¿Qué pasa, HSIs?

This episode of ¿Qué pasa, HSIs? features Dra. Dez Zuniga, HSI faculty lead for the Abriendo Caminos project at Pasadena City College (PCC), along with four members of PCC’s Student Advisory Equipo. The Equipo is an HSI initiative with significant impact and influence at PCC, led by Latine student leaders who participate in committees and working groups to help build a campus culture for serving Latine students. Our guests share their many successes and challenges along the way, guided by the love of their femtor Dra Dez, who embodies servingness as an HSI advocate on campus and creator of the student advisory group. Each guest shares their path to HSI consciousness and their journeys into and through college, which are not linear. They also talk about working in solidarity to elevate the needs and voices of Latinx/a/o/e, Black/African American, and Asian Pacific Islander Desai American (APIDA) student populations at PCC. Listen to these students, who are fierce advocates for justice!

Guests: 

Dr. Desiree (Dez) Zuniga (she/her/ella), Associate Professor/Faculty Counselor/HSI Faculty Lead, Pasadena City College / HSI Title V Grant: Abriendo Caminos 

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/zunigadesiree

Enith Reyes (she/her/they/ella/elle), Lead Resource Advocate, Former Student Advisory Equipo Leader/Scholar (Cohort 1), Pasadena City College Pride Center/Undoc Dream Center

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/enithreyes/

Diego Iniguez (he/him/él), Student Advisory Equipo Leader/Scholar (Cohort 2-5), Pasadena City College / HSI Title V Grant: Abriendo Caminos 

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/diego-iniguez

Emmanuel Gómez (he/him/él), Student Advisory Equipo Leader/Scholar (Cohort 1-5), Pasadena City College / HSI Title V Grant: Abriendo Caminos 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emmanuel-gomez-48b435233/

Gustavo Sanchez (he/him/él), Student Advisory Equipo Leader/Scholar (Cohort 4-5), Pasadena City College / HSI Title V Grant: Abriendo Caminos 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gustavo-sanchez-lozada-552706252/

APA Citation: 

Garcia, G.A. (Host). (2023, October 22). Spaces of Empowerment: HSI Student Equipos. (No.307) [Audio podcast episode]. In ¿Qué pasa, HSIs?. https://www.ginaanngarcia.com/podcast/episode/a03adfcb/spaces-of-empowerment-hsi-student-equipos 

Attachments / Show Notes: 

• Instagram: @pcc_equipo https://www.instagram.com/pcc_equipo/

In this episode of ¿Qué pasa, HSIs? we continue down the path of understanding and conceptualizing STEM servingness with scholars from the Research and Equity Scholarship Institute, affectionately known as RESISTE, at San Diego State University. Dr. Felisha Herrera Villarreal is the director of the institute and widely published scholar who has procured external funding to support STEM servingness and STEM pathways research. Her scholarship employs advanced statistical techniques to examine contextual factors—institutional, geographic, demographic, political, and economic—that impact postsecondary outcomes. She is joined by Dr. Victoria Rodriguez-Operana, postdoctoral research fellow for RESISTE who co-leads efforts on externally funded projects housed at the institute. Her research experience in education, psychology, and human development helps her focus on the experiences and well-being of minoritized students in this work. This episode is full of STEM servingness knowledge creation that centers Hispanic-serving community colleges (HSCCs) and the intentional work that is happening across San Diego HSCCs to ensure successful pathways into STEM majors and STEM careers for students. We also talk about the mentoring (femtoring) and care that goes into doing HSI research at RESISTE.  

Guests:

Dr. Felisha Herrera Villarreal (she/her), Professor & Director of the Research & Equity Scholarship Institute, San Diego State University

X: @DrHerreraSDSU

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/felisha-herrera-villarreal (felishaherreravillarreal) 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/felisha.herrera

Dr. Victoria Rodriguez-Operana (she/her), Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Research & Equity Scholarship Institute, San Diego State University | & Lecturer, University of California, San Diego, Human Developmental Sciences

X: @drvictoriarod

APA Citation:

Garcia, G.A. (Host). (2023, October 15). Learning with RESISTE: STEM Servingness Research. (No.306) [Audio podcast episode]. In ¿Qué pasa, HSIs?. https://www.ginaanngarcia.com/podcast/episode/9d6b91b4/learning-with-resiste-stem-servingness-research 

