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M A G A Z I N E
F E AT U R E S T O R Y
on the road to recovery: Education Paves the Way for two Warriors
A Word from the
PRESIDENT University functioning. Alumni, donors, partners, community members and friends of the University stepped up to support our students and programs. And our students demonstrated inspiring and amazing perseverance and undeterred strength. We channeled our collective energy to keep moving forward.
A little more than a year ago, life as we knew it forever changed. On March 17, 2020, Stanislaus State transitioned to remote operations after state offi als issued a stay-at-home order in an effort to quell the escalating spread of COVID-19. At the time, many of us thought that we would return to our beautiful campus — and to our regular lives — after a few months. We had no idea what was ahead: an unrelenting global pandemic that would take the lives of half a million people in the United States and thrust our nation into a downward economic spiral.
That sense of optimism and forward momentum was the genesis for a new initiative launched this spring called Next UP: Forward Thinking @ Stan State. Next UP is a series of interactive forums, videos and articles that will feature the ongoing achievements, accomplishments and distinctive work by our faculty, students, staff and administ ators. Next UP illustrates that despite numerous challenges, our campus community has not allowed the pandemic to deter us.
It is hard to believe a whole year has passed. The upheaval created by the pandemic certainly distorted our sense of time. But living through this unprecedented time did something else.
And, for that, I am forever grateful.
It boosted our resilience. It drove us to get more creative in teaching and providing our students with a rich academic experience. It expanded how we deliver critical services and resources and improved our problemsolving skills. It strengthened our patience and enhanced our compassion.
Warmly,
Ellen
Our devoted faculty and staff ent above and beyond the call of duty to keep the
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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
Director of Alumni Engagement
Karlha Davies (’00) Senior Associate Vice President for Communications, Marketing and Media Relations
Rosalee Rush
Director for Communications and Creative Services
Kristina Stamper (’06) Senior Writer and Content Specialist
Donna Birch Trahan
Content Specialists
Gina Oltman Linda Mumma Solorio Lori Gilbert (’91)
Digital Communications Specialist
Sara Balisha (’13)
Senior Graphic Designer
Steve Caballero (’21) Graphic Designer
Katie Dowling Senior Web and Electronic Communications Developer
Mandeep Khaira (’02) Photographers
Tracee Littlepage Justin Souza Media Production Specialist
Frankie Tovar
Stay in touch!
Phone: (209) 667-3131 cpa@csustan.edu www.csustan.edu/stan-magazine Associate Professor of Cultural Anthropology Steve Arounsack contributes to Walt Disney Animation Studios’ “Raya and Last Dragon” and the Southeast Asia Story Trust. Read more on page 3. RAYA AND THE LAST DRAGON - Raya, a lone warrior whose wit is as sharp as her blade, must track down the legendary last dragon to restore her fractured land and its divided people. © 2020 Disney. All Rights Reserved.
04 News Briefs
22 Law and Order
10 Sixty Years Strong
26 Working for Reform
12 The Last Laugh
30 Quest for Knowledge
16 On the Road to Recovery
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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 102acre 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.
SPRING 2021
NEWS BRIEFS
RAYA AND THE LAST DRAGON - (L-R): Sisu and Raya. © 2021 Disney. All Rights Reserved.
STAN STATE PROFESSOR HELPS CREATE ‘RAYA AND THE LAST DRAGON’
It was there he bonded with fellow members of the artistic team that would create Walt Disney Animation Studios’ newest full-length animated film, “Raya and the Last Dragon,” their first film inspired by Southeast Asian cultures.
Steve Arounsack
“I served as the visual anthropologist, responsible for the holistic and comprehensive review of all the visuals and cultural themes in the movie,” Arounsack said.
Being part of a project that celebrates his homeland is naturally meaningful for Arounsack, who grew up in the Central Valley and graduated from Stan State.
A boat trip on the Mekong River in his native Laos turned into a journey of a lifetime for Stanislaus State Associate Professor of Cultural Anthropology Steve Arounsack.
“My daughters and the kids from that region of the world now have a hero that looks like them, and that’s incredibly powerful,” he said. The experience deepens his commitment to having his students better understand themselves through visual storytelling, a tool he has long used. They come to feel safe sharing their stories in the classroom, then then expand their search for cultural understanding in their communities. “When we genuinely connect with other cultures, we create a stronger overall community,” Arounsack said.
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2020 BUSINESS FORECAST
FALL 2021 SEMESTER UPDATE
The San Joaquin Valley’s economic recovery began during the second half of 2020, but the pace slowed in the third quarter due to rising COVID-19 infections. That was one of several key findings inclu ed in the 2020 San Joaquin Valley Business Forecast by Gökçe Soydemir, the Foster Farmsendowed professor of business economics at Stanislaus State.
On April 6, the State of California announced its intention to eliminate the four-tier color-coded tracking system and fully reopen the state’s economy on June 15. This is contingent on the state continuing to meet vaccination goals and on hospitalizations remaining low.
