S T A N I S L A U S S T AT E
SPRING 2022
M A G A Z I N E
THE
Sustainability issue
A Word from the
PRESIDENT our exceptional faculty members who were on hand to talk about their colleges and departments. It was gratifying to see our Warrior community conveying a warm, welcoming spirit.
Spring, a season symbolic of renewal, growth and new beginnings, is a beautiful time of year. So, it’s fitting that this spring issue of STAN Magazine spotlights the University’s sustainability initiatives. At Stan State, sustainability encompasses environmental, economic and social justice dimensions. It extends into our curriculum and the values we hold to improve and uplift our communities. We hope you enjoy learning what our institution is doing to holistically support sustainability in its many forms throughout our region.
After taking campus tours, future students and their families were invited to a photography tent to take pictures. Many of them described Stan State as an amazing and inviting campus and said their visit solidified their decision to come here. I am touched by the care and commitment shown to our current and future students. Over the past two years, our faculty, staff, administrators and supporters have gone above and beyond to provide students with a high-quality education while demonstrating fortitude, creativity and initiative.
This spring felt even more special on campus because of the resumption of in-person activities and interactions. As our nation transitions out of the pandemic phase of COVID-19, I’m optimistic that many of the challenges we’ve faced are abating.
I am honored to be part of a community whose members truly embody our deeply held philosophy: at Stan State, you belong.
On a gorgeous and sunny Saturday in late April, Stanislaus State held its first in-person Warrior Welcome for admitted students since 2019. About 900 prospective and admitted students, their parents and families came to campus to learn more about our University.
Warmly,
I met and talked to so many people who were excited to be here — and it wasn’t just our future Warriors. Current Warriors were there too as representatives of their student clubs and organizations. Also present were
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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 Public Affairs
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) Christopher Correa Kristin Platts
Mandeep Khaira (’02) Photographers
Tracee Littlepage Justin Souza Media Production Specialist
Frankie Tovar (’11)
Stay in touch!
Phone: (209) 667-3131 cpa@csustan.edu www.csustan.edu/stan-magazine Evan Porges interviews 2022 honoree, Marian Kaanon, at the Champions of the American Dream event on May 3. On page 30, discover how Evan is making a difference for the College of Business Administration.
04 News Briefs 10 Tree Campus USA 12 Council for Sustainable Futures 14 Ag Science Center is Ready to Roll Again 16 Universal Approach to Sustainability
22 Sustainability: Going Beyond Science Classes 24 Taking the Lead on Sustainability Efforts 26 Cultivating an Ongoing Education 30 Engaging Entrepreneurs
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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 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.
SPRING 2022
NEWS BRIEFS
STEVE AROUNSACK WINS 2022 WANG FAMILY EXCELLENCE AWARD Stanislaus State Professor of Cultural Anthropology S. Steve Arounsack is one of four California State University faculty to receive a 2022 Wang Family Excellence Award. Arounsack earned the Outstanding Faculty Scholarship award. The Wang Award is one of the CSU’s most prestigious accolades that recognizes recipients for their commitment to student achievement and advancing the CSU mission through excellence in teaching, scholarship and service. This year’s honorees were recognized in January during a virtual meeting of the CSU Board of Trustees. In other good news, Arounsack served as the lead cultural advisor and principal visual anthropologist for Walt Disney Animation Studios’ film “Raya and the Last Dragon,” which received an Academy Award nomination for best animated feature film.
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WARRIOR RECOGNIZED BY NATIONAL STUDENT VETERANS ORGANIZATION Stanislaus State transfer student June Sidlauskas was a finalist for the Student Veterans of America 2022 Student Veteran of the Year award. The honor went to Katherine Martinez of Old Dominion University, but Sidlauskas, who served 20 years in the U.S. Navy, was stunned to be among the 10 finalists from across the country. “I have it in my hands and I see my name on it, but I’m still in disbelief. I’m honored and humbled and feel undeserving,” Sidlauskas said. Proud to be a Warrior, Sidlauskas also is proud of her 20 years in the Navy, which might have ended when her right leg was injured when her ship was rocked by a severe storm in Puget Sound and a piece of the structure broke loose and pinned her down as she jumped in to save a fellow sailor. She endured several surgeries and physical therapy to successfully return to active duty. Now, she sees a different future on her horizon. The psychology major hopes to become a social worker.
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SPRING 2022
NEWS BRIEFS
STAN STATE NAMED EQUITY CHAMPION Stanislaus State was selected as a 2021 Equity Champion for Higher Education last fall by the Campaign for College Opportunity, an organization dedicated to expanding college access, improving college completion rates and closing racial equity gaps in education in California. In November, the organization recognized the University for its “exemplary work” in enrolling Latinx students who’ve earned an Associate Degree for Transfer (ADT) and placing them on a pathway to a bachelor’s degree. The Campaign recognized Stan State and other honorees during a virtual event. As an Equity Champion of Higher Education, Stanislaus State is playing an integral role in ensuring underrepresented, minority and marginalized Californians have an equal opportunity to attend and succeed in college, which in turn builds a vibrant workforce, economy and democracy. Compared to traditional transfer students, ADT students earn their bachelor’s degree nearly twice as fast, making it more likely for them to complete their degree. Prior to the ADT’s inception in 2012, the process of transferring from community college to a four-year institution was difficult. A lack of statewide coordination left students with inconsistent requirements demanded by the different systems, schools and departments. As a result, the inconsistencies made it more difficult for students attempting to transfer and led to alarmingly low transfer rates.
