CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Gloria Porras, a former student of the Intensive English Institute at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, apologized for her English during a March 26, 2025 interview.
She said there were still words she stumbled over, and she still gets a little nervous when she speaks the language, but she had no reason to apologize.
Her English was perfect.
Before spending two years learning English at the IEI, Porras served as a Constitutional Court Justice in Guatemala from 2011 to 2021.
Forced to leave her country in April 2021, she spent time in the United States meeting and networking with social justice advocates, human rights advocates, representatives, and other organizations before becoming one of the first fellows in the Illinois Scholars at Risk (ISAR) program in January 2023.
In addition to being an alumna of the IEI, an ISAR fellow, and a former court justice, Porras is also a mother, a wife, a friend, a leader, a student always ready to learn, and an inspiration.
And during her March interview, IEI instructor Jennifer Brown added another role to that list — a hero.
April 13, 2021
Porras served as a Constitutional Court Justice in Guatemala from 2011 to 2021. She was also named chief magistrate (justice) for the 2015-2016 and 2020-2021 sessions.
Before her tenure in Guatemala’s highest tribunal, she was the secretary general of the Public Ministry of Guatemala and occupied several positions within the country’s Institute for Public Criminal Defense.
Her record as a judge shows votes to deny amnesty for crimes against humanity, as well as decisions establishing strong precedent in favor of indigenous rights.
In March 2021, Porras was elected to a third consecutive term on the court.
However, on April 13, 2021, after serving as a justice for over a decade, the Guatemalan Congress blocked Porras from taking her seat on the court.
“Committed civil servants face systematic smear campaigns and attacks aimed at undermining public support and delegitimizing their work,” Porras wrote in an April 20, 2021, column for Americas Quarterly. “I have faced over 70 lawsuits — more than 30 remain active — and have been routinely targeted by similar campaigns since 2017, some of which even reveal personal information to intimidate me. When Congress blocked my confirmation, I lost my immunity and became more vulnerable to these attacks.”
Porras left Guatemala that same night just before her judicial immunity was set to expire and the next day she arrived in America.
Scholars at Risk
Scholars at Risk is an international network of institutions and individuals whose mission is to protect scholars and promote academic freedom.
The organization arranges temporary academic positions at member universities and colleges, such as Illinois, to offer safety to scholars facing grave threats in their home countries.
In doing so, scholars’ ideas are not lost, and they can keep working until conditions improve and they are able to return to their country.
Scholars at Risk also provides advisory services for scholars and hosts, campaigns for scholars who are imprisoned or silenced in their home countries, monitoring of attacks on higher education communities worldwide, and leadership in deploying new tools and strategies for promoting academic freedom and improving respect for university values everywhere.
“The Scholars at Risk program was wonderful,” Porras said during the March 26 interview. “They understood my situation in Guatemala. The program gave me emotional support and an opportunity.”
On October 14, 2022, the University of Illinois announced their enrollment as a partner institution with the Scholars at Risk network, granting scholars the opportunity to research and study at the university for a year.
The program welcomed 10 scholars to campus for the first time in January 2023.
Porras learned that she was going to be one of those scholars, but she had a problem. She wasn’t fluent in English.
Learning English with the IEI
Porras had very low English proficiency at first, so before starting her tenure as an ISAR fellow, she started her journey on campus as a student at the IEI.
She arrived on campus in March 2022 to take courses and participate in extensive co-curricular and extra-curricular activities at the IEI and she did so for two years, growing her confidence until she was able to communicate in English for daily and professional purposes.
But learning English, she said, wasn’t exactly easy.
She explained that up until that moment she had never studied English in her entire life.
“I felt like a kid again, doing homework,” Porras said, laughing and smiling. “But I knew if I didn’t practice English, I would forget it.”
Porras was determined to learn and even though she was nervous she said she had a positive attitude and approach to learning. After all, she explained that it was Brown who told her that a person’s attitude was the most important clue needed to find a solution.
Porras persisted and with the help from instructor and lecturers like Brown, Joy Howard, and Norb Huether, she started to see results.
“In only one year I learned so much,” Porras said triumphantly. “I learned to speak and write in English…and it proved that age is not important. If you want to do something you can. I tried learning a new language, and I did. My age is not important, my attitude is.”
Getting Ice Cream
Overall, Porras said learning English at the IEI and being an ISAR fellow was a life-changing experience.
She said the university and the IEI gave her opportunities she didn’t think she’d have, and she simply enjoyed her life on campus surrounded by peers from other countries who also taught her new and amazing things.
Above all, Porras highlighted how grateful she was for everything she learned from the IEI and from being an ISAR fellow.
“I’ll always remember this school,” Porras said. “When I decided to come here, I recovered my life.”
Brown returned the same, heart-felt sentiment and expressed that meeting Porras was also a wonderful learning and growth opportunity for the IEI.
“You were really one of the first people we closely worked with for the Scholars at Risk program,” Brown said to Porras with her hands held over her heart. “Our experience with you helped prepare us to help set others like you up for success.”
Porras closed her eyes and paused for a moment before she responded to Brown.
“You are wonderful people, Jenny. I love you and I’ll always remember my first day with you. You bought me an ice cream,” Porras quietly said, nodding her head reminiscing.
Brown beamed and told Porras that what she said was deeply appreciated and acknowledged that through their conversations she herself had learned so much.
Then Brown leaned in, and with a bright smile, she said to Porras, “You are my hero.”
Analicia Haynes is the storytelling and social media specialist at Illinois International. She can be reached at ahayn2@illinois.edu.