S T A N I S L A U S S T AT E
FALL 2022
M A G A Z I N E
GET THERE
FROM HERE
A Word from the
PRESIDENT real time with people who care deeply about their education and future.
Fall has always been one of my favorite seasons. I love the idea of returning to campus and experiencing the joy of meeting new people and engaging in the love of learning. Welcoming new and returning students is always a highlight for me, but this semester feels extra special.
Of course, there have been challenges, but all universities experience transitions for various reasons. Just as seasons change, people change and adapt. We have taken the lessons we learned from COVID to improve the college odyssey and have looked toward these transitions with a sense of optimism.
Given the events of the past two and a half years, this is not just another run-of-the-mill fall semester. It’s a transformative semester. We are finally emerging from the darkest shadows cast by COVID-19 and are experiencing a new beginning.
As I enter my 37th year with the California State University and my sixth as Stan State’s president, I’m proud of the work we are doing to make our University a place where we all belong. I look forward to our continued efforts to position students, their families, our alumni and the community for future success.
We are officially back on campus in significant numbers. Our campus community members — especially our new students — have been able to come together and embrace what it feels like to be on a college campus with dedicated faculty, staff and peers with whom they can connect face-to-face. Our students, faculty and staff have demonstrated a spirit of perseverance and endurance.
Please join me in celebrating this invigorating season of change. Let us embrace our students and each other in nurturing our precious and exceptional environment devoted to learning and growth. Warmly,
We are here. We are celebrating. And we are working hard to provide our students with a memorable journey where they can connect in
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Ellen
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CONTENTS
STAN Magazine is published by the Office of Communications and Public Affairs in the Division of University Advancement at Stanislaus State. President
Ellen Junn Vice President for University Advancement
Michele Lahti
Senior Associate Vice President for Communications, Marketing and Media Relations
Marketing Specialist
Kristen Sederquist (’13)
Digital Communications Specialist
Sara Balisha (’13)
Senior Graphic Designer
Steve Caballero (’21) Graphic Designer
Rosalee Rush
Katie Dowling
Director for Communications and Creative Services
Senior Web and Electronic Communications Developer
Kristina Stamper (’06) Senior Writer and Content Specialist
Donna Birch Trahan
Content Specialists
Gina Oltman Lori Gilbert (’91) Kristin Platts
Mandeep Khaira (’02) Photographers
Tracee Littlepage Katie Dowling Kristen Sederquist (’13) Steve Caballero (’21) Media Production Specialist
Frankie Tovar (’11)
Stay in touch!
This Page: Stockton Campus Dean Faimous Harrison engages a young attendee visiting the University’s booth during Stockton’s annual Family Day at the Park on September 17. On the Cover: A Stan State education has helped propel alumna Annelisa Cole into her career. Read more about her inspiring story on page 21.
04 News Briefs
16 Get There From Here
10 Making a Case for More Law School Students
22 A Continuing Legacy
12 Arts Enjoying a Renaissance
24 The Power of Positivity 28 Dressed for Poetic Success 30 Sowing Seeds for Change
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Phone: (209) 667-3131 cpa@csustan.edu www.csustan.edu/stan-magazine If you receive more than one copy of STAN Magazine, please pass it along to a friend of Stanislaus State. If you would like to support Stanislaus State, visit www.csustan.edu/giving. Stanislaus State serves a diverse student body of more than 10,000 at two locations in the Central Valley — a beautiful 228acre campus in Turlock and the Stockton Campus, located in University Park, a 102-acre site in Stockton’s historic Magnolia District. Widely recognized for dedicated faculty, high-quality academic programs and exceptional value, the University offers more than 100 majors, minors and areas of concentration, along with 15 master’s degree programs, seven credential programs and a doctorate in educational leadership. We are a proud member of the 23-campus California State University system.
FALL 2022
NEWS BRIEFS
600 STUDENTS SETTLE INTO ON-CAMPUS STUDENT HOUSING A balloon arch, music from KCSS, free donuts and President Ellen Junn handing out potted succulents greeted about 400 Stanislaus State students who moved into the Residential Life Village on Move-In Day 2022, just days before the fall semester began. It was the busiest day of move-in week, which ended with 600 students living in on-campus student housing, according to Renee Giannini, director of Housing and Residential Life.
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“About 100 students were already here because they lived here this summer, and we had other students come on other days of the week,” Giannini said. “We stagger the move-in days over a week because it works best for the students and their families.” With the celebratory atmosphere surrounding her, Giannini noted it was the most jubilant move-in day since 2019, as the COVID pandemic greatly reduced the number of students living in the Residence Life Village in 2020 and 2021. As students unpacked their clothes, school supplies and other items in their fully furnished digs, they talked excitedly about the academic year that was about to begin. “I’m honestly looking forward to being on campus, making friends and just getting to know a lot of people,” said Aridaid Isordia, a third-year psychology student from Dos Palos. For Diego Delgado, a first-year kinesiology student from Turlock, moving into student housing is a chance to experience independence and get the full college experience. “I kind of wanted to do my own thing this year and move out of the house,” he said. “I’m excited about living here. It’s my first time living away from home.”
ROSE ELENA MCAULIFFE TAPPED AS VP FOR BUSINESS AND FINANCE
BRAD PORFILIO NAMED DEAN OF THE COLLEGE OF EDUCATION, KINESIOLOGY AND SOCIAL WORK
Rose Elena McAuliffe has been appointed as Stanislaus State’s vice president for Business and Finance and Chief Financial Officer. She comes from California State University, Sacramento, where she served as the associate vice president for Budget, Planning and Administration and chief budget officer.
Brad Porfilio was named dean of the College of Education, Kinesiology and Social Work after a nationwide search.
McAuliffe has more than 25 years of experience in finance, higher education, investments and government, working in diverse roles.
Porfilio previously served as a tenured professor and director of the Ed.D. Leadership Program at San José State. Prior to that, he was the associate dean of Research and Faculty Affairs at Seattle University. In addition, he served as the director of the Ed.D. Program for Social Justice at California State University, East Bay and held other leadership positions within higher education.
Prior to working at Sacramento State, McAuliffe was chief of financial planning, policy and budgeting at CalPERS, where she managed the system’s multi-billiondollar budget and financial operations.
Porfilio holds a Ph.D. in Social Foundations of Education from State University of New York, Buffalo. “It is with great enthusiasm and honor that I join the senior leadership team as the dean of the College of Education, Kinesiology, and Social Work at Stan State,” Porfilio said. “In this new role, I will build upon my years of leadership at San José State, Cal State East Bay, and with the California Council of Teacher Education and contribute to equipping more students with the skills, knowledge and abilities needed to address the challenges facing schools, social service agencies and communities across the State of California. Furthermore, as a first-generation college graduate, I look forward to playing an integral role in supporting the nearly 75 percent of our students at Stan State who are first-generation to become successful both academically and professionally.”
At Sacramento State, she increased transparency in the budgetary and financial processes and revamped the university’s annual report on budget, expenditures and financial information. She implemented the new process of position management for the campus and introduced a position management policy. McAuliffe earned her bachelor’s degrees in international relations and Spanish from the University of California, Davis. She also holds her master’s in business administration from the Keller Graduate School of Management in addition to her master’s in accounting. “I am very thankful that I will be able to remain in the CSU system and continue to support the great students that we represent,” McAuliffe said.