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DIRECTOR OF ACADEMIC TECHNOLOGY JASE TEOH SELECTED FOR NATIONAL FELLOWSHIP Jase Teoh, Stan State’s director of academic technology, is one of 12 applicants selected for the first cohort of the Next Leaders Fellowship (NLF), a one-year program aimed at increasing the number of Black, Indigenous and people of color (BIPOC) in senior roles in higher education information and technology. Sponsored by Educause, NLF offers conferences and matches each fellow with a mentor. “In my application I wrote about the importance of mentorship and expressed the need to look for more diverse, equitable and inclusive voices around the Chief Information Officer table, particularly those in more senior positions,” Teoh said. “The Next Leadership Fellowship provides just that with 12 chief information officers from diverse backgrounds and from different universities looking to invest in mid-career BIPOC professionals and encouraging us to rise above our level.”
NEW CHILD DEVELOPMENT CENTER DESIGNED FOR SUSTAINABILITY A new 14,729-square-foot, sustainably-designed Child Development Center is planned for the southeast section of the Stanislaus State campus in Turlock, between the Sustainable Garden and the recreation field. Construction is anticipated to begin this summer and continue into fall 2023. The opening of the building, which will replace the current 4,414-square-foot center, is planned to coincide with the start of the 2024 spring semester. The new, larger Center is sized to serve 80 children at any given time, which is more than double the number of children the current Center can serve at once. It will be a one-story, accessible structure built with sustainable materials, water- and energyefficiency features and a 100-kilowatt solar panel array on the rooftop. The grounds will include children’s play yards, a parent drop-off and pick-up zone and landscaping. The University expects the new building to be carbon positive in 20 years, meaning that is when the solar panels will have generated more energy than was used to build and operate the building.
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SPRING 2022
NEWS BRIEFS
STAN STATE TO RECEIVE $1.74M FOR SERVICE PROGRAM Stanislaus State is among 45 California colleges and universities chosen for #CaliforniansForAll College Corps, a historic program that will help create a debt-free pathway for students — including AB 540 eligible Dreamers — who commit to public service.
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The program will provide students with service opportunities in areas that include climate action, K-12 education and COVID-19 recovery over two academic years. Students who complete a year of service will receive $10,000 while gaining valuable experience serving in their communities. The program unites Californians of all backgrounds in service, and, for the first time, specifically creates state-funded opportunities for AB 540 eligible Dreamers to serve their communities. Nearly four million Californians owe $147 billion in student debt with Black and Latinx Californians facing the highest rates of default and delinquency. Gov. Gavin Newsom prioritized the College Corps program as part of an effort to lead the nation in service-centered paths, relieving the debt burden on students while moving the state forward with servicefocused careers.
SPRING 2022 BUSINESS FORECAST The Ukraine-Russia conflict, rising interest rates and high inflation mainly driven by oil prices inhibited the Central Valley’s economy from recovering at a faster pace from the COVID-19 pandemic. That is the outlook for 2022 according to the biannual San Joaquin Valley Business Forecast produced by Gökçe Soydemir, the Foster Farms endowed professor of business economics at Stanislaus State. The likelihood of a recession is higher than before given increased concerns of interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve. Rising interest rates, the agency’s focus on lowering inflation and a prolonged conflict between Ukraine and Russia could steer the economy toward a hard landing. Soydemir’s Business Forecast provides projections for the San Joaquin Valley’s labor market, regional housing conditions, prices and inflation, banks and other depositary institutions and capital markets.
FOCUS ON FOOD SAFETY MANAGEMENT
Another career-ready opportunity is about to become a reality for Stanislaus State students as food safety management will be incorporated into some biology, chemistry and agriculture courses. The lessons are intended to satisfy requirements for several food safety industry certificates or prepare students to pass some certification exams. Backed by a grant from the United States Department of Agriculture, University representatives have worked to include content that will help position students for another potential career in the broad agriculture spectrum. In addition to being offered to full-time students, courses will be offered through Extended Education’s Open University, which allows non-admitted students to take courses to update their professional skills. Members of the University are collaborating with several area companies to determine which of the many certificates available would be most beneficial to students and to local industries seeking qualified employees.
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SPRING 2022
CAMPUS
STAN STATE ON TRACK TO BECOME A
Tree Campus
USA By Lori Gilbert
The 3,300-plus trees on our 228-acre campus are maintained with non-potable water from our innovative water storage system. They have been individually mapped with geographic information systems (GIS) technology. Read more about this fascinating project.