The Business Forecast, presented annually with mid-year updates, provides businesses with detailed information about regional trends relative to those of the state and the nation. Among the report’s highlights:
Given this intention, Stan State is planning for an in-person fall 2021 semester, keeping the health and safety of our students, faculty and staff as our priority and gui e. Our fall campus plans envision the fall 2021 as a transition semester offering a hybrid of in-person and online courses and support, maximizing capacity within available spaces and classrooms. We continue to solidify our course schedules and general campus repopulation plans, providing options across modalities that continue to best meet the needs of our students.
Employment declines in the region were less than statewide declines due to the San Joaquin Valley’s predominant farm-related economy that employs a significant number of essent al workers. Home values increased due to the Federal Reserve’s relief effort interventions, a stark contrast to falling home values during the previous recession.
While we plan to have a much greater campus presence this fall, we do not expect to be fully repopulated. We are planning to return faculty and staff o campus gradually beginning July 1, 2021, in preparation for the fall semester.
Impacts of the CARES Act and the Federal Reserve’s intervention on banking and capital markets were reflected in bank activity as total deposits grew 16.1 percent in 2020 roughly twice the long-term benchmark rate. Community banks extended fewer loans than they did in the past.
Regular updates regarding the number of classes and students that will be allowed on campus, updated on-campus health and safety protocols, available study spaces, and much more are provided via email and text notification , social media posts from offi al University accounts, and the offi al Fall 2021 Information and Resource page on the Stan State website at www.csustan.edu/covid-19/fall-2021-planning.
The entire update and past reports can be found on the San Joaquin Valley Business Forecast website at www.csustan.edu/sjvbf.
To increase our efforts of fully repopulating the Stan State campus and returning campus operations to full capacity, the University highly encourages everyone to continue social distancing when necessary, practicing proper hygiene such as washing your hands and disinfecting surfaces, wearing facial coverings, and to get vaccinated when it becomes available, although it is not required. The past year has been incredibly difficult or everyone, but with vaccinations becoming increasingly available we are more optimistic and hopeful that we will gradually repopulate our campus in a safe and meaningful manner. Warriors take care, be safe and stay healthy.
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NEWS BRIEFS
STORIES OF LEADERSHIP IN TIMES OF CRISIS In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, organizers took a unique approach to the annual “Champions of the American Dream” event, hosted last fall by Stan State and the College of Business Administration in partnership with the Porges Family Foundation.
stories of crises and the lessons they learned while leading through challenging times. All three told stories of being at the helm of their organizations during economic distress. They shared how they felt responsible for their employees, where they found inspiration and guidance, and how their struggles made them wiser, stronger and ultimately more successful. As Halvorson put it: “Your development, your appreciation, your strength, your understanding, it all comes from the struggle and never comes from when things are great.” A recording of the livestreamed event is available for on-demand viewing at www.csustan.edu/champions. Learn more about the Porges Foundation’s latest partnership with Stan State, the Warrior Entrepreneurship Initiative, at bit.ly/PorgesGift.
Rather than recognize a single individual, they asked three previous honorees to participate in a panel discussion on the timely topic, “Leadership in Times of Crisis.” Nearly 300 people participated in the riveting livestreamed event that featured American Chevrolet President David Halvorson, El Concilio President and CEO Jose R. Rodriguez and PMZ Real Estate CEO Michael Zagaris. Each shared their own
PROJECT REBOUND THRIVING AT STAN STATE
David Halvorson
Jose R. Rodriguez
In its first ear at Stan State, Project Rebound — which provides services and support to formerly or currently incarcerated individuals who are or hope to be students at the University — experienced great success. Run by Danica Bravo, Project Rebound has had three students graduate, is currently serving 15 enrolled students and has four new students enrolled for the fall. Those numbers helped it earn a $113,000 grant from the CSU Consortium of Project Rebound. “The goal, as far as the Project Rebound norm, is two to four
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Michael Zagaris
enrolled students a year,” Bravo said. The commitment to Project Rebound is personal for Bravo, whose older brother died in prison. “My brother didn’t have the help he needed,” Bravo said. “There weren’t resources to help him when he went to prison. He spent half his life there. He’d get out, and in a few months or a year he’d be back in. He never had a parole or probation officer or anyone from a community program sit down with him and tell him, ‘this is what you need to do.’”
INAUGURAL COHORT SWORN IN AS AMERICORPS CIVIC ACTION FELLOWS AGREEMENT SIGNED WITH VICTORIA UNIVERSITY OF WELLINGTON Stanislaus State and Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand have implemented a fi e-year agreement to engage in joint research, explore educational opportunities for faculty and students and share best practices. “Working closely together, this memorandum reinforces our campus’s dedication to providing transformative experiences for our students,” said Stan State President Ellen Junn after signing the agreement. “By establishing partnerships with like-minded universities, we are continuing our mission to expand our students’ intellectual, creative and social horizons.” Through the agreement, Stan State students can study abroad at the New Zealand university, which has an enrollment of 3,700 international students from more than 110 countries. Students at both institutions can also access a wide variety of general education and major courses as the campuses share similar programs. The agreement greatly benefi s students because research suggests the experience of studying abroad opens students’ minds, gives them a sense of confi ence and enhances their employment opportunities. Founded in 1897, Victoria University is one of New Zealand’s oldest and most prestigious higher education institutions. It is the only university to twice top the country’s main measure of research excellence.