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FALL 2022
NEWS BRIEFS
TERENCE PITRE JOINS STAN STATE AS DEAN OF COLLEGE OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION After a nationwide search, Stanislaus State named Terence Pitre as dean of the College of Business Administration. Pitre arrived from Bowling Green State University where he served as department chair of Accounting and Information Systems. Additionally, he was appointed as the Richard W. and Patricia A. Maurer Family Distinguished Endowed Professor. His accomplishments include leadership in college and departmental Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) accreditation as well as guiding the department and the college through the COVID-19 pandemic. “I am very excited to join the Stan State community,” Pitre said. “I am attracted to the school’s strong sense of mission and providing a transformative education to those in the Central Valley and beyond. I promise the stakeholders to always serve with integrity and passion and lead with vision, not sight.”
AARON ALLAIRE NAMED ATHLETICS DIRECTOR Aaron Allaire erased “interim” from his title when he was named Stanislaus State’s athletics director.
director for facilities and game operations, having managed game operations since 2005.
He had been named interim athletics director in February 2022, when he was a senior associate athletics director.
He also has served as a lecturer in the Department of Kinesiology since 2008.
A graduate of Stanislaus State who played third base and catcher for the Warriors, Allaire was assistant head baseball coach for 11 years beginning in 2003, including the 2008 season when the Warriors won a school-record 37 games and 2009, when it was ranked No. 1 nationally by Collegiate Baseball.
“I am extremely appreciative of the opportunity to serve as director of athletics at Stan State,” Allaire said. “As a studentathlete, coach and administrator, I have seen so many great accomplishments from our student-athletes, and I intend to expand on those and help provide the greatest studentathlete experience possible. “I have a great deal of pride for Stan State and our mission and values. I can’t wait to continue building ties between the Athletics Department and the local community, as well as partnering with other campus entities in a collaborative effort to provide even greater opportunities for our students.”
He moved into administration in 2014 as assistant athletics
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KARI KNUTSON MILLER NAMED DEAN OF EXTENDED AND INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION
ALUMNA VICKI JONES NAMED DIRECTOR OF SAFETY AND RISK MANAGEMENT
Kari Knutson Miller, who came to Stan State in August 2021 from Cal State Fullerton as interim dean of Extended and International Education, has been named dean of the department. In less than a year at Stan State, Knutson Miller initiated the build-out of noncredit and professional development programs to enhance service to the region and meet workforce needs. She secured a partnership with Amazon to support the application of employee educational benefits to enrollment at Stan State. She also continued Extended Education’s advocacy and support for Graduation Initiative 2025 through winter and summer course fee waivers.
Vicki Jones has become Stanislaus State’s director of Safety and Risk Management, replacing the retired Kellie Marshall, who guided Stan State through the COVID-19 pandemic. Before her appointment at Stan State, Jones served as deputy director of environmental health science for the Merced County Community and Economic Development Department since 2018. Prior to that, she was a supervising environmental health specialist for the county for seven years.
At Fullerton, she served as interim provost, dean of University Extended Education, associate vice president for International Programs and Global Engagement, and department chair and professor of Child and Adolescent Studies. “I came to Stan State in August 2021 and became part of an educational community committed to its students and the Central Valley region it serves,” Knutson Miller said. “I am thrilled to continue this work that includes collaborating with academic partners, offering programs aligned with regional needs and interests that support employment opportunity and advancement, impactfully serving diverse and adult learners, and connecting global and local. I look forward to extending institutional commitments to Stockton and San Joaquin County.”
Jones is an alumna, having received both a Bachelor of Arts in Biological Sciences and a Master of Public Administration from Stan State. In addition, she holds various certifications in the environmental safety field. She brings 21 years of expertise in environmental health and public service to the role.
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FALL 2022
NEWS BRIEFS
REMARKABLE RANKINGS In September, Stan State earned multiple spots on U.S. News & World Report annual rankings including: No. 25, Regional Universities in West No. 9, Top Public Schools in the West No. 12, Best Colleges for Veterans in the West No. 4, Social Mobility in the West Top 300 Best Undergraduate Nursing in the nation Stan State made The Princeton Review’s national “Best 388 Colleges” list for a 17th consecutive year and top 126 universities in the West. Washington Monthly ranked Stan State No. 5 in the West on its annual “Best Bang for Your Buck” list. MONEY Magazine placed Stan State at No. 10 on its list for “Best Colleges in the West” and No. 19 on its list for “Best Colleges in America Ranked by Value.” EdSmart placed Stan State at No. 26 among the 2022 Best Northern California Colleges for academic quality, affordability, student satisfaction and post-graduation earnings. The School of Nursing has again been ranked among the best in California and the Western United States. Nursing Schools Almanac ranked the School of Nursing No. 26 on its 100 Best Nursing Schools in California list and No. 51 on its 100 Best Nursing Schools in the West.
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VOLUNTEERS HELP RAISE $1 MILLION FOR THE NEWLY RENOVATED J. BURTON VASCHÉ LIBRARY
A committed group of Stanislaus State alumni, community influencers and supporters came together to fundraise in support of one of the University’s most prominent and vital hubs of learning: the newly renovated J. Burton Vasché Library. Turlock residents and CSU honorary doctorate recipients John and Jeani Ferrari (’22) and Stanislaus State alumna Marlene Stante (’72) co-chaired the fundraising initiative, fittingly called “The Next Chapter.” The six-month campaign, launched on National Philanthropy Day, Nov. 15, 2021, raised more than $1 million for technology, sustainable furnishings and innovative guest experiences, such as a two-story mural that pays homage to the agricultural legacy of the Central Valley. Along with the Ferraris and Stante, The Next Chapter committee included alumni, Foundation Board directors, Alumni Council representatives and members of the Vasché family for whom the University Library is honorably named (J. Burton Vasché was the University’s founding president). The community-based initiative offered participants a chance to support the University Library through space-naming opportunities and a commemorative wall. “Stanislaus State is truly grateful for the work of our resolute committee and the more than 200 donors who supported The Next Chapter campaign,” said Stan State President Ellen Junn. “Along with our students, the University Library is the heart of our institution. The gifts received from the campaign will help it continue to thrive as a vibrant space for learning, discovery and innovation.”
Experience Stan State.
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FALL 2022
FACULTY
Making a Case for More Law School Students Professor Blake Wilson Creates Pre-Law Minor Within Criminal Justice By Lori Gilbert Stanislaus State students have taken the Law School Admissions Test (LSAT) for years.
pre-law, and there are actually quite a few students interested in that,” Wilson said.
But the 2017 arrival of Associate Professor Blake Wilson has made that challenging road easier to navigate.
One was Karan Saini, who ditched his parent’s dream for him to become a doctor when he chose a criminal justice major. He has always been interested in governance and policies.
The licensed criminal attorney, who served defendants in private practice in San Francisco with his mentor, Tony Serra, quickly established a Pre-Law Resource Center at Stan State and offered advice at a table in his office.