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Botanists Stuart Wooley and Andrew Gardner see Stanislaus State’s 3,300-plus trees as teaching tools and pined for the campus to be designated as an arboretum. Sustainability Coordinator Wendy Olmstead recognized the environmental and aesthetic benefits of the trees and was thinking about a different recognition. Their ideas merged when Olmstead took the lead in working to have Stan State named a Tree Campus USA by the Arbor Day Foundation. Wooley and Gardner joined the planning committee, one requirement for the designation. Also needed to be a Tree Campus USA are a budget for trees and a commitment to their upkeep, an Arbor Day event and a service-learning project. Most of the requirements overlap with those needed to be designated an arboretum. Wooley, who began teaching at Stan State in 2007 and is the assistant vice president of academic affairs, wanted to get Stan State on the Morton Register of Arboreta, a comprehensive list and database of named arboreta and other public gardens that focus on woody plants. He lacked the time to devote to the application process, so when Olmstead offered to lead the effort for the University to become a Tree Campus USA, he and Gardner were eager supporters and joined the steering committee. “Tree Campus USA emphasizes the deeper function of trees in terms of sustainability, recognizing how they soak up carbon dioxide, clean the atmosphere, pull in material and release oxygen, not to mention reduce sound, heat and evaporation,” Wooley said. Trees also make people feel good. “In Japan they have forests where people go to reduce their stress,” Olmstead said. “A lot of people do that here at the Stan State Turlock campus. I think there’s tremendous potential to use our urban forest. Our campus environment can be so useful for people for reducing their mental stress, not to mention using it for classes.” That’s already happening, thanks in part to long-term collaboration between departments in the College of Science and Capital Planning and Facilities Management (CPFM). “We use the arboretum for teaching all the time,” said Gardner, who joined the Biology Department in 2016. “We have students in General Biology putting brightly colored flagging tape on all the trees around Naraghi Hall. They’re monitoring to see how they’re leafing out in the springtime and how the
leaves are changing color and falling off in the fall. That’s an example of how we use this arboretum. It’s great to have both big populations of single species so we can look at variations within a single species, but also there’s good diversity so we can compare the behaviors, the seasonal activity of different trees.” Many plants around Naraghi Hall were suggested by former faculty. “That’s a collaborative way that CPFM works with us and other faculty,” Wooley said. “Outside Naraghi Hall are a number of plants I used in my medicinal plants class. There are native plants, water-tolerant plants. There was a purpose for putting them there. I’d bring my class out and students had to learn things about the plants. And there are other places on campus, including the Trans-California Pathway.” The Pathway made an impression on Gardner. “When I was here interviewing, I was energized by seeing the diversity of trees on the campus, but also one of the things that’s really awesome is the Trans-California Pathway, an area with a native local theme,” Gardner said. “I saw a lot of teaching opportunities there.” Olmstead, who’s a political science and public administration lecturer, appreciates the educational component of Tree Campus USA. It’s the final element needed for the application. “We have to have a large service-learning project,” Olmstead said. “We’re looking for ways to create one around the urban forest.” Although students may already be involved in such work, Olmstead would like an original project specifically for Tree Campus USA. She’s confident something will be developed to complete the application. “The designation will raise awareness of the fact the forest exists,” Olmstead said. “I’m guessing many people get out of their vehicles in the parking lot, walk to their buildings and don’t leave until the end of the day. That includes students. The forest does not exist in the middle of campus, for the most part. It exists around the edges. I think people will realize that.”
SUSTAINABILITY
COUNCIL
for SUSTAINABLE FUTURES Team Focuses on Embedding Environmental, Social and Economic Sustainability into Stan State’s Culture By Gina Oltman
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ears of making small changes to reduce her family’s environmental footprint has taught Michele Gordon that sustainability is like a river – individual raindrops, once united, become a powerful force. It’s a concept the Chemistry Department instructional support tech enjoys seeing in action at home as her family adopts more sustainable habits. When she learned in 2020 that Stanislaus State’s Council for Sustainable Futures was accepting applications to fill newly added seats, she was quick to apply, eager to see the concept work on a larger scale. “Of course, it’s a little different when you translate it to a larger scale, like from a household to a campus situation,” said Gordon. “But it’s still one raindrop at a time, and all the raindrops make a river.” The council, on which Gordon now serves as a staff representative, is an 11-member advisory team dedicated to embedding the concepts of STA N M AGA Z I N E
environmental, social and economic sustainability into the values of Stan State. With a focus on education and environmentally friendly practices, it aims to foster awareness, understanding and a culture of sustainability on campus and in the local community. In recent years, the council has led, facilitated and supported a range of initiatives, basically creating a river of sustainability one drop at a time. Examples include nearly eliminating plastic straws in campus dining areas, extending and connecting campus bike paths, bringing numerous speakers to campus, blending sustainability topics into curriculum and championing an ongoing effort to meet more of the campus’ energy needs with solar power. To support its efforts, the University has become an active member of the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) and has earned a silver rating through AASHE’s Sustainability, Tracking and Rating System (STARS).
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Council membership reflects the campus community. Seats are filled by students, administrators, faculty and staff members, allowing the council to hear a range of perspectives when discussing issues. “We don’t just deal with environmental sustainability. We are also looking at social justice and environmental justice in terms of sustainability,” said Jake Weigel, associate professor of art, who is in his second year on the council as a faculty fellow. “So that’s where it becomes really important for everyone to be represented at the table. We need different perspectives. One person might think differently than another person about sustainability. We need to understand those perspectives so we can grow the conversation.” Weigel says the diversity of council membership, as well as ongoing connections with previous members, helps council members reach out across the campus when they need feedback on an idea or expertise in a certain field.
“We don’t just deal with environmental sustainability. We are also looking at social justice and environmental justice in terms of sustainability.”