Forty-seven Stan State students were sworn in as AmeriCorps Civic Action Fellows during a recent pledge ceremony, making them the University’s first ohort to participate in this first-in-the nation pilot program that helps students pay for college through public service. Some of the students will serve as peer mentors in Stanislaus County high schools to assist students with college and career readiness. Others will work with college freshman who are transitioning to the university environment, particularly in STEM majors. Stan State is one of eight public and private colleges in California chosen to participate in the program. The goal is to improve educational attainment and promote a collegegoing culture in the Central Valley, especially among lowincome males of color. During the half-hour ceremony, U.S. Rep. Josh Harder (CA-10) commended the group for making a difference in its community. “It’s really important that we are helping folks in the community. This is just what good citizenship looks like,” the congressman said in his address. “This is what makes you good Americans. You’re giving back to the community after people have invested in you.”
NEWS BRIEFS
WARRIOR ATHLETICS Andrew Maginley
The COVID-19 pandemic may have sidelined sports, but Warrior Athletics and Stan State’s student-athletes still managed to score some big wins. SUCCESSFUL SCHOLARS: Student-athletes finishe the fall 2020 semester with an overall department GPA of 3.275, making it Athletics’ highest GPA on record and besting the previous Spring 2020 GPA of 3.215. Ninetyeight student-athletes earned a GPA of 3.5 or higher, placing them on the Dean’s List; 30 earned straight A’s.
Marcus Shelby
PHENOMENAL FUNDRAISING: Stan State’s first-e er virtual Warrior Way Auction was a rousing success and raised more than $23,000 for the Warrior Athletics Scholarship — surpassing the initial $20,000 goal. The Warrior Crab Feed, Athletics’ signature fundraiser, was canceled in 2020 and again this spring due to COVID-19. But event planners pivoted and successfully organized a silent auction.
NEW MUSIC SERIES ELEVATES EQUALITY
“Our Warrior vision is to provide a championship experience to our student-athletes,” said Director of Athletics Terry Donovan. “We aim to win in the classroom, win in the community, and win in competition.”
Stan State’s Department of Music launched a concert series last fall that discussed issues of equity, equality and social justice. The series, “Black Musicians Matter,” invited international lutenist Andrew Maginley and bassist and composer Marcus Shelby to perform and present to Stan State students and campus community members.
RETURN TO PARTICIPATION: Following guidance from county health offi als and approval from University administration, student-athletes were approved to resume outdoor strength training and conditioning March 22. Participation is strictly voluntary.
Every year, Department Chair David Chapman invites a world-class musician to Stan State to perform and present. Last year’s reckoning over systemic racism, injustice and incidents of violence inspired Chapman to do more to elevate discussions of equality. So he recruited Maginley — his long-time friend, a fellow music teacher and Fulbright Scholar — to perform virtually last October. Shelby performed in February and gave a presentation titled, “MLK and the Blues.” Chapman hopes the music series will continue and become an annual event. “Music is a literary instrument, and it can be used as a powerful delivery tool to discuss racism and social justice,” Chapman said.
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Stanislaus State added the following honors to its growing list:
MAKING THE GRADE
• Nursing Schools Almanac ranked the School of Nursing
No. 25 on its 75 Best Nursing Schools in California list and No. 52 of the 100 Best Nursing Schools in the West in its “2020 Nursing School Rankings” report.
• Hispanic Outlook on Education Magazine ranked Stan
State No. 50 in the nation for the number of bachelor’s degrees awarded to Hispanics and No. 84 for total enrollment of Hispanics at four-year universities in its annual “Top 100 Colleges and Universities for Hispanics ” issue.
• The campus was featured in The Princeton Review’s
2021 “Guide to Green Colleges,” as one of the most environmentally-responsible colleges in the United States and Canada.
• College Consensus ranked the Master of Business
Administration program No. 24 in the state.
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In the last 60 years, Stanislaus State has evolved into a center of academic excellence, intellectual pursuit, cultural engagement and public service for California’s Central Valley. We proudly celebrate our 60th anniversary of serving a diverse student body, building community partnerships and developing future trailblazers who will lead our ever-evolving world. Happy Birthday Stanislaus State!
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ALUMNI
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The BY LORI GILBERT
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ALUMNI
Richard Ronten is having the last laugh. A member of the Stanislaus State Foundation Board, he punctuates much of his conversation with an easy laugh, but particularly relishes the story of his Summerville High School counselors. “They looked at my grades and told me I should go to trade school,” Ronten said. Even if he didn’t have grades that inspired his teachers or counselors to expect much of him, Ronten knew he was destined for something more. He was curious and loved to read. He largely taught himself about stocks and investing and has successfully invested for most of his adult life. But he turned down an opportunity to work as a stockbroker to put his Stan State Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration to work in other ways.
