Former migrant student Rodolfo Arevalo, the first Latino president of a Washington state university, spoke with migrant students, parents and educators at the 2007 LEAP Conference.
First Hispanic College
President Trying
To Open Opportunities
For Latino Students
By Editor Ken Harvey
One year ago, Dr. Rodolfo Arevalo became the first Latino president of a Washington state university, taking the reins of Eastern Washington University.
The son of migrants, Arevalo traveled the country working in the fields between their home base in Edinburg, Texas, and Walla Walla and Yakima Valley in Washington.
But despite having little education themselves, Arevalo’s parents emphasized education as the key to their children’s success.
“The reason my parents stopped migrating was so their children could all graduate from high school,” Arevalo told participants at the annual LEAP Conference in February.
Arevalo faced the same obstacles as most migrant students. He flunked the first grade for lack of English language skills.
“I became even more determined because of that experience,” he said, “and by the fourth grade I was taking fifth-grade classes.
“All of you will meet such challenges,” he said. “The question is do you rise above them or let them demean you.”
As a senior in high school, Arevalo was already taking college-level classes, but he, like many Hispanic students, was discouraged from planning for college.
“You’re not really college material,” he was told. “That led me to ask myself, ‘Do I really need others to help me become what I want to be?’”
After that Arevalo became his own best counselor, learning as much as he could about area colleges, the registration process and available financial aid, and he went ahead and successfully applied to college on his own.
Arevalo graduated from college in just three years, then went to the University of Michigan where he achieved his master’s and doctoral degrees and was immediately hired as an assistant dean at the University of Texas – Austin at just 27. A few years later he became an associate dean at a California university.
The first-generation college graduate rose quickly through academia to become the provost and then vice president for academic affairs at the University of Texas – Pan American.
One of his primary responsibilities in his earlier positions was recruiting.
“A lot of what we did was try to connect the university to the community,” he said. “Community connections is where the rubber meets the road. The more we are engaged in the community, the more we help it develop.”
Arevalo told students at the LEAP conference that education is the key to their success.
“Higher education is critical not only to me but to you,” he said. He noted that:
· High school dropouts are four times more likely to be unemployed than college graduates.
· College graduates make 60 percent more money than high school dropouts.
“The picture is even worse for low-income students,” Arevalo said, noting that:
· Only 60 percent of low-income students graduate from high school.
· Only one-third enroll in college.
· Only one-tenth of low-income students ever achieve their bachelor’s degree.
· The percentage of low-income students achieving a college education has dropped from 12 percent in 1980 to 9.7 percent today. And the percentage of middle-income students achieving a college education has also dropped since 1980 from 28 percent to 21 percent.
“Low-income students have a harder time getting into and successfully graduating from college,” he said. “For those who are middle- or lower-income, it has become harder and harder to afford college.”
During that period of time, student grants have been replaced by loan programs, he said.
Four factors effecting college success, according to Arevalo, are:
· They achieve the necessary academic preparation in high school.
· They understand the link between college and career success. “If you understand the importance, you’ll keep your eye on the prize.”
· They associate with peers who plan to go to college. “That’s a no-brainer.”
· They “take steps to make college affordable,” including pursuing financial aid, scholarships and work-study opportunities. “You have to take proactive steps.”
“These are some of the things we try to do to help students at Eastern Washington University,” says the college president. “Eastern Washington has a great interest in creating opportunities for first-generation college students.”
Arevalo said if educators can help a child of field workers go to college and become an engineer, for example, “you’ve changed that family 360 degrees” and impacted the entire community.
Now 18 percent of EWU’s freshmen are Hispanic, compared to only 7 percent of the student body overall, Arevalo said. The improved recruiting efforts gives EWU a higher percentage of Hispanic students than any other college in the state.
“Students need to be able to grasp their dreams and move forward,” Arevalo said.