Fellow member Julia Reynoso, associate vice president of Capital Planning and Facilities Management, agrees that the council’s diverse membership is important to its success. When the council was first formed, she said, it did not have wide representation, and it soon became clear that membership needed to expand. “The council has evolved over time to include as much diverse representation of the campus as possible,” she said. “That’s important, because the diverse representation is how sustainability becomes embedded throughout the University.” As president of the student group Eco Warriors, political science major Destiny Suarez is one of two student members who bring the student perspective to the council. “I became involved because I felt the need to learn and express concern and ideas of sustainability on campus,” said Suarez, who took a council seat in 2020 when she served on the board of directors of Associated Students, Inc. Student voices on the council are important to help shape “the new world of sustainable possibilities” that is developing on campus, she said. Looking to the future, Suarez said she hopes to help the council accomplish the goals in its strategic plan, including sustainable internship, leadership and job opportunities for students. The council’s many accomplishments are documented in four years of annual reports, and members are always working toward the next achievements. Faculty Fellow Julia Sankey, professor of paleobiology and geology, is researching student commuting and associated air quality and health effects, while Kyu Han Koh, also a faculty fellow and an assistant professor of computer science, is
Also underway: Weigel is exploring an idea to raise awareness with a virtual sculpture representing the average person’s carbon footprint, and Gordon is working with other instructional support techs to reduce energy and paper use in her department and beyond. “Sustainability is a lot about rethinking how we work, how we live and the choices we make,” said Gordon. “If I can help 10 people really think about what they’re doing and find ways to be more sustainable, they could go on to influence others. Over time, we’d make a difference.”
Learn more about Sustainability at Stan State
Council Membership Administration Mary Stephens Interim Vice-President, Business and Finance
Sustainability Data
- JAKE WEIGEL
involved in outreach at Walnut Elementary Education Center and working on a sustainability education project using the Minecraft video game.
Julia Reynoso Associate Vice-President, Capital Planning & Facilities Management Staff Wendy Olmstead Sustainability Coordinator Michele Gordon Chemistry Taylor Whitehead Health Education & Promotion Faculty Fellows Jacob Weigel Art Julia Sankey Geology Costanza Zavalloni Agriculture Kyu Han Koh Computer Science
LED Lighting Conversion Total annual savings of
2,630,377 kWh
Landscape Conversions
Reduced
water usage
by 50% and maintenance requirements by 75%
Water Refill Station Installations Stations have been used to
refill a total of
393,627 bottles
Students Destiny Suarez President, Eco Warriors Adela Gonzalez ASI Director of Finance 13
SPRING 2022
COLLABORATION
SCIENCE
CENTER
at Stan State Ready to Roll Again By Kristin Platts
Every step in Emily Lawrence’s career began with one question: Where can I make the best impact? Just before the pandemic hit, she was well on her way to answering that question, through a partnership between Stanislaus State and the National Ag Science Center (NASC), which she is the executive director for.
students a chance to experience a unique educational opportunity while working with industry professionals.
The partnership, called Ag Science Center at Stan State, is a collaboration aimed at advancing the agricultural endeavors of both institutions and gives Stan State
“When I worked with Stan State, it really cemented and came together,” she said.
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With the return to fully in-person instruction this spring, those involved in the project are ready to pick up where they left off. Lawrence, who also serves as the director for Ag Science Center at Stan State, sees the collaboration of her organization with the university as a way to put Stan State’s agricultural and science programs on the radar of industry professionals. The partnership began with Lawrence incorporating NASC into a series of CSU science days she held on the Stan State campus and it quickly morphed once she met Dave Evans, dean of the College of Science at Stan State. Having no background in agriculture, but a career in education herself, Lawrence said NASC’s mission to provide education is what appealed to her when she was hired on. But she saw an essential need to affiliate the organization with an educational institution, and she looked to Stan State to fulfill it.
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There is a huge need in the industry for skilled graduates in the food safety sector, Lawrence said, and students from a broad range of majors will find this path useful.
“This really has to be an industry lead effort, so that students will be able to go out and get the job.” − EMILY LAWRENCE
“When I talk to my industry partners, they say it’s hard to find people out there with the prerequisites that they need,” she said. “I feel like this is a hugely marketable concentration.” The goal, now that more students are back on campus, is to begin to drive more attention to the Ag Science Center at Stan State. The program was recently awarded a grant from the USDA with specific parameters to include input from industry leaders. Lawrence said the grant will help propel them into the soft launch of their cohort in the fall, which they are currently recruiting for.
Working with Evans and his department has been fundamental, according to Lawrence, who underscores the relationship between science and agriculture in everything she does with her work. Through her connection with the science department, a new discipline is being formed at Stan State called Career Ready Ag Food Safety, or CRAFFS. They’re referring to it as a convergent discipline, since it’s going to require input from multiple departments, Lawrence explained.
“The specific goal of this grant is that the advisory board is minimum 50 percent from industry, because this really has to be an industry lead effort, so that students will be able to go out and get the job,” she said.
“It’s more of a pathway concept to where students will take a number of courses across a number of different divisions with the same goal of coming out with the food safety concentration,” she said.
Other plans on the immediate horizon include an Ag Tech mini-conference called “A Year in Conversations” to take place in late spring to early summer. The event will bring together college partners in the Central Valley to discuss various challenges in the technology realm.