I bought my first ental property in Stockton even before buying a house in Fremont as my residence.” Ronten now has eight income properties in Stockton in addition to income properties in other cities. He still maintains a home in Fremont but also has another home in Stockton to maintain his Stockton and Stan State connection.
“I knew I wanted to work in business, some business,” Ronten said.
From that vantage point he can see the possibility of Stockton and Stan State’s campus there.
It turned out to be the food business, first at illie Lewis Foods in Stockton, where he rose from assistant to the senior vice president of manufacturing to corporate manager of inventory control and production planning.
“The potential for the Stockton Campus is off the chart” he said. “People in San Joaquin County are not using it to the degree they should be, and I think it’s because they don’t know it’s there and don’t know what’s available to them. I think the Stockton Campus is an underutilized resource and asset.”
It was during his tenure at the company that Ronten developed his love for Stockton.
He is an unabashed cheerleader for the Stockton Campus in his role on the Foundation Board, for which he’s chairman of the Finance and Investment Committee, and a member of the Foundation’s Executive Committee. He also serves on the Stan State Alumni Council, the Advisory Board for the College of Business Administration and the Board of Directors of Auxiliary and Business Services.
Although his career took him to Fremont — where he spent more than 30 years working for MJB/Hills Brothers Coffee, and then as a corporate executive with Nestlé in San Francisco and later as a business consultant — a part of his heart has remained in the port city. “I always liked Stockton,” Ronten said. “When I first m ved to the Bay Area, I lived in a onebedroom apartment. With the money I earned, STA N M AGA Z I N E
His dedication is driven largely by his love for his alma mater. 14
They knew there was a better future beyond Tuolumne City, so they sent him to Modesto Junior College and then to Stanislaus State, the closest colleges to them. He worked all through college including summers at the mill.
“Education is a lifelong journey, not a destination.” — RICHARD RONTEN
It was while in Modesto that Ronten began studying stocks and how the market worked, but it was his business degree that carried him into his professional career. Even in “retirement” he continues to revere that education and still reads at least three hours a day to continue the self-education that enabled much of his joy and success.
“I feel like I received a quality business education at Stan State. A lot of my success I had later was due to what I learned at Stanislaus,” Ronten said. “When I was there it was very small. Thomas Barrett was the head of the business department, and I had a good relationship with him. The education I received there really did prepare me well for the future.”
“Education is a lifelong journey, not a destination,” he said.
That he would end up with a college business degree was something his parents, who were children of immigrants, always envisioned for their only child.
“In the future I’d like to be involved more one-on-one with Stanislaus students. I like being involved with the University. I’m trying to give back. That was the foundation of a lot that I have accomplished to date.”
“They grew up in Tuolumne City, were born there, and that was the vision they had, that I needed to go to college,” Ronten said. “There was never any discussion about it. I was going to college, something that they were not able to do themselves during the Depression.”
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F E AT U R E S T O R Y
ON THE ROAD TO RECOVERY:
EDUCATION PAVES THE WAY FOR TWO WARRIORS By gina oltman
F
or some students, just enrolling at Stanislaus State is a major victory. They have spent years struggling with drug addiction, alcoholism, homelessness and indigence. In their darkest moments, they doubted they would ever start or resume their college educations. But once they start attending classes, these students embark on an educational journey that changes the trajectory of their lives and the futures of their families. As they work toward a degree, they develop the soft skills they need to succeed in the workforce, and they find the en ouragement and confi ence to persevere in recovery. Many of these students also discover that their greatest desire is to give back to their community by helping others overcome the obstacles they know so well. Here are the stories of two such Stan State students.
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Katharine Wallace When Stanislaus State Stockton Campus student Katherine Wallace was awarded a $1,500 scholarship from the Stockton Host Lions Club last fall, she was caught completely off-gua d. “They knew my story, and they knew I wasn’t going to have financ al aid for the next semester,” said Wallace, a mother of three who works waiting tables at Bud’s Seafood Grille, where the Lions meet. “So, they surprised me with this scholarship. It was amazing. I’m so grateful for their help.” Wallace’s story is a saga of life’s unexpected turns and the power of hope, tenacity and transformation. Married in her 20s, she spent several years as a wife and stay-at-home mom of three before she started turning to alcohol whenever she felt the need to escape. That led to alcoholism, which led to homelessness and, eventually, “losing everything.”
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“I had gotten a DUI, and I lost my car and apartment, and I was in jail,” she recalled. “I didn’t know where I was going to go or what to do. I didn’t know anything about the services available to me or how to get help.” It was the court system that directed her to the services that helped her achieve sobriety and rebuild her life. She started her recovery with the Gospel Center Rescue Mission, then moved on to Lily Pad Living, a soberliving house where the compassionate approach of the people running it helped her better understand her physical addiction, rediscover her confi ence and change her life. “I learned to trust again,” she said. “I learned to trust myself. I started trusting my higher power that I would be OK, and I reunited with my children, who I am very close to.” As she made progress, she knew the time was right for her to resume the college education she had started years earlier at Columbia College in Sonora. She enrolled at San Joaquin Delta College and eventually made a smooth transfer to Stan State through the Warriors on the Way (WOW) program. Now three years sober with the help of a 12-step program, she is volunteering at Lily Pad Living and working steadily toward earning a bachelor’s degree in psychology. She thinks about pursuing a master’s degree and believes her personal experiences position her for a career helping people who are homeless or addicted because she understands what they are going through.