“We had the legal studies concentation prior to Blake’s arrival, but Blake polished it,” said Saini, a 2019 Stan State graduate now studying at Humphreys Law School and working part-time for a local defense attorney. “Blake helped make the journey easier for me and other students considering law school.”
Now, that center has expanded to a suite in Room 107 in Bizzini Hall, to be shared with new Criminal Legal Studies Professor Judy Bandermann, who is bringing a law-oriented Record Clearance Project to Stan State.
Wilson attended University of the Pacific’s McGeorge Law School after graduating with a philosophy degree from San Francisco State. He practiced law for nearly 20 years, but he always wanted to teach.
“Thanks to Dean Jim Tuedio and Associate Dean Steve Routh, pre-law has finally found a physical home,” Wilson said.
He began that role at a community college in Colorado and then earned his Ph.D. in Philosophy of Law from New York’s Binghamton University.
In addition, Wilson created two courses — Moot Court and Court Observer — to start a pre-law minor at Stan State.
Wilson was what Stan State was looking for in 2017: an experienced attorney with a Ph.D.
The minor launched in fall 2020 during the pandemic, but Wilson said the number of criminal justice students in the criminal legal studies concentration has tripled since his arrival.
“When I got here, my job description was to teach in the Criminal Justice Department’s criminal legal studies concentration,” Wilson said.
“I think it’s because students heard there’s this criminal defense attorney who’s starting to promote
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Before long, College of the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences Dean Jim Tuedio and Political Science Professor Stephen Routh, who advised
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Karan Saini Criminal Justice Major
Blake Wilson Associate Professor Criminal Justice
pre-law students in his department, encouraged Wilson to propose ideas for a pre-law program.
Monterey Bay, led him to establish the Moot Court class. In Moot Court, students prepare to argue a case in front of a judge, and the Court Observer program, which allows them to shadow a superior court judge.
“It didn’t necessarily mean a pre-law minor. It meant, ‘Check out what we’ve got and what do you think would work,’” Wilson said.
Those courses were the final pieces for the pre-law minor.
In his advising, he was mostly helping criminal justice students apply for law school or take the LSAT.
Establishing the minor, though, was a challenge.
“Having a pre-law minor in place now makes it so much easier for someone who knows they want to pursue a legal career,” said 2020 Stan State graduate Ana Villegas, who just started her third year at McGeorge Law School.
Wilson reached out to chairs of other Stan State academic departments to find courses that challenged critical thinking and writing skills. Those are critical for students to pass the LSAT and succeed in law school.
She relied on Wilson’s advising and office hours during her academic journey at Stan State.
He put together a long list of electives from other departments to complement those required: Logic, Jurisprudence, Law and Society and either Moot Court or Court Observer. Wilson credits the Curriculum Committee and its chair, Jey Strangfeld, for its approval. They recommended he categorize the elective courses, so students were exposed to more disciplines.
Villegas also took the new courses and was on Stan State’s first competitive Moot Court team. “I’d recommend Moot Court to anyone interested in going to law school,” Villegas said. “You have to do research, and research is one of the main things in law school.”
Wilson is proud of the minor but emphasizes it’s not a ticket to law school. It’s just another tool he’s excited to share with students.
Neither course was offered when Saini was a student, but Wilson was a mentor, guiding his academic journey and helping him with his law school application.
“My first priority is to serve my students in criminal justice, and specifically in the criminal legal studies concentration,” Wilson said. “The minor was to give those students the opportunity to take some extra courses and earn a minor that, in combination with other factors, may be beneficial to their later success.”
Wilson joined the Pacific Coast Assocation of PreLaw Advisors (PCAPLA) to help him better serve and prepare his students. His association with that group and researching prelaw minors at similar universities, specifically Cal State
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FALL 2022
THE ARTS
Jamie Johns Assistant Professor of Musical Theatre
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Stan State Arts
Enjoying a Renaissance Live Performances, Opportunities Returning After Pandemic By Lori Gilbert
S
tanislaus State’s galleries opened in March. Music and theatre students performed for masked and safely distanced audiences throughout the 2021-22 academic year.
and spending class time introducing “Campus Outreach and Local Culture Creation.” It’s a mouthful, but a simple concept. Small groups of students — organized by seniors — will performed unannounced short musical sets at different campus or community locations.
With similar safety precautions in place, live performances, exhibits and programs are scheduled for the upcoming academic year as the arts reclaim their inspired and valued places in our lives.
“We’re learning pieces that can be played with flexible groups, so they don’t have to have a specific instrument for any given piece,” Sims said. “I’m curious about the places and times students will think of to drop music on their peers.”
Artists, some of the University’s greatest ambassadors, carried on throughout the pandemic, thanks to Stan State professors who found new ways to help students pursue their passions in an unprecedented moment in our lives.
Students who live in on-campus housing have signaled a desire to perform there, but other locations abound.
Assistant Professor of Acting and Directing Carin Heidelbach taught students to perform on camera and filmed their productions. Professor of Music Stuart Sims used a program for students to record their part of an ensemble piece which he then put together so they could listen, critique and analyze the final product as they would in a classroom.
“As musicians on campus, the onus is on us. We’re part of the people who are supposed to help create local culture,” Sims said. Sims’ colleagues are looking at an uncertain future, understanding the pandemic is not yet finished.
Now, they’re looking ahead.
Department of Music Chair David Chapman, a guitar instructor and international performer, is cautiously optimistic.
“We lived through a huge cultural discontinuity,” Sims said. “There’s no going back to anything, because it’s over. Whatever existed in January of 2020 is not the culture we’re returning to, and it’s not the society we’re rejoining.”
“We have to make sure our students are safe,” Chapman said. “As excited as I am about performing and bringing performance opportunities to our students, I want to make sure they are safe.
The 22-year Stan State coordinator of instrumental studies is preparing Wind Ensemble performances
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FALL 2022
THE ARTS “We are moving forward. We are going back on stage. Performances are being booked.”
He anticipates producing shows from the canon of musicals, but also original work.
The spring 2023 lineup includes a Guitar Festival and Jazz Festival collaboration along with a new and exciting Latin American Arts Festival, tentatively scheduled for March.
“More than anything, we’re ripe to have local communities tell their own stories,” Johns said. “The biggest vision people here have is to build shows from the ground up with students putting their voices into them from both sides of the table. They won’t just be performing. They’ll be helping to write and design them.”
Second-year Director of Music Education Sarah Minette is hoping she and her students will be allowed to visit local schools and work with K-12 students.
Students presenting their work permeates all Stan State arts programming.
The Department of Theatre has similar hopes. It wants to restart its performances for children and visit area schools, sharing the craft its students honed throughout the pandemic.
Two galleries allow visual art students to exhibit alongside professionals. Graduating seniors in the Bachelor of Fine Arts program produce solo exhibitions at Art Space in downtown Turlock. Art Space and the on-campus University Art Gallery are open to the public.
When California State University campuses operated remotely in 2020-21, Heidelbach directed, on film, “Everybody” and “Antigone X.”