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SPRING 2022
FEATURE STORY
Designing a
GREENER FUTURE Students, Staff and Faculty Take a Universal Approach to Sustainability By Lori Gilbert
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3,300-PLUS TREES
FEATURE STORY
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ush green grass, thousands of trees and various water features greet visitors to Stanislaus State, creating a bucolic setting for those who want to run, walk or exercise in the park-like 228 acres that surround halls of learning. Maintaining that sprawling greenspace in the middle of a suburban community requires an effort shared by students, staff and faculty members. All understand it takes commitment to be a sustainable campus now and in the future. The warning bell of climatechange has rung, and Stan State is responding. Faculty members have incorporated sustainability into their curriculum. Capital Planning and Facilities Management continues to pursue more sustainable paths, and students have organized to bring about change. Whether they knew it or not, the original architects of the campus, which opened in 1965, included a key sustainability component in the plans when they installed the reflecting pond with pipes to connect to additional water features planned for the future. “We were an island,” pointed out Julia Reynoso, associate vice president of Capital Planning and Facilities Management. “If you go back far enough, there was nothing around us. City infrastructure had not reached the campus. The campus has been like a little city of its own trying to be self-sufficient with its infrastructure.” Those designers wanted repositories for flood water, concerned about water pooling
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on undeveloped acreage. Now, as California cycles through drought after drought, the reflecting pond, named for President Emerita Marvelene Hughes, and the lakes, created in the 1990s on Hughes’ watch, catch water to irrigate the grounds and keep buildings cool. It makes the designers look prescient.
committed to exposing fellow students to the urgency of moving toward more sustainable lifestyles. Today’s students are largely aware of the climate crisis. They’ve grown up recycling aluminum and having separate garbage bins for recyclable and non-recyclable material. They live in California’s farm
The original architects of the campus, which opened in 1965, included a key sustainability component in the plans when they installed the reflecting pond. That practical design was just the beginning of Stan State’s movement toward a more sustainable future. Captured water in the lakes began replacing potable water for the campus cooling towers in 2015. In 2016 the practice was recognized as the top Water Efficiency/Site Water Quality Project of the Year within the 23-campus California State University system. It reduced potable water use by five million gallons a year. Progress continued in 2019 when the University named its first sustainability coordinator, Wendy Olmstead. That’s the year environmentally conscious students created the Eco Warriors and Climate Action Now!, both student organizations
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belt and have access to locally grown produce but understand the effects of mass farming practices and social justice issues, including lack of fresh food being available to those who work in the fields. They are working toward change. “Every once in a while, when I think about the state of the climate crisis and things not being done about it, it does make me depressed,” said Vivian Aguilar, a senior psychology major. “What helps me is holding onto hope. There are solutions and ways to mitigate the crisis and that helps keep the depression at bay.” Aguilar was only remotely aware of environmental issues until she saw Al Gore’s film, “An Inconvenient Truth,” in a lower division biology class.
After viewing the film, she considered switching her major to a field in the sciences, but knew that wasn’t realistic, given her academic strengths. Her sister Victoria, a political science/English double major who will graduate with her this month, saw a presentation in a class by Climate Action Now!, an advocacy group on campus, and Vivian Aguilar found her calling. The sisters joined as officers and have worked to spread the news about the climate and environmental crisis at hand, and what students need to know and what they can do. They’re eyeing work to make regional transit a more viable mode of transport, so not everyone needs to drive a car to campus. They’re hoping to recruit members to carry on Climate Action Now!’s mission after they’ve graduated. Climate Action Now! uses how climate change affects everyone, whether with the extended summer heat waves or increase in Central Valley air pollution, as a conversation starter. Talking rationally with friends and family, even as they rail about rising gas prices, is something Aguilar has learned to do. She presents facts as she knows them. Her activism helps her understand the environmental
LIGHT EMITTING DIODE (LED) LIGHTS
“I knew that climate change was a problem, but I didn’t think it was something that needed to be addressed right now,” Aguilar said. “I didn’t know what I could do.”