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"I learned to trust again. I learned to trust myself. I started trusting my higher power that I would be OK, and I reunited with my children, who I am very close to." — KATHARINE WALLACE
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“I am proud to be part of a University that took on this crisis with such determination, strength and perseverance.” — KATHARINE WALLACE “The people you see on the streets, they are desperate for connections. No one ever goes up and says, ‘Hi. How are you doing?’ to a homeless person,” she said. “Most people think they need food, but they know where to get food. They are starving for connections. They are starving for opportunities, and they are starving for acceptance.” Wallace counts her blessings every day. She is thankful for the support of people she has met in Stockton and the community-based recovery programs she says, “truly saved my life.” She appreciates the scholarships and financ al aid that help cover her expenses, and she is grateful for the guidance and support of the staff and aculty at Stan State’s Stockton Campus. Katharine recently sent a thank you letter to Stockton Campus Dean Faimous Harrison. In it she noted that Stan State’s unwavering dedication to the success and wellbeing of students—even while making the unanticipated and massive transition to online instruction due to COVID-19—reinforced her belief that the road to recovery has led her to a place where she belongs. “I am proud to be part of a University that took on this crisis with such determination, strength and perseverance,” she wrote. “I want to thank you for your encouragement, approachability and commitment to the success of the students here at Stanislaus State. I am proud to be a Stanislaus State Warrior!”
Faith Weatheral-Block With fi e years of living clean and sober under her belt, Stanislaus State sociology major Faith WeatheralBlock is focused on helping others overcome addiction and realize their full potential. “My personal experiences have taught me that your past decisions do not define ou, but they can strengthen and motivate you,” said WeatheralBlock, recipient of a Mary Stuart Rogers Scholarship and on track to graduate with a bachelor’s degree this spring. A resident of Sonora, WeatheralBlock fully understands addiction, recovery and the strength and motivation it takes to reclaim one’s life. She started using alcohol at age 12 and was in and out of treatment programs over several years. Then, at 21, she was prescribed an opioid painkiller for a medical condition and her addiction accelerated to a new level. “The painkiller was very addictive and very similar to heroin,” she said. “Back then, I could purchase it easily and relatively cheaply (as a street
drug). Then it became not so easy to get, so someone introduced me to heroin, which was easy to get.” A mother of one at the time, Weatheral-Block tried to maintain her addiction while juggling parenting and attending Columbia College. It didn’t go well. Her family could see she was in trouble and intervened to take guardianship of her son to keep him safe. Eventually, Weatheral-Block’s addiction led her to stop attending college and become homeless. She was prompted to take stock of her life after learning she was pregnant and had a run in with the law, and reassessed her future while she sat in a jail cell. A switch flipped in y head that this wasn’t OK. I didn’t want to keep doing this,” she said. “And when (the court system) gave me one more opportunity to go into a program, I took it and ran with it.” This time, recovery meant being open and brutally honest with herself and not sugar-coating anything. “I took responsibility for my actions and my choices,” she said. “I needed to finally come to terms with who I am and then start to love myself.”
“My personal experiences have taught me that your past decisions do not define ou, but they can strengthen and motivate you.” — FAITH WEATHERAL-BLOCK
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F E AT U R E S T O R Y When she emerged from the treatment program, she had a new daughter in her arms. And after a year of living clean and sober, her family supported her in regaining guardianship of her son. Weatheral-Block returned to Columbia College and earned associate degrees in sociology and human services. In 2019, she transferred to Stan State with the goal of eventually earning a Master of Social Work and becoming a licensed clinical social worker after she earns her bachelor’s degree.
of Tuolumne County’s behavioral health agency. There she does outreach to the homeless population at a community center that offers showers and other forms of assistance. The work is fulfillin , and it reaffirms that she is on the c eer path that is right for her. “If I can alter the course of my life, I truly believe that anyone can, and I want to help make that happen,” she said.
She works part-time as a peer specialist at The Enrichment Center
STUDENTS IN NEED OF HELP CAN FIND IT AT STAN STATE Stanislaus State students dealing with addictions can find eferrals to local treatment programs and additional mental health support at the Student Health Center and Psychological Counseling Services.
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The Student Health Center can refer students to treatment programs in Stanislaus, Merced or San Joaquin counties, while Psychological Counseling Services are available to students while they work through a treatment program,. “Students experiencing these issues are encouraged to have honest and confi ential conversations with their provider in the Student Health Center to begin the journey,” said Elizabeth Peisner, interim executive director of Health and Wellness and interim director of Psychological Counseling Services. “It’s a long road, to be sure, but we will do our best to assist students in connecting to the help they need to overcome addiction.” The Student Health Center can be reached at (209) 667-3396, and Psychological Counseling Services can be reached at (209) 667-3381. Students experiencing homelessness or food insecurity can find help from the Basic Needs Program, (209) 667-3108.