“I do see us as outreach to the community,” said Kory Twaddle, the new gallery assistant who is aiding Ellen Roehne, the gallery director while Dean De Cocker is on sabbatical. “We’re one of the main suppliers of art experiences for everyone in the area. Everyone needs art in their lives and to be able to go out and see art in person. It’s enriching. I hope more and more people will start coming to the galleries, more families, more field trips for school kids.”
“I was proud of the things we put out during that time,” Heidelbach said. “We all learned a lot. I learned why I didn’t go into film to begin with.” She loves live theatre and in 2021-22 directed “Head Over Heels,” with music by The Go-Gos and Belinda Carlisle, and Shakespeare’s “Much Ado About Nothing.” The latter drew more than 1,000 spectators over the course of its run last spring in the University’s outdoor amphitheater, supporting Chapman’s assertion that the public is hungry for the arts.
Twaddle is working to increase the number of visitors, but her primary role is helping students develop their ability to exhibit and be comfortable with a gallery. She hopes it makes them confident to visit other galleries.
The Department of Theatre is exploring new opportunities, having hired a new faculty member, Jamie Johns, to teach musical theatre.
Exposing students to the entirety of their fields is what Stan State faculty and staff do. It helps them understand the uniqueness of their chosen fields.
Johns spent six years as musicdirector for the national tour of “Phantom of the Opera” after three years leading the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee musical theatre/opera department.
“One of my favorite philosophers said music continues talking to you when words fail to have meaning,” Chapman said. “The power and energy transmitted to the audience from the performer is something that cannot be expressed in words. It’s the closest thing we have to magic.”
His interview for the Stan State faculty position inspired him, he said. “The real vision seems to be wanting to serve the community and wanting to serve the students,” Johns said. “Clearly the Theatre Department is pretty sure there’s a demand for this.”
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The same could be said of any artistic creation, and the world is ready for the magic to begin, again.
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View upcoming events in Art, Music and Theatre at Stan State: 15
FALL 2022
FEATURE STORY
Stan State Offers Students a Pathway to Professional Success By Gina Oltman
When students come to Stanislaus State, they begin an educational journey that integrates academic learning with career readiness and offers real-world experiences such as internships, service-learning projects, student assistant jobs and other employment. Upon enrollment, students are integrated into CareerReadyU, a program intentionally designed to provide clear pathways to career readiness by graduation. On campus, they find the Office of Service Learning and the Career and Professional Development Center are resource hubs for experiences, guidance and links to dozens of business partners eager to give them a strong start in their professions. As one of those business partners put it, there is “great pride in being part of the professional growth of students, especially from our local University, Stanislaus State. “Turlock Irrigation District values being a partner in training and retaining the local talent from our community through our internship program,” said Constance Anderson, communications division manager at TID, which has been hiring interns since 2008. “Internships prove to be mutually beneficial for the interns and the departments they work in. The interns receive real-life, paid training experience in numerous departments throughout TID,” said Anderson, who oversees interns in her department. “The District gets the benefit of the students’ fresh perspectives and eagerness to learn.”
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Michael Taylor
FEATURE STORY Annika Lightfoot, a Stan State junior majoring in business administration with a concentration in marketing, was one of nine interns hired by TID in 2022. She said she likes that she is assigned to meaningful projects in a workplace that is community oriented and innovative. “TID prepares me for the future by assigning me to projects that correspond with real work and responsibilities, and I’m gaining professional development skills,” she said. Lightfoot is a good example of a Stan State student who is seizing opportunities and preparing herself for her professional future well before graduation. Others have or are currently following a similar path.
Michael Taylor Master of Social Work, 2021
Bachelor of Arts, Communication Studies, 2018 While studying at Stanislaus State, Michael Taylor had three internships that gave him the knowledge and experience he needed to help others and make change in his home county of Stanislaus. As an undergraduate student, Taylor practiced delivering clear, effective communications while interning with the Student Leadership and Development department. But it was the two internships he did as a graduate student, using his freshly honed communications skills, that he sees as the keys to unlocking his dream of making a difference.
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As an intern with Stan State’s Basic Needs program, Taylor saw first-hand how social programs can improve lives while he interviewed and connected students to CalFresh and other safety-net programs when they qualified. Later, as an intern on the government relations team of a large labor union that represents health care workers, Taylor learned about the legislative process and how public policy is made, social programs are created and funding is secured. “Because of my internships, I can see how everything ties together,” said Taylor, who just completed his first year of employment as an associate medical social worker at Seva Hospice in Salida and is on the path to becoming a licensed clinical social worker (LCSW). “Once I get my LCSW license, my goal is to develop programs that will help people and get those programs funded,” said Taylor. “I learned how the process works when I was with SEIU-UHW (Service Employees International Union – United Healthcare Workers). And I know there is a lot of need here. I’ve seen it.” In his job, Taylor puts his education to good use every day. He works with patients and families to coordinate end-of-life care and ensure they get services to which they are entitled. He often uses his knowledge of social programs and his ability to research public policy to help patients and their families confirm their eligibility for services after they’ve been wrongly denied or given incorrect information about a program they need. “There is a lot of misinformation out there, so giving them the correct information is important
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to help them get the services they should have,” he said. Taylor became interested in hospice work during a graduate class on death, grief and loss with Stan State faculty member Dawn Costa, LCSW. Costa is certified as an advanced hospice and palliative care social worker (AHPC-SW) and works at Seva Hospice. As the class progressed, Taylor became increasingly interested in specializing in hospice care and talked to Costa about it on several occasions. “Michael is a very genuine and kindhearted individual,” Costa said. “He showed an active interest in serving people struggling with grief and end-of-life issues, and he was engaged throughout the entire course.” Serving hospice patients is a “calling,” Costa said, so when Seva Hospice had an opening, she suggested Taylor apply for it. “Since his graduation and hire, he has been a true asset to hospice and the population we serve,” Costa said.
Stephanie Gamboa
Bachelor of Science, Computer Science, 2020 Stephanie Gamboa sets what she calls a “life goal” for herself every year. Much like New Year’s resolutions, the goals are usually focused on self-improvement or realizing a long-held dream. If she ever failed to attain any of her goals in the past, she made up for it in 2021.
“I moved to Florida, started a new job with Lockheed Martin, bought a new car and bought a house,” said Gamboa, who works as a software engineer. The year 2022 brought another accomplishment. Gamboa was accepted into the Lockheed Martin Engineering Leadership Development Program, an intensive three-year program that builds technical and leadership skills through coaching, mentoring and training. It also provides tuition reimbursement for master’s degree programs.
(CPA), where she learned about website management and how to interact with internal and external customers. “By the time I graduated, it was like I had already been in the workforce for four years,” she said. “I was able to take everything I learned while working with CPA and apply it to the job I have now.”
Gamboa said she made her position in CPA more than the “typical” Stephanie Gamboa student assistant job by learning as much as possible and applying the knowledge she acquired in her computer science classes to her work.
