Jose Antonio Vargas is the founder of Define American, a campaign that seeks to elevate the conversation around immigration. In June 2011, Vargas revealed and chronicled his life in America as an undocumented immigrant in an essay that was published by the New York Times Magazine. A year later, he appeared on the cover of TIME magazine internationally with fellow undocumented immigrants as part of a follow-up cover story.

Vargas is a multimedia storyteller who has written for numerous national publications including the Huffington Post, Washington Post, New Yorker, The Atlantic, and Rolling Stone. He was also part of a team that won a Pulitzer Prize for covering the Virginia Tech massacre. More information about Vargas and his work can be found at joseantoniovargas.com.

Since 1993, Loyola has sponsored an annual convocation in honor of the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., to provide a forum for all members of the greater Baltimore community to come together to explore the issues of social justice, politics, racial identity, and spirituality. Previous Martin Luther King, Jr., Convocation speakers include filmmaker Spike Lee, University of Pennsylvania professor Michael Eric Dyson, singer Bernice Johnson Reagon, author Nell Irvin Painter, and University of Maryland professor Sheri Parks.