BASIC NEEDS, COMMUNITY SERVICE ARE PRIORITIES FOR STAN STATE GRAD STUDENT When it comes to his career plans, Stanislaus State graduate student Michael Taylor of Modesto maintains a wide view.
Michael Taylor
“I’m trying to combine all of my skills: my communication skills, my leadership skills, the knowledge I’ve acquired at Stan State and my willingness to be of service to people,” said Taylor, who earned a bachelor’s degree in communication studies in 2018 and is working on a master’s degree in social work. “The big goal is to help out my community and make it the best place possible.”
Thirty years old, Taylor transferred to Stan State from Modesto Junior College with a natural inclination toward leadership and community service after working several years in restaurant and retail management. The first-generation college student juggles a full schedule of coursework, a government relations internship with Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers (SEIU-UHW) and memberships in the Alpha Alpha Alpha honors society and Alpha Phi Omega national service fraternity. He is on track to earn his master’s degree this spring after completing a team culminating project that will recommend actions to the University’s Basic Needs Program based on information gleaned from a group of 15 students who have experienced food and housing insecurity.
“It’s a participatory action research project to understand the effects of food and housing insecurity on students and give them a voice in the solutions,” he said. “We can all see the problems, but the actions to address the problems will come from the students who are actually suffering.” Taylor became interested in basic needs services last year when he took an internship with Stan State’s Basic Needs Program. He found he loved helping his peers overcome food insecurity by registering them for CalFresh and sharing information about other resources available to them. That experience, and his overall grasp of basic needs issues, prompted the California State University Office of the Chancellor to select him last fall as one of four experts to participate in a Zoom-broadcast panel discussion on supporting students’ basic needs on the CSU’s 23 campuses. Taylor says much of his desire to help others and improve his community stems from lessons he learned as a young Boy Scout while camping and working up to the rank of Eagle Scout. “We learned to always leave places better than you found them,” he said. “So that is what I am trying to do now. I want to make sure that I leave my city, and the whole world, better than when I came.” Along those lines, he has been paying close attention to the governmental policy issues he is exposed to as an SEIUUHW intern with the goal of getting a full understanding of how public policy drives the delivery of social services to people in need. It may lead him to a career in government, or at the very least a future of being well-informed and better able to impact his community. “I’m informed, and I want to make sure I can help others be informed,” he said. “If we have a society of informed voters, that is our best chance for making this world a better place.”
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FACULTY
LAWand BY DONNA BIRCH TRAHAN
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Stanislaus State Professor Phyllis Gerstenfeld has become a soughtafter national expert on the psychology of prejudice and hate crimes. Phyllis Gerstenfeld was a graduate student when she read a news story that piqued her curiosity. The article marked the start of her journey toward what would later become her area of expertise: hate crimes. The Oregon native was pursuing both a doctoral degree in psychology and a law degree at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. The news story, out of Florida, involved a man who was accused of a hate crime. “I had never heard the term ‘hate crime’ used before,” she said. “It was a new term, and the laws were new. The first ha e crime laws were passed in 1981, and it was 1990 when I firs started studying them.” While the phrase was relatively new to her, the behaviors and sentiment affi ated with prejudice and hate were not. Gerstenfeld, who is Jewish, grew up in Portland. “Oregon has a really long history of racism. When it was established, Black people weren’t allowed to move there. We had some personal experiences. They were nothing too serious, but there was...stuff.” 23
As an undergraduate at Reed College, she recalled going downtown and seeing a lot of skinheads hanging around. At the time, she didn’t know much about them. At NebraskaLincoln, after reading about the Florida case, she wrote a paper for one of her law classes. “I was already interested in the psychology of prejudice and hate crimes fit f om a legal perspective.”
“I think it’s kind of cool that there’s a national expert right here in the Central Valley at Stanislaus State.I believe our criminal justice program is exceptional, and this backs up that idea.” — PHYLLIS GERSTENFELD Three decades later, Gerstenfeld is an expert on the topic. She’s been interviewed and quoted nationally by The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Wired magazine, the Christian Science Monitor, the Atlanta Constitution-Journal, National Public Radio, CNN and others. She’s written books, including two textbooks that are used in college-level criminal justice programs across the country, published papers and delivered presentations internationally. While she does about a dozen media interviews a year, she shares her knowledge and insights with Stanislaus State students on practically a daily basis as a professor and chair of the Department of Criminal Justice. “I think it’s kind of cool that there’s a national expert right here in the Central Valley at Stanislaus State,” Gerstenfeld said. “I believe our criminal justice program is exceptional, and this backs up that idea.” SPRING 2021
FACULTY
Building from the Ground Up
As the department evolved, so did Gerstenfeld. She rose in the ranks, earning the title of associate professor in 1998. Two years later, she was appointed undergraduate program coordinator. By 2003, she was promoted to professor and two years after that, helmed the department as its chair.
Gerstenfeld joined the campus in 1993 as an assistant professor, shortly after Stan State launched its criminal justice program. “As someone who was straight out of graduate school, I wanted to be part of a growing program,” she said.
