. He went on to become a first-generation college graduate from Ferris State University in Human Services. He served over two years with Peace Corps in Paraguay, South America and earned his master’s degree in Education from Michigan State University. 

Currently, he is serving as the Director of MSU’s Migrant Student Services and Principal Investigator (PI) of the following projects; College Assistance Migrant Scholars Program (CAMP Scholars), High School Equivalency Program (HEP), Identification & Recruitment Center (ID&R), National Migrant Scholars Internship Initiative (NMSI), Migrant Student Services International Initiatives (MSSII) and La Cosecha Project (LCP). These projects along with other initiatives and smaller grants, all focus on servicing Migrant/Seasonal Farmworker (MSFW) seeking to further their education. None of the programs existed at Michigan State University before Luis came to Michigan State University. Luis was instrumental in the creation of the Migrant Student Services Department. In 2020 Michigan State University’s President Stanley, assigned Luis as Co-Chair of the DEI Steering Committee for the institution.

Luis brings enormous skills and experience to Migrant Student Services and is pivotal in identifying issues related to farmworker families and their challenges. With his extensive knowledge and strong leadership skills, he works closely with MSU, and state, national and international leaders to ensure funding and engagement that supports MSFW issues but specifically advancing their education.

In his free time, Luis continues to nurture the wonders of his garden and cooking with his very own vegetables. One dream of his is to teach a cooking class and use his downtime to spend time with his family and two newborn identical twin grand-daughters.