Gina Rodriguez Announces College Scholarship for Undocumented Latinx Student

Gina Rodriguez is an absolute pro at making us cry, from her beautiful speech at the 2015 Golden Globes to countless heartwarming moments on Jane the Virgin. And on Tuesday, she picked up the mantle again when she announced a very special scholarship for an undocumented Latinx student.

Funds for the scholarship come from an unusual place: the budget for Jane the Virgin's Emmy promotion. Instead of spending what Gina calls "an insane amount of money" to do a "bizarre dance" to be in the running for an award this year (including putting on campaigning events and providing branded promotional swag), she convinced the show's network, The CW, to set up a four-year college tuition scholarship for an undocumented Latinx student, The Hollywood Reporter reports.

"Our show has always jumped at any opportunity to help me do something for the Latinx community," the star tells THR. "So I asked my showrunner, Jennie [Snyder Urman], if we could do something different with the money this year."

"It's taboo to talk about the money being spent, but it's the reality," Gina continued on the culture of campaigning that goes on in Hollywood. "I think sharing this might inspire other people to do something similar. You can desire recognition and, at the same time, decide to not play in the confines of the game as it's set up."

Gina partnered with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Los Angeles to find the student for the award. THR notes the young woman will be attending Princeton University in the fall.

The decision to make the scholarship go to an undocumented student is consistent with the show's history of shining a light on the Latinx experience of living in the United States. Since its first season, Jane the Virgin has addressed how immigration issues impact the show's central family, most notably a storyline about Jane's grandmother Alba, who seeks citizenship after being in the country for 40 years without documentation.

And paying off student debt is a problem Gina has been public about facing herself. In 2017, she revealed it took her 11 years after graduating to pay off the college loans she'd taken out to attend New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. (She posted her final payment the day she was nominated for her second Golden Globe Award, according to People.)

And while she's not following the traditional route of campaigning for an Emmy, Gina is still in the running for the award in September. Jane the Virgin's fifth season will premiere on The CW in January 2019.

Related: Gina Rodriguez Says More Latinx People in Movies Is About “Integrity”