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SPRING 2022
FEATURE STORY
FIVE MILLION GALLONS A YEAR Reduction of potable water use
threat her generation and those that follow may face. “My biggest worry about the environment is that there isn’t any widespread change,” Aguilar said. “We have policies, but they aren’t as radical as they need to be.” She and fellow Climate Action Now! members and Eco Warriors are not alone in their efforts to make student voices heard on the crisis they confront. In addition to their own organizations, students have seats on the University’s Council for Sustainable Futures, and benefit from lessons in class. More than 150 courses address sustainability in some way and more will be added, thanks to Faculty Learning Communities that address teaching sustainability across disciplines. Science courses naturally include topics of sustainability. They’ve used the campus as a living classroom for years, and soon, with its urban forest of 3,300 trees, Stan State will be named a Tree Campus USA. “The designation will raise awareness of the fact the forest exists,” Olmstead said. One requirement of the Arbor Day Foundation’s designation is planned upkeep and financial commitment to the trees, which Reynoso’s team already accepts. It will soon take on a bigger task when a grove of new trees is planted west of Bizzini Hall, where temporary buildings were placed during renovation of the J. Burton Vasché Library. The Library, like the Student Center before it, was configured with sustainability in mind, from the materials used to the
Energy projects and renewable energy have created financial savings for decades, and that money is being used for additional green projects. solar panels on the roof. Currently, solar panels are atop the Library, Field House, Field House Annex, Science 1, Main Dining and at the irrigation station, as well as in some parking lots. The Student Center is adding some this spring. “We must continue with our progress on the decarbonization of the campus,” Reynoso said. “Our percentage of solar is still low overall. We have a long way to go. We are going to reach about 23 percent with current projects. Meeting the goals for decarbonization will require continuing with significant investments on campus, negotiating with Turlock Irrigation District for green energy and/or buying solar energy from off site.” Energy projects and renewable energy have created financial savings for decades, and that money is being used for additional green projects. Reynoso, who started at Stan State as a student in 1986 and has mostly remained here since, heads a department that is always looking for ways to make the campus more sustainable. The department has recently completed a project to convert the pond near Demergasso-Bava Hall into a covered study area. The pond was not a part of the water storm/ irrigation system, Reynoso said. It was merely decorative
and unsustainable. Most incandescent lights have been replaced with light emitting diode (LED) lights. Geng Liu, mechanical engineer and energy manager, researched the right LED bulb for each fixture, while custodians and electricians swapped out every lightbulb and fixture on campus. The buildings and pathway lights have been replaced and the current project is changing the parking lot and streetlights to LED lights. “It’s the most energy-efficient lighting you can use,” Reynoso said. Early efforts included placement of occupancy sensors in classrooms and offices to automatically turn off lights in rooms not in use. It’s little touches like these that make a big difference in the effort to reduce carbon and create a greener campus. “A lot of what we do is in the building materials. So students and others on campus don’t even see it,” Reynoso said. “There’s also the mulching of grass clippings back into the grass. If you’re at home mowing your lawn, you’re picking up the clippings and tossing them in a green bin and someone else comes along and takes it to compost it. We compost directly into the lawn.
a smaller scale in their homes, gardens or careers.” Stan State students and alumni also provide examples of how they’re applying the lessons of sustainability from Stan State in their professional and personal lives. One alumnus, Trent Voss, works with about 300 almond farmers who are a part of the Blue Diamond co-op. Changes in watering, fertilizing and managing pests have become prevalent in that enormous regional industry. Even farmers descended from generations of family farmers appreciate the practical need to change to more sustainable practices. With the list of growers following sustainable practices on the rise, Voss explained, the incentive for farmers to incorporate sustainability is increasing. “They realize this is the future,” Voss said. “To keep selling, they are going to have to adapt.” Sustainable practices may be an economic necessity for some, but they’re necessary for everyone. Sustainability calls for a universal meeting of the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Beyond Earth Day, or banning plastic straws, sustainability unifies environmentalism with social and economic concerns to create lasting prosperity. Stan State leaders, faculty, students and alumni have shown they are committed to each aspect of sustainability, as evidenced in their work and the passion they show for it.
“Long-term, hopefully, we’re doing things people can replicate on
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PEDAGOGY
Sustainability: Going Beyond Science Classes Faculty Across Vast Departments Are Infusing Sustainability into Curriculum by Lori Gilbert
Stanislaus State offers sustainability-focused courses from the role of nature in U.S. history to climatology. Agriculture majors may choose concentrations in sustainable agriculture and agricultural and environmental resource management. The lessons don’t end there though. Students are introduced to sustainability in more than 150 courses, some because professors across disciplines and departments participated in a sustainability Faculty Learning Community (FLC). Offered through the University’s Faculty Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (FCETL), the course has been held three times by program FCETL Director Shradha Tibrewal and Sustainability Coordinator Wendy Olmstead, with 31 faculty representing 19 disciplines attending. “When we, as a campus, launched our sustainability efforts, we looked for initiatives that would provide the greatest impact,” Olmstead said. “Our Council for Sustainable Futures agreed that the single most impactful initiative we could employ was to infuse sustainability into our curriculum. Using the University of Vermont’s highly successful teaching sustainability FLC as a model, Shradha and I designed the FLC to help faculty infuse sustainability into the curriculum of any academic discipline.” Participants have applied sustainability into musical expression
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of son jarocho, third-grade civics, visual arts and green correctional facilities. “As an English teacher, I had this misconception about sustainability,” said seventh-year lecturer Karen Zandarski, who was part of the first and second FLCs. “I thought that was for scientists, not for me. That’s what was exciting about it.” Understanding the huge umbrella of sustainability and its presence in environmental, economic and social justice issues enabled Zandarski to better focus topics for students in her sophomore-level critical thinking writing course. Students’ writing on the death penalty or abortion never advanced behind high-school level work, so Zandarski banned those topics.
substantive than what she always thought of as “reduce, re-use, recycle.”
really should be front and center in our work,” Olave said.
“It was so exciting for me to think about sustainability in terms of that umbrella and the three pillars (environment, economics and social justice),” Zandarski said. “This is a critical thinking class. Students are supposed to move beyond the surfacelevel argument, and this allowed me to help them do that.”
Her FLC read “Braiding Sweetgrass,” by botanist and Native American Robin Wall Kimmerer, who shares how she successfully intertwines her scientific knowledge with the traditional ways of her people.