Gamboa says her achievements are the result of her Stan State education and the career-readiness opportunities she was offered and seized. At the University, she says, she found supportive and encouraging faculty, challenging coursework, meaningful extracurricular activities and financial support in the form of scholarships. A first-generation student from Stockton, she came to Stan State as a freshman. By her second year, she was awarded a three-year computer science scholarship from the National Science Foundation (NSF) Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (S-STEM) program. By the end of her senior year, she had earned national recognition as a Student Scholar of the Computing Alliance of HispanicServing Institutions (CAHSI) and was in the Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi. During those four years, she also developed job skills as a student assistant in Stan State’s Office of Communications and Public Affairs
Gamboa quickly became the right-hand person to Senior Web and Electronic Communications Developer Mandeep Khaira, serving as the official web assistant for the web services team. “I was lucky because everyone in CPA really trusted me. I was trusted to do my work and was given the opportunity to take on more responsibility,” Gamboa said. “That really helped me build my skills and my confidence.” The job also taught her how to work well in a team and communicate effectively with a supervisor. She recently found out how important those skills are when she received positive feedback from her manager at Lockheed Martin. “He told me he loves the update emails I send the team when I complete a task, because I sum up everything I’ve done and include links,” she said. “I learned that working with Mandy in CPA. That is how we worked together, and how I kept her up on what I’d done.”
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As a student, Gamboa never expected to be a Lockheed Martin employee. She said it was the annual Great Minds in STEM conference, with its massive high-tech career fair, that opened her eyes to computer science career possibilities at big, global companies. As an NSF S-STEM scholar, Gamboa attended the conference twice: once as a junior, once as a senior. The first year, she talked to engineers from several companies to get a feel for their workplaces and the skills they needed. The second year, she was ready to apply for jobs and zeroed in on Lockheed Martin. At one point in an interview, a Lockheed Martin manager asked how she would feel about moving to Florida, nearly 3,000 miles from her home in Stockton, to be on his team. “I thought about it. Florida seemed like a cool place,” she said. “I’m still young, so right now is the time to go, move, explore, learn things. I have my family in Stockton, and I love them, but moving away won’t change that. And coming to visit them makes those moments even more special. So, why not?” Looking back at her college years, she said Assistant Professor Dae Hee Kim in the Computer Science Department had a major influence on her and helped her build confidence when she doubted herself. “He is definitely the one who convinced me to stay in computer science when I was wondering if I was actually smart enough to be there. He always had faith in me,” she said. And she credits Professor Melanie Martin for signing her up as a computer science major when she was ready to declare but feared taking the plunge. Looking back, both Martin and Associate Professor Megan Thomas
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FEATURE STORY recalled Gamboa’s potential and said they are not surprised by her success.
goal was to become a high school teacher. She has since revised her goals and plans to earn a doctorate and become a professor of biology at a university.
“Stephanie took steps to make sure that good things happen to her,” Thomas said. “She was a go-getter.”
“I’d love to come back here, to Stan State, to teach,” she said. Alvarez is preparing for her career by learning all she can about science and taking advantage of opportunities offered at Stan State to hone her teaching skills.
Cecilia Alvarez
Bachelor of Science, Biological Sciences, 2024
Cecilia Alvarez
Cecilia Alvarez’s love of science started with a strawberry. As an 8-year-old, she participated in science lessons aboard the Ag in Motion mobile science lab that visited her school in her hometown of Modesto. “We got to extract the DNA from a strawberry, and I vividly remember crushing the strawberry and collecting the string-like DNA strands,” said Alvarez, a McNair Scholar. “I was especially excited to keep the DNA in a little flask, which I hung on a string like a necklace.” That science lesson and many others in subsequent years, as well as the hands-on teaching approach of her dynamic high school biology teacher, fueled Alvarez’s interest in science and sparked her desire to teach. When it came time for her to choose a college, she didn’t need to look far to find one that fit her career goals. “I chose Stan State because I wanted to be a science teacher,” she said. “I knew it had great teaching and science programs. Plus, it was close to home and the best option for my family and me.” After graduating in 2024 with a bachelor’s degree in biology, she plans to go on to graduate school. At the start of her freshman year, her STA N M AGA Z I N E
She is in her fifth semester as a STEM Ambassador and her fourth semester as a Supplemental Instruction (SI) leader. And last summer, she spent eight weeks getting professional laboratory experience as an intern in the prestigious Stanford Summer Research Program at Stanford University. As a STEM Ambassador, Alvarez teaches hands-on lessons in biology and chemistry to elementary and middle school students who visit Stan State for Science Day and other programs. “I’ve had the opportunity to design labs and teach biology and chemistry lessons to more than 200 elementary and middle school students,” she said. “The topics have included cell physiology, chromosomal mutations, DNA structure, gene expression, sickle cell anemia, protein folding and molecular polarity.” As an SI leader, Alvarez works on campus at the Learning Commons. She leads study sessions and works directly with other Warriors to help them better understand chemistry course material. As an intern in the Stanford Summer Research Program, Alvarez was neither a student nor a teacher.
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Instead, she took on the role of researcher. She was one of 20 students from across the nation who worked in one of Stanford’s 14 Biosciences Ph.D. Home Programs. Alvarez worked in the radiological sciences laboratory at the Richard M. Lucas Center for Imaging on the Stanford medical campus. She worked alongside graduate and post-doctorate students synthesizing nanoparticles that would be used for the targeted and controlled delivery of anesthetics in patients. “I had the opportunity to experience what it was like to be a scientist and collaborate with researchers and educators across the campus,” she said. “I really learned a lot there. It was a vigorous program.” When Alvarez reflects on the past few years, she recalls the summer between high school and college, when she was not entirely sure of her goals. Then she participated in a two-week Stan State program called STEM Discovery Academy that gave her hands-on experience in a lab, introduced her to faculty, included field trips and built her confidence. “Because of that program, I declared biology as my major,” she said. “I really felt supported by the faculty and STEM programs here and gained the confidence to pursue a bachelor’s in biology. Now I am planning to get a Ph.D. That program had a big impact on me.”
Annelisa Cole
Bachelor of Science, Business Administration, Marketing, 2020 As a Warrior working as a student assistant on the Stan State campus, Annelisa Cole learned valuable lessons and developed soft skills that are serving her well in her job as a marketing compliance analyst at E. & J. Gallo Winery in Modesto. “It was one of my first experiences in an office setting, and I learned a
lot from it,” said Cole, who worked in Housing and Residential Life for three semesters, first as the office assistant and later as the social media and marketing assistant. “I learned about communication and teamwork, office behavior, how to complete an assignment and stick to a deadline and about being held accountable with weekly one-on-one meetings and progress check-ins.” What she learned as a student assistant dovetailed with the lessons her professors were teaching in her business administration and marketing classes.
A self-described extrovert who likes to stay busy and “do everything,” Cole earned her bachelor’s degree in three years, taking as many as nine classes a semester to stay on track.
In addition to her student assistant jobs, she served on the Associated Students, Inc. Board of Directors and was a New Student Orientation (NSO) leader. In both positions, she said, she learned about speaking to an audience, engaging people in activities and connecting with Annelisa Cole team members.
“My business professors really emphasized soft skills, relationship building and the ability to communicate,” Cole said. “That includes communicating about the good job you are doing. One of my managers once told me it doesn’t matter if you do a really good job if you do it in a dark corner and nobody knows about it. You have to communicate it to your supervisor and coworkers. Let them know you are really proud of the work you do.”