During her time at Stan State, she earned two Fulbright grants to teach and conduct research in Zagreb, Croatia. She and a team of other scholars are currently conducting a large cross-national study on student attitudes toward LGBTQ people.
The position brought her back to the West Coast, and she began to help build the department’s programs and curriculum. Stan State was one of the firs campuses in the California State University system to establish a forensics program. The department also established a juvenile justice concentration.
Her book, “Hate Crimes: Causes, Controls, and Controversies,” now in its fourth edition, is the leading text on hate crimes. She also co-authored “CJ: Realities and Challenges,” an introductory criminal justice textbook. Gerstenfeld said she and her co-authors were intentional in focusing the text on debunking myths about criminal justice.
“We enroll a lot of students who want to work with kids on the prevention side of criminal justice, which is fantastic,” Gerstenfeld said. “We also have a mentoring program. All our students spend some time mentoring at-risk kids in K-12 schools. It helps them understand the struggles many kids face and how the presence of one positive person can make a difference in their lives.”
“One of the challenges of teaching is (some students) think they know everything already because they watch ‘CSI’,’’ she said. “A lot of what we have to do early on is unteach them the wrong stuff be ore we can teach them the right stuff.”
“It’s particularly frustrating when people who study this stuff h ve been sounding warning bells for years and years but others don’t listen. You see patterns of behavior and can predict what’s going to happen but you feel really powerless. Personally, I wish nobody had to care about hate crimes anymore. I wish my research was obsolete.” — PHYLLIS GERSTENFELD
During the past few years, she’s been asked to increasingly speak about hate crimes and extremism. “It tends to be when certain things hit the news, such as high-profi e hate crimes.”
‘E! True Hollywood Story’ Calls
She was interviewed for a documentary on hate crimes against Asian Americans as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Last November, she co-authored a paper titled, “Hate-Motivated Behavior: Impacts, Risk Factors, and Interventions,” which discusses the shift of extremism from the fringes of society to the mainstream and hate-motivated behavior as a “a public health threat with structural, interpersonal and individual antecedents and effects.”
Although her subject matter can be emotionally heavy, the married mother of two daughters has found ways to inject some lightness. She teaches a criminal justice seminar for authors and budding writers. And last fall, entertainment cable network E! asked to interview her for its rebooted series “E! True Hollywood Story” for an episode about celebrity deaths. “It was different from what I normally do,” she said. “I talked about Whitney Houston, her daughter Bobbi Kristina, Bobbi Kristina’s husband, the Tiger King and Brittney Murphy, the legal aspects of their cases, patterns of death and procedural processes.” The episode, titled “Hollywood Mysteries,” is expected to air in fall 2021.
“I don’t think there’s any more racism now than there has been over the last several decades,” Gerstenfeld said. “I think it’s more obvious now to people who aren’t targeted by it. If you are a straight, white Christian, you didn’t see it too much for the past few decades. Now you can’t help but see it.
She also practices another creative outlet: she works a side gig as a published novelist, penning romance, sci-fi and hor or books. She says it’s fun and calls it her therapy.
“It’s particularly frustrating when people who study this stuff h ve been sounding warning bells for years and years but others don’t listen. You see patterns of behavior and can predict what’s going to happen but you feel really powerless. Personally, I wish nobody had to care about hate crimes anymore. I wish my research was obsolete.”
But don’t bother looking for those novels alongside her scholarly tomes because she writes those under a pseudonym. “When students go looking for my textbooks, I don’t want them to get sidetracked.”
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Working for Reform Alumnus Tomas Evangelista Leads California Dreamers By gina oltman 27
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Stanislaus State alumnus Tomas Evangelista has found his calling by helping others use their voice. Self-employed as the executive director of Evangelista Community Relations, the 2014 graduate is a Deferred Action on Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipient and the co-founder of California Dreamers, a nonprofit organi ation dedicated to helping undocumented Californians speak out and push for immigration reform and a pathway to citizenship. “Overall, I have a passion for making life better for our community,” he said. “Undocumented families are close to my heart, and I want to help them improve their lives.” Abandoned by his father before he was born in Mexico, Evangelista’s mother brought him to the United States when he was 2 years old. A few years later, she died of cancer and he moved to Auburn to live with family members. He embraced the charming Sierra foothill town as his home, and the community returned the embrace; residents even raised funds to help him pay for his fina semesters at Stan State. “When you have that type of support from a community, you don’t want to go too far,” he said, explaining why he happily returned to his hometown after earning his bachelor’s degree in kinesiology. The California Dreamers organization was born a few years later in response to statements President Trump made about undocumented immigrants. As a co-founder of the organization, Evangelista led members of the group to counter Trump’s rhetoric by using STA N M AGA Z I N E
