Honorary Degrees Conferred Upon Business Leader, Advocate for Immigrant Students in Higher Education
For immediate release
River Forest, IL—A Chicago-based global business leader and a national advocate for immigrant students in higher education were recognized this month with honorary degrees from Dominican University, which is marking its 125th anniversary this year.
Martin Cabrera, Jr., a native of Chicago’s Little Village and founder and chief executive officer of Cabrera Capital, and Dr. Miriam Feldblum, co-founder, president and chief executive officer of the Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration, were each presented with honorary doctorates during commencement ceremonies May 10.
In their commencement speeches, the recipients addressed topics of immigration, injustice and standing up for others.
Cabrera, the son of Mexican immigrants, spoke of his paternal grandfather, aunt and great-grandmother, who, despite being U.S. citizens, were deported to Mexico in 1930 under The Mexican Repatriation, a campaign enacted amid growing poverty and anti-immigrant sentiment across the country.
“Today, decades later, families still live with that fear of injustice, right here in Chicago and across the country,” Cabrera said. He called upon graduates to use their ability to “stand up for people who are told they don’t belong or they can’t succeed.”
“Let me remind you, your education gives you something powerful: a degree and a voice, a path and a platform,” he said.
Cabrera is a champion for the financial empowerment of underserved communities and investment within these communities.
Coming from humble beginnings, Cabrera used his life savings to create Cabrera Capital in 2001. Today, it is a global investment banking, institutional brokerage and real estate development firm with eight offices across the United States and dedicated trading personnel resources in London.
Through a partnership with Chicago Public Schools, the firm offers financial literacy programs for students and parents at R.H. Lee Elementary School on Chicago’s Southwest Side and establishes a college savings program for children.
Cabrera has been recognized with several honors, including the 2025 Robert F. Kennedy Ripple of Hope Award, one of the country’s most prestigious honors for humanitarian and philanthropic leadership, and the 2023 Global Citizen Award from World Business Chicago for elevating Chicago’s global influence and economy.
“Don’t let anyone tell you where you belong or stop you from achieving your goals,” Cabrera told graduates. “Always carry your Dominican Catholic values with you.”
Feldblum, the daughter of a Holocaust survivor, described being moved by her father’s refusal to stay silent against injustice.
“I don’t think it’s an accident that I became an immigration scholar, an immigration and education advocate,” she said. “My work is a reflection of [my father’s] stories and the immigrant neighborhood I grew up in. It became my call to action.”
Feldblum told graduates that their own stories matter, too.
“Your story lives in the people you stand up for, the communities you come from and join, your actions—small and large,” she said. “Your commitment to social justice, and your willingness to listen, speak and engage, creates change.”
The Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration, which Feldblum leads, is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization with a membership of nearly 600 leaders of public and private universities.
Launched in 2017, the alliance works to support immigrant, refugee and international students; help campuses navigate evolving national policies; and advance forward-thinking federal, state and campus-level policies and practices.
Feldblum is a national expert on the intersection of immigration and higher education, championing colleges and universities to stand together and challenge policies and actions that are unlawful or harmful to students. With the Presidents’ Alliance she has called on national leaders to enact commonsense policies that recognize the talent of immigrant and international students and their positive impact on the country. She has brought forth recommendations to Congress, including the creation of pathways to employment, residency and citizenship for undocumented immigrants who arrived in the U.S. as children. This has long been action supported by Dominican University and many students who have spoken on behalf of Dreamers through the years.
Feldblum also serves on the board of TheDream.US, a Dominican University partner and the country’s largest college and career success program for undocumented immigrant youth. Additionally, she is a nonresident fellow at the Migration Policy Institute, a nonpartisan think tank seeking to improve immigration policies.
Feldblum urged Dominican’s graduates to “act with awareness” in all they do.
“The people you meet, especially those whose experiences are very different from your own, will be your continuing education if you let them,” she said.
About Dominican University
Founded in 1901, Dominican University is a comprehensive, coeducational Catholic institution with campuses in River Forest and Chicago. The university offers an associate of arts in liberal arts and sciences; bachelor’s and master’s degrees through the Rosary College of Arts, Education, and Sciences, the College of Business, Information Studies, and Technology, and the Borra College of Health Sciences; as well as doctoral programs in information studies, applied social justice and psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner.
As Chicago's premier Catholic Hispanic-Serving Institution, Dominican is consistently recognized as a leader in academic excellence and value. U.S. News & World Report ranks Dominican University in the top 25 of Midwest regional master’s level universities, and #1 in Illinois for Best Value and ensuring the social mobility of its graduates.