Faculty ingenuity is limitless when it comes to incorporating sustainability in different subjects. “What I found most intriguing and really touched me is I was able to think in a more cross discipline way,” said
“Our Council for Sustainable Futures agreed that the single most impactful initiative we could employ was to infuse sustainability into our curriculum.”
By making sustainability a thematic focus, she — WENDY OLMSTEAD said, it helped her better develop the course, and her students’ writing. “This semester, I had students propose writing on the topic of abortion, because it can fall under the social pillar of sustainability,” Zandarski said. “They have to frame it in a way that looks at how to solve this problem in a way that benefits people. It changes the way students think about the topic.” Having taken the FLC, Zandarski said she gained greater understanding, and an ability to help her students discover the depth of sustainability beyond environmental issues. Not that the environment isn’t a part of the conversation. It’s just that a topic like recycling becomes much more
nine-year sociology lecturer Barbara Olave, who was part of the spring 2020 FLC that began in person and finished online. “I teach sociology, so this is right in line with what I do, but that may not be true for an English or accounting class. We were able to see the very creative ways that people in these other disciplines are able to do this. I found that fascinating.” For her part, Olave, a Stan State graduate who returned to college in her 40s, found incorporating sustainability lessons into her introduction to sociology class a natural fit.
“The moment I started reading that book I felt it would be a really great way to contrast the world we’ve produced with something completely unfamiliar in terms of values and ideology,” Olave said. “There were so many points across the curriculum for my class where I could do that. I sprinkled in maybe five chapters from the book.” Introductory sociology, Olave said, always includes one chapter dedicated to environmental issues. By using “Braiding Sweetgrass” Olave was able to expand on that model. The reaction from students is what makes Olave enjoy teaching the introductory course. “Students love, often for the first time, having a different way of thinking,” Olave said. “I love being that hook. I love students opening their eyes and thinking, ‘Wow, I’ve never even thought of that, but it makes sense as it relates to my life.’” Incorporating the lessons into the intro class was only the beginning. “I feel I got a really good start. Now I’m looking for more seamless integration in my class,” Olave said. “My end goal is to be able to do it with all my classes. It seems like a very natural thing to do.”
“As one of the main problems facing us, I really feel the issues of sustainability, and climate change and climate justice
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STUDENT ORGANIZATIONS
Students and Alumni
Take the Lead on Stan State’s Sustainability Efforts by Christopher Correa Stanislaus State students are continuing to lead the way when it comes to environmental sustainability on campus and in the surrounding communities. Since the creation of the student organizations Climate Action Now! and the Eco Warriors, members have been hard at work brainstorming new ideas to use cleaner energy, minimize waste and spread awareness of some of the challenges that the planet is currently facing. The idea of Climate Action Now!, also known as CAN!, began in 2018 by alumnus Kenneth Boettcher while he was pursuing his master’s in history. After the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) announced a climate crisis in October of that year, Boettcher helped organize the Climate Crisis Symposium at Stan State. The event featured presentations from 10 different Stan State professors and more than 300 campus community members attended the event. Boettcher created Climate Action Now! based on the high level of interest generated at the event.
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Though he graduated in May 2021, Boettcher remains heavily involved. “Student organizations within the California State University can have both student and non-student members, per our CSU-approved constitutions,” Boettcher explained. “I’m still a member with a voice.” CAN! is now being led by President Vivian Aguilar, who is a senior doublemajoring in psychology and English. “We want to help build a movement to push for the vast changes in society needed to begin rebuilding human society and the Earth’s plant and animal life that our commodity-based society has poisoned or destroyed,” Aguilar said. “We advocate for the
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IPCC’s recommendations on the crisis: 45 percent reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, and 100 percent reduction by 2050.” Aguliar believes that “commodity culture” has produced a poisonous world and that those responsible are not being held accountable. “The scientific consensus today shows we are still barreling toward the brink of planetary-wide extinction for most species on Earth, including ourselves,” Aguilar continued. “CAN! tries to stimulate long-term thinking about how to build a society that brings us into harmony with the rest of nature and makes real sustainability possible for generations ahead.”
Future plans for CAN! include hosting discussion groups, film screenings, speaker events and book groups at Stan State. The organization hopes to increase membership and further connect with the community through their Facebook account (@climateactionnowstanstate) and new Instagram and Twitter accounts (@stanstatecan). Climate Action Now! also hopes to make the biggest impact possible through working together. Such change takes time and cooperation, Aguilar said.
Through their efforts, the Eco Warriors have collaborated with several on-campus organizations including ASI, Stan State’s Council for Sustainable Futures, and local nonprofits Turlock Community Gardens, Environmental Justice and the Peace Fridge. They have also worked closely with Stan State leadership to help promote eco-friendly projects on campus. These projects include the construction of solar panels across campus and the addition of recycling and compost bins throughout buildings.
Cooperation can come in many forms. Destiny Suarez, vice president and student event coordinator for CAN!, also serves as president of another student organization that looks to promote sustainability: the Eco Warriors.
The organization has also held several successful events, such as clothing swaps, and campaigns addressing environmental justice. They have much more planned in the near future.
The Eco Warriors organization was founded by current Associated Students, Inc. President Cynella Aghasi and alumna Diana Avalos in 2019. Similar to Boettcher and CAN!, Avalos acknowledged that there were not many discussions or actions on campus to address climate change and promote sustainability.
