Rico Givens-Padilla walked into North High School as a freshman in 2017 with a clear vision.
“He set himself apart from other kids immediately,” said Kathy Hoffman, his former college counselor at North High School. “He immediately was like, ‘I’m going to be president.’ He immediately got involved in student council.”
Givens-Padilla grew up in a single-parent household in government housing, but, according to Hoffman, he knew the importance of education from an early age. The SUNNYSIDE Neighborhood Scholarship is awarded to a high school senior demonstrating involvement in community service living in the Sunnyside neighborhood. In 2021, Rico Givens-Padilla was named the high school senior.
Givens-Padilla organized initiatives like the school’s annual blood drive and took leadership roles from the start. Hoffman recalled, “He was class president for three years in a row. He took all the advanced classes he could, and just kind of set himself apart immediately; it’s cool to be smart, it’s cool to be involved.”
Now, Givens-Padilla, who graduated as valedictorian from North in 2021, is graduating from Harvard University. His journey from North Denver to Harvard was marked by persistent effort, community support and a deep-rooted passion for activism and social justice. His commitment to his community and academic excellence recently earned him admission into multiple prestigious Ph.D. programs, including Columbia, Princeton, Yale, and Harvard, where he ultimately chose to stay.
“I was admitted to the programs in English at Columbia, and Princeton, American Studies and African American Studies at Yale, and African American Studies and English at Harvard,” Givens-Padilla said. “I actually decided to stay at Harvard last month. I was able to announce it to my friends and family at my thesis presentation.”
His thesis at Harvard focuses on an intricate and nuanced topic, representational ethics surrounding the sexual lives of enslaved people.
“Because of such domination under the institution, scholars of the slave narrative and neo-slave narrative have at times avoided discussing enslaved sexuality to avoid romanticizing the institution or imbuing the situation with matters of consent that weren’t there necessarily,” he said. “My argument is that by avoiding the questions of consent, or rather in foreclosing the enslaved consent, we foreclose them the possibility of sexuality, which I see as a fundamental aspect of human existence.”
At North High, Givens-Padilla was known not only for his academic achievements but also for his relentless activism. He became the student body president three times, regularly engaging in initiatives that addressed social and political issues. He vividly recalled organizing protests during significant national moments.
“The biggest walkout we led was alongside the walkouts of students across the country for the March for Our Lives protests following the Parkland High School shooting,” he said. “There were also protests after the first Trump election.”
His activist roots trace back even before high school.
“In middle school, I was drawn to in-class debates and researching arguments,” he said. “I decided early on that I wanted to be a lawyer. Protest and holding government officials accountable became an important part of my identity.”
His experiences were shaped significantly by North Denver’s rich history of activism, particularly the Chicano movement.
“Many activists of the Chicano movement were active in North Denver,” he said. “The National Chicano Youth Conference happened in Denver in 1969. There were family members, friends intimately involved. There’s something active and resistant about the soil of North Denver.”
Givens-Padilla credits his educators and mentors at North for fostering his growth.
“Many of my educators saw that spirit in me and did what they could to foster that,” he said. “My teachers were really focused on building community. The school isn’t just a place where students go to passively receive a curriculum, but it’s built on relationships with an understanding of community as a form of resistance.”
He particularly highlighted the importance of unique academic opportunities at North, like ethnic studies courses.
“Taking classes with Carla Cariño, my AP government and ethnic studies teacher, provided rare opportunities for students to have anti-colonial and decolonial thought courses as early as high school.”
Hoffman pointed to the role of school counselors and community resources as essential to student success at North High School. “We have a plethora of resources, and Rico used them all,” she said. “He connected with teachers, he went to the Future Center a lot. The Future Center is brought to us by the Denver Scholarship Foundation and TRiO and Gear Up. These full-time college advisors work with every single student, connecting them to scholarships, college visits, and one-on-one meetings.”
Beyond academics, Givens-Padilla’s involvement extended to grassroots campaigns during his high school years. “I worked on David Ortiz‘s campaign for the Colorado legislature, helping flip what was previously a rather conservative district,” he said.
“At the same time, I took a course through Harvard’s pre-college summer program about criminal law, and I thought deeply about issues like mass incarceration, gender issues, and police brutality.”
Givens-Padilla shared advice for current North High students aspiring to follow a similar path.
“Look backward,” he said. “Think of our forebears as inspiration. We’ve been through worse. Things might seem dark, but we’ve been through worse, and we can outlast this moment if we get to work and stick to what is important.”
Hoffman expressed pride not just in Givens-Padilla’s academic accomplishments but also in his impact on the community.
“I think Rico knew the importance of education immediately, and that’s how he was going to make a difference,” Hoffman said. “He had a very supportive mom, always here at North, which is special.”
As Givens-Padilla prepares to enter Harvard’s Ph.D. program in African American Studies and English, he carries forward the same commitment to scholarship and social change that he first had as a North High freshman.
While his teenage dream of being a lawyer has changed, Hoffman might be onto something with him running for president one day.
“I’m excited to continue doing my work here,” he said. “The journey is just beginning.”