Attachments / Show notes: 

• X: @resiste_sdsu

We turn the focus to one emerging HSI in this episode of ¿Qué pasa, HSIs? to learn about how one campus has prepared to become an HSI. Our guest, Dra. Sandy López serves as the Director of the Undocumented Student Resource Center at Northern Illinois University (NIU), an emerging HSI in Illinois. Sandy has over 30 years of experience serving students, staff, faculty, and school business officials as an elementary school teacher, academic advisor, teaching consultant, administrator, and most importantly as a mentor and student advocate. Dra. López talks about her work as an unapologetic educator activist who is heavily involved on campus and in the community, working with and for undocumented students, and shares resources that educators can access. She provides a wealth of information about how NIU has intentionally emerged towards HSI. Dra. López’s energy is unmatched in this episode! 

Guest:

Dra. Sandy López (she/her/ella), Director of the Undocumented Student Resource Center, Northern Illinois University

Twitter: @NIU_UndocCenter | Instagram: @niu_undoccenter

APA Citation: 

Garcia, G.A. (Host). (2023, October 8). Advocacy for Undocumented Students at One Emerging HSI. (No.305) [Audio podcast episode]. In ¿Qué pasa, HSIs?. https://www.ginaanngarcia.com/podcast/episode/a3a604f3/advocacy-for-undocumented-students-at-one-emerging-hsi 

Attachments / Show Notes: 

• Undocumented Student Resource Center | Northern Illinois University

In this episode, Aaron Cortes talks about how efforts to create pathways to college for Latine/x students is a part of servingness. Creating pathways is essential to access to higher education, yet institutions must do this work with the student and their families at the center. Aaron serves as the Director of the STEM initiatives (STEAM Pathways) at the Center for College Access and Success of Northeastern Illinois University (NEIU). In this capacity, he directs the TRIO Upward Bound, TRIO Upward Bound Math and Science, and 21st Century Community of Learning Centers. In addition to directing outreach programs, Mr. Cortes is an adjunct professor for the Computer Science department at NEIU. In this episode you will learn about Aaron, his work, and his ideas for working in collaboration across institutions and communities as a part of servingness.

Guest: Aaron Cortes Minor (he/him/el), Director, STEAM Pathways, Center for College Access and Success, Northeastern Illinois University

Social Media: Twitter: @Aaron_Cortes | Instagram: @aaroncortesminor | LinkedIn: aaroncortesminor 

APA Citation: 

Garcia, G.A. (Host). (2023, October 1). Working with pre-college students and their communities as servingness. (No.304) [Audio podcast episode]. In ¿Qué pasa, HSIs?. https://www.ginaanngarcia.com/podcast/episode/acfc1fc9/working-with-pre-college-students-and-their-communities-as-servingness 

Season 3, Episode 3 takes us to the next level of understanding servingness. In this plática, I talk to 5 educators, activists, artists, poetas, and storytellers who take us on a journey to understanding the embodiment of servingness, meaning it is lived out daily in all practices and ideologies at Chicano Student Programs (CSP) at UC Riverside. CSP has been embodying servingness for 50 years by design. The campus and the entire UC system can and should follow CSP, and so should our listeners. Dra. Arlene Cano Matute, a community based scholar, practitioner and mother serves as the Assistant Director of CSP where she nurtures a comunidad that leads the way for Chicanx/Latinx student success in the UC system. In this episode we learn about the Encuentros, Student Participatory Action Research, and Testimonios(ESPARiTU) research project documenting the historical and present-day experiences and trajectories of Chicana/o/x and Latina/o/x students at a UC HSRI. She is joined by 4 UCR graduates/alums, alexis meza, Ashley Nicole Diaz, Bibiana Canales, and Brenda De Angel Vega who share their stories of learning, growth, and healing under the care of their femtor Arlene, who embodies servingness con corazon. If you aren’t engaging students in HSI sensemaking, you should be, and this episode provides an example of what this looks like.

