Community College of Baltimore County has named Ixtle Montuffar as its 2023 President’s Distinguished Graduate award recipient. The award, which comes with a $2,500 transfer scholarship and the opportunity to serve as commencement speaker, is given annually to a student who has shown exemplary leadership and a commitment to help others. Montuffar will be presented with the award during CCBC’s Commencement ceremony, 1:30 p.m., Sunday, June 4 at CCBC Essex.
Intellectually gifted, exceptional and a strong sense of social justice are descriptors used by CCBC professors in characterizing Montuffar. A first-generation college student, Montuffar is very humble, yet exudes a clear sense of self, confidence and maturity beyond their years. Notably, that wasn’t always the case, self-assurance is a trait that was built over time.
A member of the LGTBQ+ community as well as Indigenous, more specifically Hñähñu, a Native group from lands now called México, Montuffar faced many uphill societal battles growing up, causing feelings of doubt and low self-esteem. Montuffar fought hard to overcome those feelings while in high school, and after enrolling at CCBC, felt happy to find a place of belonging.
Montuffar was a member of the Progressive Student Alliance and the CCBC Essex Garden Club and one of CCBC’s Fresh Faces student ambassadors. They graduated Summa Cum Laude with a degree in General Education and a certificate in Global Studies. Montuffar’s next steps are earning a bachelor’s degree in Environmental Studies and pursuing a career in ethnobotany.