traditional and social media to tell their stories and show that they are not criminals or a financ al drain. In the course of his work, Evangelista met with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Vice President Kamala Harris (a senator at the time) to advocate for passage of the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act. He also participated in a live Facebook interview with company founder Mark Zuckerberg to discuss the impact of Trump’s decision to end DACA, which was later reversed by the U.S. Supreme Court. With a new administration in Washington, Evangelista believes the time is right for California Dreamers to renew its efforts. Being patient and hoping the DREAM Act finally asses is the wrong approach, he said. “During the last years of the Obama administration, I think we just fell asleep as Dreamers,” he said. “We thought it would all fall into place and it didn’t. Yes, Obama issued DACA, and we had more opportunity, but we should have been more vocal. So that is what I’ll be doing with our group.” Evangelista is also looking for ways Dreamers can build clout within the California Democratic Party, perhaps as delegates, so that they have a stronger voice in party platform issues. In addition to leading California Dreamers, Evangelista worked with the Latino Leadership Council on mental health, homelessness and other issues until 2019, when he started his firm. Hi business quickly picked up contracts to educate residents of ten counties about the 2020 U.S. Census and the importance of responding to Census surveys. When the Census contracts ended, his firm pi oted to working for fi e candidates in two highly competitive Placer County school board races. It also provided grant-funded, non-partisan youth voter 28
“Overall, I have a passion for making life better for our community.” — TOMAS EVANGELISTA outreach. By focusing on lower-income and diverse areas of the county where voter registration was historically low, his firm helped boost the ounty’s voter registration to an estimated 95 percent of eligible voters. At the height of the campaign season, he had 15 employees on his payroll. After the November election, however, the work slowed, and he started thinking about his next steps. Interested in law school, he began studying for the Law School Admissions Test (LSAT) and says he may be making the switch from business owner to law student in the fall. “It would mean taking a chance, just like others have done before me,” he said. “We often think things are out of reach, but if we take chances, show up, put the work in and ask for help when we need it, I think we can get anywhere.”
From Left to Right: Tomas Evangelista and colleagues met with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerburg. Below: Evangelista meets with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
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The quest for BY LORI GILBERT
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erman Roanhorse voluntarily left the Navajo reservation in Arizona at the age of 10 in 1950 to attend the Intermountain Indian School for Navajos in Brigham City, Utah. He only returned to his Arizona home to visit family, but he did register his six children as Navajo. That lineage made it possible for his granddaughter, Stanislaus State sophomore Kaitlyn Nannie, to earn a scholarship from the Navajo Nation for the second consecutive year. This year’s award, for $7,000, honors Chief Manuelito, Hastiin Ch’ilhaajiin (1818-1893), who encouraged the Navajo people to seek education and protect and preserve their tradition and culture. “When I read the letter, my heart was so full,” said Nannie, 20, a business administration major. Nannie is following her grandfather’s quest for knowledge on unceded lands of another native tribe, the Yokuts. Stanislaus State honors the ancient tribe members and its descendants as it pursues its mission to provide higher education for today’s students.
and about his mom and how many children she had — eight,” Kaitlyn Nannie said. “I remember visiting the reservation when I was little.” Rebecca Nannie’s memories are of annual summer trips to see her grandmother. “I felt like I really understood my father more when he was home,” Rebecca Nannie said. “He is very simple, very methodical, very kind. He’s a very peaceful man. I understood that more. I appreciated that.” Herman Roanhorse chose to leave that serenity as a child.
Learning is a value that’s been passed on from her Navajo grandfather. “My uncle talked about how nice it was at boarding school, and I got excited,” Roanhorse said. He was homesick, and cried every night for the first th ee months, he said. He and his Navajo classmates were forced to give up their lifestyles and native language.
Kaitlyn Nannie learned about the scholarship when her cousins were awarded them, but she was the firs to apply among her siblings after graduating from Turlock’s Pitman High School.
Abandoning their life was a choice forced on them by American society and leaders, Rebecca Nannie said. But her father voices no regrets, other than wishing he could still speak the language.
“I was proud of her for grasping the tools that were before her,” said her mother, Rebecca Nannie, a budget analyst for Stan State’s University Police Department and executive assistant to Chief of Police Clint Strode.
He is proud of the life he led, working as a welder and raising six children.
Growing up, Kaitlyn Nannie didn’t know a lot about her Navajo heritage. “I heard stories about how my grandfather went to boarding school,
College of Business Administration’s academic advising for new students. When she started at Stan State, she began what she hopes is a budding business career with TJ Maxx, where she works in the Turlock store. Although she’s still taking general education courses, she’s found them benefic al. “I’m acquiring new skills. Some of the general education classes, like communications, are really helping me perform better,” Kaitlyn Nannie said. “I’m really excited to start my next year in school and learn more about business.” Learning is a value that’s been passed on from her Navajo grandfather, who left all that he knew as a child and in recent years, is re-embracing his roots. “I tend to forget the importance of it, because I get caught up in work and I’m so busy,” Kaitlyn said. “It’s something to be proud of. It’s important to take a step back and remember our family history, my grandpa’s history.”
That his granddaughter is following in his footsteps in pursuing an education makes him smile. “I’m proud of her, that she wants to go to school and wants to learn,” Roanhorse said. Kaitlyn chose Stan State because of its student-to-professor ratio and the
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From Left to Right: Kaitlyn Nannie and her grandfather Herman Roanhorse.
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