Guests:

Arlene Cano Matute (she/her/hers/ella), Assistant Director, Chicano Student Programs & PI, Encuentros, Student Participatory Action Research, and Testimonios (ESPARiTU)

Instagram: @arlene.cano1 | X: @csp_ucr 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/arlene-cano-matute-ph-d-6a840679/

alexis meza (He/Him/His), Graduate Coordinator NYU Office of Diversity, Equity, and Belonging, M.A. Candidate in Higher Education at New York University

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/alexismeza09

Ashley Nicole Diaz (She/Ella/They/Elle), Youth Development Specialist for DLI 1st/2nd Grade Students, H.E.A.R.T.S

Instagram: @pedazos_demi_alma

Bibiana Canales (she/they) 

Brenda De Angel Vega (She/Her/Ella)

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brenda-de-angel-vega-1118a4211 

IG: @b_firebaugh

APA Citation: 

Garcia, G.A. (Host). (2023, September 24). Embodying Servingness: UCR Chicano Student Programs. (No.303) [Audio podcast episode]. In ¿Qué pasa, HSIs?. https://www.ginaanngarcia.com/podcast/episode/966a6021/embodying-servingness-ucr-chicano-student-programs

Attachments / Show Notes: 

• https://csp.ucr.edu/ 

• https://www.ucop.edu/hsi-initiative/campuses/index.html#riverside

• Digital Collection: https://calisphere.org/collections/27876/

In this episode we focus on servingness in math and mathematics spaces on campus. I talk to Dr. Luis Leyva, associate professor of mathematics education & STEM higher education at Vanderbilt University, Dr. Omayra Ortega, associate professor of mathematics & statistics at Sonoma State University, and Ronimar López-Bazán, a first generation nonbinary Chicane mathematics graduate from Sonoma State University. Luis, Omayra, & Ronimar talk about the ways white supremacy and heteropatriarchy have dominated college level math and share ideas for disrupting it. They also talk about the TIPS [Transformational Inclusion in Postsecondary Education] project, funded by an NSF HSI grant and led by Dr. Ortega, Dr. Leyva, and other co-PIs and student researchers such as Ronimar. This episode is full of knowledge about changing mindsets for faculty and educators for servingness, organizational approaches to servingness within mathematics and beyond, and disrupting deficit thinking about how students engage in math. 

Guests:

Luis Antonio Leyva (he/him/él), Assistant Professor of Mathematics Education, Vanderbilt University, Peabody College of Education & Human Development 

Twitter: @LuisLeyvaEdu 

Faculty Webpage: https://peabody.vanderbilt.edu/bio/luis-leyva

Research Lab Webpage: https://my.vanderbilt.edu/prismlab/

Dr. Omayra Ortega (they/she), Associate Professor of Applied Mathematics & Statistics, Assistant Dean of Research & Internships, School of Science & Technology, Sonoma State University

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/omayra-ortega-94859bb/

Faculty webpage: https://math.sonoma.edu/faculty-staff/omayra-ortega

Ronimar López-Bazán (They/them/theirs), Student Assistant, Sonoma State University 

Instagram: @Veryberryqueer

APA Citation: 

Garcia, G.A. (Host). (2023, September 17). Disrupting Racialized Cisheteropatriarchal Math Classrooms for Servingness. (No.302) [Audio podcast episode]. In ¿Qué pasa, HSIs?. https://www.ginaanngarcia.com/podcast/episode/9ec0eda5/disrupting-racialized-cisheteropatriarchy-in-math-classrooms-for-servingness 

Attachments / Show notes: 

• Leyva, L. A. (2022). Latin* queer students intersectionality of experiences in mathematics education as a white, cisheteropatriarchal space: A Borderlands perspective. In A. Lischka, E. B. Dyer, R. S. Jones, J. N. Lovett, J. Strayer, & S. Drown (Eds.), Proceedings of the 44th Annual Meeting of the North American Chapter of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education (pp. 79-97). Nashville, TN. https://doi.org/10.51272/pmena.44.2022.

In the first episode of season 3 of ¿Qué pasa, HSIs? I talk to Dr. Whitney Pirtle, Associate Professor of Sociology and McArthur Foundation Chair in International Justice and Human Rights at the University of California, Merced, where she also directs the Sociology of Health and Equity (SHE) Lab. As a formative critical race scholar, her research explores issues relating to race, identity, inequality, health equity, and Black feminist praxis. Her latest work includes writing on Covid-19 pandemic inequities and institutional anti-Blackness. In this episode we talk about her experiences as 1 of 5 Black tenure track faculty members at an HSI and about how she stepped into research about anti-Blackness within HSI spaces. While Dr. Pirtle describes ways that we can acknowledge and disrupt anti-Blackness in HSIs, she also tells her story about how she has mentored Black students and protected them from anti-Blackness, while also thriving as a critical scholar and teacher who centers race and raced students in her classroom. In this episode Dr. Pirtle asks, “what’s good, HSIs?”