“Team building was huge for the NSO team. You just get a big sense of camaraderie, and you don’t leave that behind when you leave school,” she said. “You carry that into your workplace. One of my favorite things with my team is that sense of team building. Building bonds is important to me.” A year before she graduated, Cole took a full-time, temporary job at Gallo as a compliance clerk. Over the summer, she found that she enjoyed the work and her coworkers. As the fall semester approached, she worked with her supervisor to establish a schedule that allowed her to continue working while
she attended classes. And that’s when her life became a bit of a juggling act. “I was working from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m., commuting from 3 to 3:30, then going to classes,” she said. “I had clothes and water and everything I needed in my car, because I was away from home so much. When the COVID pandemic hit and we went to remote learning, I was actually relieved because working and taking classes from home was so much easier.” The lessons she learned at Stan State and as a temporary worker paid off for Cole. She had her foot in the door at Gallo and was able to prove herself there. She was eventually hired into an ongoing position and has been promoted every year for three years. As a compliance analyst in the spirits division, Cole reviews marketing campaign material to ensure it complies with regulations at the federal level and in all 50 states. Cole says she is happy at Gallo and is keeping an open mind about her future. Whatever she chooses to do next, she says, she’ll choose it because she feels passionately about it. “There are so many jobs out there that I never knew existed, even on the marketing side. So, to put yourself in a box, and say you are going to do one thing, only limits you,” she said. “I’m just starting my career. I’m going to see where it takes me.”
CareerReadyU Prepares Students for Professional Success Essentially a one-stop shop designed to meet the career-readiness needs of students, CareerReadyU — often referred to as “CRU” on campus — helps Warriors build career readiness intentionally through experiential learning and activities. Students gain an understanding of their interests, transferrable skills and experiences in relation to the work world. They also participate in confidencebuilding activities, develop the skills employers seek, network with alumni and engage with employers. CRU’s position within the Career and Professional Development Center makes
it easy for students to learn more about and take advantage of the wide assortment of resources and services the Center offers, including help finding jobs and internships. When students sign up for CRU, they are encouraged to access the widely used online career website called HireStanState and post their resumes. The Center also houses the CRU Employer Engagement Center, where CRU employer partners may reserve office space to host on-campus interviews, and students may reserve space for distraction-free virtual interviews.
FOUNDATION BOARD
A CONTINUING LEGACY
New Foundation President Ryan Fitzpatrick is Proud to Follow in His Dad’s Footsteps in Serving Stan State
BY LORI GILBERT
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s he begins his term as president of the Board of Directors of the Stanislaus State Foundation, Ryan Fitzpatrick has plenty of ideas. Diversifying the board as it recruits and retains members, streamlining paperwork approval at meetings so there’s more time spent in conversation and giving members time to voice matters important to them are a part of his vision. A Foundation Board member since 2014, Fitzpatrick is excited to effect change as he leads the team dedicated to raising philanthropic support for scholarships and other innovative programs for the University. What gets him really animated, though, are Stan State students. “I’ve been fortunate to hire quite a few alumni from this University,” Fitzpatrick said. “I’ve had some tremendous people work for us and imagine I will only see more and more come and work in our industry or industries like it. It inspires me
when I work with young people, and I want to continue to support the University that produces such talented people.” A graduate of the University of California, Berkeley, Fitzpatrick is the President of the Fitzpatrick Dealership Group which operates Valley Lexus, Valley BMW, Valley Kia and Coliseum Lexus of Oakland. He assumed the position in 2015 upon the retirement of his late father, a groundbreaking businessman who by 2006 had built the largest Black-owned dealership in California. Before establishing those dealerships, Ed Fitzpatrick owned a dealership in Renton Washington, and Ryan, looking to spread his wings, left the Evergreen State to attend Cal. He turned his economics degree into a position at Lockheed Martin in Sunnyvale. “I knew I would probably come and work in the family business, but I wanted to do something on my own in the beginning,” Fitzpatrick said. “My dad wanted me to come and work for him right away. We went through the next year, year and a half negotiating the terms of working together. “We worked things out, and it was a great career move for me to work with him.” Ryan Fitzpatrick said his father allowed him to establish his own leadership style, so he was ready to step in as COO. That’s not the only place where Ryan Fitzpatrick followed in his dad’s footsteps. Ed, who passed away in 2020, joined Stan State’s Foundation Board in 2003, becoming its first Black member. He and Bertha were generous benefactors and regulars at Warrior basketball games. The arena was renamed in their honor in 2009. “Being a local business owner, a familyowned business, we want to invest in the community,” Ryan Fitzpatrick said. “It’s so important. What better way to invest in the community than to invest in education?”
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Education was paramount to his parents. Ed graduated from the University of Ohio and Bertha, who grew up in Mississippi, was one of three Black women to integrate the community college in Hattiesburg before fulfilling her parents’ dream by joining her siblings in earning a university degree. The value of a college education was impressed upon Ryan and his elder brother, Sean. Neither attended Stan State — Sean attended Western Washington University — but Ryan understood his parents’ connection to Stan State, especially after meeting students his father hired. As an entrepreneurial leader, he continues to provide jobs and internships to them. “It’s an opportunity to give back and also show what this industry can do for people,” Fitzpatrick said. “It’s been a great industry for our family, clearly, and I think people are seeing an opportunity for themselves and their families.” He knows his company is making a difference for students. As Foundation Board president, he sees an opportunity to do more. Ryan’s Warrior heart and passion were ignited, as so much in his life, by the example set by his parents. He cherishes the memory of Stan State renaming the arena in 2009 to honor Ed and Bertha, and the 2021 Commencement ceremony when Ed and Bertha were bestowed with Stan State’s and the California State University’s highest honor, the Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters. The occasion that stands out most though, came about six years ago and is commemorated in a photo hanging on Fitzpatrick’s office wall. “Stan State presented a plaque to the family, to my parents specifically, and we went on the court at halftime and accepted the award,” Fitzpatrick said. “My kids were there, my wife (Jenise) and my parents. It was a great moment. My kids (Devin, Darius and Danika) were having a great time celebrating Warrior pride. It’s something I will always remember — a time the family came together to support the University. I’ll never forget that, and the picture will be on my wall forever.”
ALUMNI
The power of positivity BY DONNA BIRCH TRAHAN
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Alumna Carol Barr has battled homelessness, two bouts with cancer and a brain aneurysm, but through it all, she never gave up. Carol Barr’s journey to obtain her college degree was a long and winding road. Last May, the 63-year-old Air Force veteran proudly walked the stage during Stanislaus State’s commencement after earning her bachelor’s degree in theatre arts. But anyone who saw her that day wouldn’t be able to tell that Barr had undergone brain surgery just several weeks prior. In midMarch 2022, Barr experienced a partial seizure, which revealed a brain aneurysm. Doctors promptly scheduled her surgery. “My aneurysm was repaired, and I came home and finished my semester,” she said. Facing what seems like insurmountable challenges is second nature to Barr, a two-time cancer survivor. “I’m a member of a cancer support group here in town, and we call ourselves warriors,” Barr said. “It fit. Everything fit. I am a Warrior, and it was important for me to continue going to the support group. It was important for them to know that you can get up when you’ve been knocked down. Get up. Always get up and continue.”
