This Hispanic Heritage Month, we are sharing highlights from three Vanderbilt Divinity students who participated in the Hispanic Scholars Program over the summer. In this series, you will hear how the program allowed them to better understand the cultural and faith traditions that inform Hispanic religious scholarship and helped them form bonds with students from across the world.
Carl Hildebrand is second-year M.Div. student studying chaplaincy – medicine, health, and society.
What was a highlight of your experience with the Hispanic Scholars Program this summer?
A major highlight was being at Villanova University, where campus banners honored both Pope Leo’s connection to the school and the former Villanova Wildcats — Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart, and Mikal Bridges — who helped lead the New York Knicks to their first NBA Championship in 53 years in 2026. Additionally, the FIFA World Cup also revealed the group’s unity in diversity, as students cheered for Mexico, Spain, Brazil, Ghana and Norway.
In class, the program invited deep reflection on the intersections of theology, history, culture and Latine/Hispanic community issues; after class, watching sports over shared meals and in communal spaces extended those conversations and brought students and faculty together. I cherished this unique balance of academic rigor, community and lighthearted sports rivalry.
How has your experience with the Hispanic Scholars Program — coupled with your coursework — advanced your research, scholarly interests and vocational pursuits?
As a master of divinity in chaplaincy student, the Hispanic Scholars Program helped me witness, understand and celebrate the cultural richness of the Latine/Hispanic community while also holding space for the deep wounds and divisions carried in both history and lived experience. Building literal and metaphorical bridges as someone outside the Latine/Hispanic community requires my patience, openness and respect.
With humility, I was grateful to participate in, support and empower the next generation of Latine/Hispanic leaders — an expression of the vocational commitment I seek to extend to all people.
What have you gained from the experience that you didn’t expect?
The Hispanic Scholars Program reaffirmed my deep love for all of God’s children and strengthened my ethic of care.
It helped me practice holding space for both joy and suffering as inseparable parts of the human experience — the paradox that happiness includes mourning, discovery involves loss and greatness in smallness and life emerges from death.
As a chaplain, I continue seeking wisdom with a servant’s heart, answering the call to reduce unnecessary suffering caused by greed, ego, and pride through daily practice, one interaction and one relationship at a time.
What would you say to other students looking to be involved in this program?
I would encourage other students to give the Hispanic Scholars Program serious consideration. It is more than a summer class; it is an immersive experience of learning, worship and fellowship with seminary students, professors and administrators they might not otherwise encounter at Vanderbilt Divinity School.