Franklin & Marshall graduate Roger Avila-Vidal '22 was just an infant when his parents moved the family from Puebla, Mexico, to Pennsylvania in pursuit of a better life.

Now a senior know your rights specialist at Church World Services (CWS) in Lancaster, he brings a certain empathy to his role advocating for unaccompanied immigrant youth.

“I use my own experience as an immigrant, being able to relate to an extent because every case is different,” said Avila-Vidal, who returns to campus as a Reckoning with Lancaster Community Fellow for the 2026-2027 academic year.

Funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Reckoning with Lancaster is in phase three of its multi-year duration, focusing on refugees, migrants, and the question of welcome. A team of professors and students spent the summer investigating the history and lived experiences of immigration, displacement, and refuge in Lancaster County.

At CWS, Avila-Vidal works with unaccompanied children who are in shelters. He helps to inform youth of their rights, teaches them the basics of immigration court, and screens for potential legal relief.

“It's a very complicated system — especially if English is not their first language, or they’re only 6 years old. It's a whole process of making sure that they have some understanding to prepare themselves for what's to come,” he said.

Avila-Vidal credits courses at F&M — combined with his lived experience as an immigrant — with helping him navigate the complex legal world of refugee and immigrant resettlement.

“A few courses at Franklin & Marshall prepared me to understand policy, the history of many policies, and how the United States specifically works in immigration,” said Avila-Vidal, a joint studies major (international studies and sociology) with a French minor.

A Border Law and Policy course with Assistant Professor of American Studies Cristina Perez “still helps me understand the current policies that are happening right now,” Avila-Vidal said.

Since its founding in 1946 in response to the refugee crisis following World War II, CWS has helped resettle more than 865,000 refugees in the United States. In the 80 years since, the nonprofit continues this legacy through a national network of 20 local offices and 24 affiliate partners, working alongside communities to provide reception, housing, employment support, legal services and long-term integration support.

Avila-Vidal's extraordinary friendship with F&M benefactor, Ann Boyd Barshinger W’43, was featured in the Winter 2022 Franklin & Marshall Magazine.