The Odyssey Begins Originally from Prunedale, a rural community in Monterey County, Barr was born into a single-parent household. Her mother’s family shunned her because she was half-Mexican. Barr dropped out of middle school and at age 15 her mother abandoned her, leaving her homeless and a “child of the streets” for two years. Determined to change the course of her life, Barr joined the U.S. Air Force. But first, she had to get her GED. So, she enrolled at Modesto Junior College and successfully completed the coursework. By then, she was 17 years old and legally still a minor. To join the Air Force, she needed parental consent. Barr tracked down her mother and had her sign the required paperwork. She had served for several years when she got pregnant with her daughter, Virginia. The birth was difficult, which led the single mother to leave the Air Force.
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Her daughter’s arrival got Barr thinking about Virginia’s future and how she would benefit from a formal education. She wanted Virginia to go to college and told her that routinely throughout the years. “So, I did,” Virginia said. Virginia enrolled at Stanislaus State as an English major. During her first year, the unthinkable happened to her mother: While crossing the street in a marked crosswalk, a drunk driver hit Barr. The trauma team treating her thought that she would never recover from the traumatic brain injury she sustained. Fortunately, they were wrong. But a year later, while still recovering from the car accident, Barr received her first cancer diagnosis. Again, she began medical treatment that proved to be successful. Barr remained cancerfree for more than a decade until it returned in 2013. Barr’s doctors diagnosed her with stage 3C metastatic breast cancer, and they implied that the prognosis wasn’t good. “They told us to get her affairs in order,” Virginia recalled. “Instead, she fought.”
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ALUMNI received her degree there. I wanted to continue the family thing.”
Barr did what she always does in the face of adversity: she developed a plan. Barr, who lived in Sacramento at the time, chose to move in with Virginia, who by this time was a Stan State alumna and working as a teacher at Turlock High School.
Virginia supported her mother along the way. “She was my guide to everything I needed to do or understand,” Barr said.
“Virginia came and got me, and the odyssey began,” Barr said.
When it was time to choose a major, Barr chose theatre arts, inspired by her early years with Virginia.
During their drive to Turlock, the duo stopped at a McDonald’s where they made a bucket list of all the things Barr wanted to accomplish. The last item on the list read “get an education.” Before, that was what she wanted for her daughter. Now, she wanted it for herself.
“As a single parent, I didn’t have a lot of money, so I read to her and we used our imagination,” Barr said. While reading stories, they took on the characters’ personas. After earning enough credits to transfer, Barr applied to Stan State and was accepted.
Barr underwent aggressive treatment that involved surgery, radiation and chemotherapy. It took more than a year for her to feel well enough to move around.
By the time she began her matriculation at the University, the world was entrenched in the global COVID-19 pandemic.
In 2017, exactly four years to the day after receiving her second cancer diagnosis — Barr celebrated her continued road to recovery by enrolling at Modesto Junior College. Her plan was to transfer to Stan State, her daughter’s alma mater.
“I attended at a difficult time, because of COVID, and it was an experience no one ever had before,” Barr said. “I felt like everyone — students, staff and faculty — was in the same boat, and we all were sharing the same trauma.”
“Stan State was a good fit for me because I knew it was a close-knit campus,” Barr said. “It was safe, the campus is beautiful and it was familiar to me because my daughter
STA N M AGA Z I N E
Studying aspects of theatre arts virtually proved to be a unique challenge.
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“With my daughter being a teacher, I understood the difficulties instructors faced,” Barr said. “Learning acting on Zoom is difficult. Learning about theatrical makeup on Zoom is difficult. But we all made the best of it,” Barr said. “We did the best we could with what we had.” She credits Stan State faculty members for their care and commitment to making remote learning an engaging and valuable experience for students. “I took online classes with Jack Souza and John Mayer, who were terrific instructors. Jack was patient and he listened. He really brought out our creativity. And I adored working with Greg Jacquay.” Barr was beyond excited when she and her peers were temporarily allowed to come to campus during spring 2021 for the production “Antigone X,” a play that was recorded and streamed online.
“I define Warrior Pride as not quitting. Sometimes you have to tuck your chin and keep moving forward, even if your progress is minute. Just keep moving forward.”
In fall 2021, when students were able to return to in-person instruction, Barr landed the role of assistant stage manager for the musical “Head Over Heels,” which was the Theatre Department’s first live production since the pandemic started. “That first show brought everybody together, and we were able to share this energy that we all missed,” Barr said. “It was an informing and eye-opening view of what goes on backstage. I was unfamiliar with just how much it takes to stage a production. It’s truly a collaboration.” During her time at Stan State, Barr also got an opportunity to do voice over work for KCSS, the University’s radio station. Listeners can still hear Barr’s voice introducing the station’s call letters. “I want to continue doing voice overs,” Barr said. “That’s my goal. It’s something I’m comfortable with and can achieve.” After everything she’s been through, Barr continues to be a persistent and proud Warrior. “I define Warrior Pride as not quitting,” she said. “Sometimes you have to tuck your chin and keep moving forward, even if your progress is minute. Just keep moving forward.”
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FACULTY
Sowing
Seeds for Change Graduate Students Experience a Transformational Two-Week Trip to Ghana By Donna Birch Trahan
G
raduate student Rachel Riojas wasn’t much of a traveler.
She had never checked a piece of luggage, owned a passport or flown in an airplane. Her studies, work and motherhood kept Riojas — who is pursuing a master’s degree in social work at Stanislaus State — extremely busy and close to home in Turlock and Modesto. But that changed last spring. That’s when Riojas took a trip for the first time in her life, and she went big. As in international-travel-acrossseveral-time-zones-to-anothercontinent big. Last May, Riojas was one of nine students and several faculty members in Stanislaus State’s Master of Social Work program who traveled the Republic of Ghana in Africa. The group spent two weeks there as part of the International Social Work course led by Associate Professor Sevaughn Banks. “I don’t think our department has ever had a study abroad program that was developed by a faculty member from the ground up,” Banks said. “Our faculty have participated in international studies, but it’s usually been a part of another STA N M AGA Z I N E
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formal organization. This was totally grassroots.” During their time there, students had an itinerary that was packed every day from sunup to sundown. “We wanted to give students an allaround experience in Ghana,” Banks said. Upon their arrival, the group did a walking tour to get a better sense of local experiences. They visited agencies that included a local social work department, a humanitarian organization and a psychiatric hospital. They attended lectures, learned about integrated healthcare and helped children in the community with homework. “We did a lot in a short amount of time,” Riojas said. “Every day had its own story.” For Banks, the course has been a labor of love whose seeds were planted more than two decades ago, when she took her first international trip to Ghana in 1998. “It made such an impact on me that I knew I would be there again,” she said. “I did not know that decades later I’d be taking students with me to Ghana. Fast forward and here we are. One of the things I wanted to do when I joined Stan State was to help students experience the splendor of Ghana as I had.” Banks previously escorted a student to Ghana in 2019 and was supposed to take another one in spring 2020 but the COVID-19 pandemic thwarted that plan. Banks decided to make the most of the delay. “It gave me more time to put this class together,” she said. A major part of the program for students was to build a community garden. The request for this handson project was made by one of Banks’ collaborators in Ghana, an American humanitarian named Patricia Wilkins, founder of BASICS International, an organization that provides education and resources to impoverished communities in Ghana.