Guest: Whitney Pirtle (she/her), Associate Professor of Sociology, University of California, Merced

Social Media: Twitter: @thephdandme | Instagram: @whitneypirtle_thephdandme

Website: https://sites.google.com/view/whitney-pirtle-phd/home

APA Citation: 

Garcia, G.A. (Host). (2023, September 10). Anti-Blackness at HSIs. (No.301) [Audio podcast episode]. In ¿Qué pasa, HSIs?. https://www.ginaanngarcia.com/podcast/episode/963b89a4/anti-blackness-at-hsis

Show Notes 

For the final episode of the second season of ¿Qué pasa, HSIs? I talk to Katia Paz who serves at the inaugural Associate Provost for Hispanic Initiatives & International Programs at Montclair State University. Dr. Paz is a part of the Provost’s senior leadership team and is a professor and founding chair of the Family Science and Human Development Department. In this episode we discuss some of her challenges and successes in enacting servingness in her position. She draws on her own research with families and communities to think about servingness. We also talk about the unique aspects of enacting servingness in New Jersey.

Guest: Katia Paz (she/her/ella), Associate Provost for Hispanic Initiatives & International Programs, Montclair State University

Linkedln: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katia-paz-goldfarb-692176161/

In this episode of ¿Qué pasa, HSIs? we learn with Dra. Angélica Garcia who serves as president of Berkeley City College (BCC), a Hispanic-serving community college in California. Dr. Garcia is passionate about issues of access, equity, and student success in higher education. For nearly two decades, her professional experiences have included teaching and administrative roles in non-profit organizations, secondary education, and higher education. She believes that community colleges serve as pathways to liberation for historically minoritized communities and promotes this in institutional reform efforts. Come learn with this poderosa on how to lead HSIs through an anti-racist lens, how to approach governance when doing equity work, and how to engage with policy in a way that elevates servingness.

Dra. Angélica Garcia (she | her | ella), President, Berkeley City College

@BCCPrezGarcia (Twitter) | Dr. Angélica Garcia (LinkedIn) | BCCPrezGarcia (Instagram) | @gmangelica (Instagram)

Show Notes: 

https://www.berkeleycitycollege.edu/

https://cccolegas.org/

https://www.berkeleycitycollege.edu/blog/berkeley-city-college-president-angelica-garcia-joins-excelencia-in-educations-presidents-for-latino-student-success/

https://www.berkeleycitycollege.edu/blog/bcc-president-dr-angelica-garcia-selected-for-aspen-institutes-new-presidents-fellowship/

Students are at the center of this episode of ¿Qué pasa, HSIs? as they should be in all servingness efforts. This episode features the Title V Ambassadors from Mt. San Antonio College (Mt. SAC) in California, including Crystal Chavira-Orduñez, Arlene Reyes, Estefania Sanchez, and Graciela Padilla, and their advisor Diana Felix who serves as Faculty Coordinator of Title V Student Development at Mt. SAC. The Title V Ambassadors have been an instrumental part of the Title V efforts on campus, including planning and launching a Latinx Professional Development Institute for students and conducting research on how HSIs can better serve students. They have attended professional conferences to learn about HSIs and higher education and shared that knowledge with the campus community. They also successfully transferred to four-year institutions while doing HSI work. Come learn with these amazing students and celebrate their successes. 

Guests: Mt SAC HSI Equipo | @hsi_equipo

Crystal Chavira-Orduñez (they/them/elle), Title V Ambassador, Instagram: @cmco2113

Arlene Reyes (she/her), Title V Ambassador, Instagram: @arleeenee_

Estefania Sanchez (she/they/he), Title V Ambassador, Instagram: @e.stef_nia

Graciela Padilla (she/her), Title V Ambassador, linkedin.com/in/graciela-alejandra-padilla-82161821a 

Diana Felix (she/her/ella), Faculty Coordinator, Title V Student Development, Instagram: yayafelix81

Show notes: 

https://www.mtsac.edu/titlev/