“Pat started BASICS after a visit to a community named Chorkor, where she saw young girls who were not being educated,” Banks said. “She started a social service program that’s been thriving now for 20 years and is responsible for educating a lot of girls and boys in this community.” When Banks told Wilkins her plan to develop an international social work course that would bring Stan State students to Ghana, Wilkins asked about a garden. The food grown in the garden would be used to feed the students served by BASICS. Wilkins said sometimes the only food the children receive is from the agency. The MSW students didn’t have much experience with gardening, so to help them be prepared, they worked in Stan State’s on-campus community garden. Not only did they learn about nurturing the plants and soil, but the experience also “taught them how to give instructions to our Ghanian counterparts so they could learn about food sustainability and how to maintain the garden after we left,” Banks said. Riojas said working with the children was one of the more impactful experiences. “We interacted with them and saw their excitement as we were installing the gardens. It was an incredible experience.”
“I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do with my degree. But after finishing my first year in the graduate program and going on this trip, I’ve decided that I want to venture into the mental health field. There’s a need for it.” — RACHEL RIOJAS
be recognized during a conference in Southern California this fall. Riojas said the trip was life changing. “I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do with my degree. But after finishing my first year in the graduate program and going on this trip, I’ve decided that I want to venture into the mental health field. There’s a need for it. “This trip made me have an a-ha moment,” she said. “It made me think differently as a student, as a parentand as a social work professional. I’m so grateful to have had this opportunity.”
Developing the course also provided opportunities for collaboration across academic disciplines. For example, Department of Chemistry Professor Koni Stone helped to secure three community garden plots at Stan State that served as the students’ training ground. She also gave students a presentation about immunizations and how they impact the body. The students’ work on the community garden earned them recognition from the Council on Social Work Education’s Commission of Global Social Work Education. The students were awarded the Partners in Advancing International Education Social Work Group Award and will 29
Sevaughn Banks
STUDENT SUCCESS
DRESSED FOR POETIC SUCCESS
Bethany Saint-Smith’s Poem on Her Childhood Church Dress Earns National Recognition By Lori Gilbert
CHURCH DRESS
Graduate Students Experience a Transformational Two-Week Trip to Ghana
Sis, I took the petals of my dress and matched it To the celebrations of blood, so tired of the work oh, we wept remember how the linen would coil up your blood smelling like pasture pains, the pastor explained where we’ve come from oh, church the blessed be of a God, but don’t forget, mental health Wait no, you wait we cannot savor that mental health, we merely need a God oh, if we had a God, he wouldn’t let us need mental health isn’t that right mm-hmm mm-hmm oh, we in unison, songs together am I right? heels go click, click, click but the petals of my dress look tired, same dress every Sunday ’magine that a place where the dress doesn’t matter just a nook of prayer that the thoughts I tolerate fit this dress I could use a brand-new dress.
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Since she was a child, Bethany Saint-Smith has dabbled in poetry. Her mother saved booklets of poems she wrote as a little girl, and when she struggled in an abusive relationship in her husband’s native Argentina, writing was her salvation. She self-published a book of poems called “Black Pearls,” to help fund her leaving. When she returned home to Modesto, she started back to school and wrote another book of poems, “Going Brave,” that reflected the positive movement in her and her son’s lives. Her latest poetic efforts earned national recognition. “Church Dress” was selected for the poetry section of the 2022 edition of Scribendi, a nonprofit, annual magazine that selects creative works from undergraduate honors students from more than 900 colleges and universities across the country. The publication began in 1985 at the University of New Mexico. Saint-Smith, an honors student and McNair Scholar majoring in social sciences, began writing poetry again after starting classes at Stanislaus State in fall 2021. The pieces, she clarifies, are noted as Black Conversations that recognize the communicative variations that shift from marginal spaces and denounce code switching efforts. She hopes to complete 30 by the time she graduates in December for another, yet untitled book.
“The first couple books I wrote were all about me,” Saint-Smith said. “There was nothing I was doing for the reader. These conversations I’m putting forward, I say, ‘Listen, because you haven’t been.’ It’s an opportunity to hear.”
sure your needs are met. Having that church dress made me think it made me a better person, or a better child with more opportunities because I looked prettier or because it matched me with those peers. It was so symbolic.
The inspiration for the poem selected for the magazine was a conversation Saint-Smith had with her sister, who is two years younger.
“This whole idea is that two Black girls need a new church dress, and then they wouldn’t have to worry about anything else. They could just feel good for that moment of time. This is, more significantly, about not having the same concerns as our counterparts, not having the same conversations. We have different conversations based on our very different realities. The dress was a place to poeticize that reality.”
“We were talking about mental health and the stigma behind it,” Saint-Smith said. “Black people often say, ‘We don’t need therapy. We go to church. Church is our therapy.’ I’m not saying that’s how everybody thinks now, but that’s definitely been one of several narratives for many generations.” The discussion triggered her memory of church, of being a biracial child, who, with her sister, was one of three Black children in her white mother’s Methodist church. “As a little girl, I often wore the same dress every Sunday,” Saint-Smith said. “It was lavender and baby blue and had a lavender ribbon and it was plaid. I wore it however long I could, probably a couple years, maybe three. I remember always feeling extremely special in that dress, like I was closer to God, because it was pretty. I felt people respected me more because it had the ruffles and detail work much like that of my white peers, and I felt like I belonged. This is what little girls would think of. This is what we’d dream of.” That’s what she and her sister thought of as they tried to fit into their mother’s white world. “The poem expresses that deep need for my sister and me wanting to understand why we couldn’t get past the things that held us back,” SaintSmith said. “It’s not about God or having a therapist. It’s about making
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Saint-Smith remembers it took months for her mother to buy that lavender and baby blue plaid dress, which she’d placed on layaway at K-Mart. SaintSmith cherished that dress as a child. As an adult, it led to her award-winning poem, which she said she dashed off in about 20 minutes. “I think what I was really surprised by is that somebody heard what I was talking about,” she said. “I would love to know who read that and said, ‘We need to see this.’ “If you read it, it’s such a light and crisp poem. But if you read it twice, you see the message. I’m grateful.” Saint-Smith is gaining on her goal of 30 for the book she wants to publish, continuing conversations, with others and with herself. There are important things to say, not just for herself, but for the greater society.
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Division of University Advancement STANISLAUS STATE One University Circle Turlock, Ca 95382
BEING A RECIPIENT OF THE PRESIDENT’S CENTRAL VALLEY FIRST-GENERATION SCHOLARSHIP has greatly broadened my opportunities at Stanislaus State and beyond. This scholarship shows the University’s commitment to helping all students feel involved and valued. Reducing barriers for students to attend college is essentially an investment, not only in education and the economy, but also in improving the lives of many individuals. Paola Campos President’s Central Valley First-Generation Scholar
Be part of the success of first-gen students in the Central Valley. Give Today.