Every year, the group plans campus activities to celebrate Earth Month. They also host clothing swaps where all proceeds are donated to The Peace Fridge, a mutual aid collective from Modesto.
“The Eco Warriors pride ourselves on education. We appreciate any opportunity that may come our way and are open to future collaborations,” Suarez said. “Anyone at Stanislaus State can join. We have no prerequisites for membership, only a welcoming and safe space for students.” Both the Eco Warriors and Climate Action Now! actively recruit campus community members to get involved. The Climate Action Now! booth can be spotted on the Quad at the Turlock campus and the Eco Warriors have recently created their own bench. Read more about these student organizations and learn about how to get involved at www.csustan. edu/sustainability/studentorganizations.
The group is also actively seeking opportunities for collaboration to amplify their impact.
Now being led by Suarez and Aghasi, who are both political science majors, the organization advocates for much more than just a sustainable future. “We advocate for social justice, environmental justice, economic issues, inclusivity and diversity. We really surround ourselves with the advocacy for a person’s basic needs,” Suarez explained.
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ALUMNI
in place, Voss said almond growers grasp the need for change. “If they don’t start adapting, they’ll be left behind, because there will be other vendors with a list of growers that are following sustainable methods, applying sustainable practices,” Voss said. “To keep selling, they are going to have to adapt.” Voss adapts to change easier than others. Although from a farming family — his grandfather Henry Voss was California’s secretary of the Department of Food and Agriculture from 1989-95 and his father and brother farm 200 acres — he earned a college degree in agriculture studies and appreciates old and new ways.
Sustainability Matters to Farming Graduates
“Growers are starting to use more science than just looking at the tree and saying, ‘My dad always waited three weeks to do anything. That’s a good idea for me,’” Voss said as he laughed.
by lori gilbert Lessons of sustainability don’t end when students depart Stanislaus State with diplomas.
Growers of all scales are changing how things are done.
Trent Voss and Hector Vera, relatively recent graduates, are making a difference when it comes to sustainable farming.
Vera included.
Vera (’17, B.S. in Biology), works the night shift in Gallo Winery’s lab, analyzing wine for oxygen, alcohol and chemical levels. By day, though, he’s become a farmer on family property with a dream of someday becoming a full-time market farmer.
He started growing vegetables on a 50foot by 50-foot plot on his family’s ten acres in Waterford. Now, he’s expanded his operation to five plots covering a quarter acre.
Voss (’13, B.S. in Agriculture) is a fourth-generation farmer, who two years ago began farming 40 acres of almonds on leased land and is a regional manager with Blue Diamond Almonds.
Trent Voss
“I relay any information from Blue Diamond to the growers and take information from growers back to Blue Diamond,” Voss said. Updated information is essential in the changing industry.
Gone are the days of flooding fields with water, massively spreading nutrients on the soil and spraying streams of toxic pesticides. Micro sprinklers or drip systems are the norm, pesticides targeting specific tree-damaging insects have replaced those that eliminate all of them and soil nutrients are sprinkled throughout the year. As he sat in his car one day looking at an almond orchard with cover crops on the rows between trees — which add nutrients to soil — and micro sprinklers
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YouTube demonstrations may have wildly exaggerated the profits to be made by market farming, but Vera would still like to someday make a career of it. “I started getting into regenerative agriculture,” Vera said. “It involves using cover crops. Whenever you have an area you’re not using for a season or you’re not going to plant until the next season, instead of leaving it bare, you cover it with plants until you want to plant there again.” Using cover crops to add nutrients to the soil is just one lesson he’s learned by dedicating his spare time to his garden after working from 11:30 p.m. to 8 a.m. at Gallo.
“If they don’t start adapting, they’ll be left behind, because there will be other vendors with a list of growers that are following sustainable methods, applying sustainable practices.” - trent voss His passion for gardening enabled him to progress from that initial 50-foot by 50-foot lot in 2019. “It did pretty well, and I realized if I wanted to grow more of something, more squash or more tomatoes, I would need more space and maybe try to specialize each space,” Vera said. Family helped him clear land to set up four more identical lots for the 2021 growing season, and his mom, laid off from her dental office after 30 years, began helping in the garden. “I never thought I would enjoy gardening,” Susanna Vera said. “I never gardened. I always worked
Hector Vera
long hours. I have a picture of Hector when he was 4-years-old planting onions and cilantro on the property with my dad. I think it’s genetic, from his grandfather.” When Vera read that Julia Sankey, Stan State professor of paleobiology and geology, was leading the effort to create the Turlock Community Gardens in 2021, he wanted to help. Vera had become a Master Gardener in 2020 and offered planting and growing tips to those who had plots in the garden. Now, he’s on the organization’s board of directors, is responsible for its composting and has a plot where he grows cacti, lavender and chrysanthemums.
Susanna Vera
His passion, though, is tending the five plots on the property his family bought before he was born. The 28-year-old continues to learn from online papers, tutorials and demonstrations on regenerative agriculture. Vera hopes one day to start a community garden in his hometown of Waterford. For now, he’s offering help to those he meets at the Turlock Community Gardens and through his Master Gardener membership. Creating a thriving home garden means constantly experimenting and learning, but Vera loves it. At first this was to get some money on the side, a side hustle,” Vera said. “It’s still that. Once I get better at it, I can have a booth in a farmer’s market or sell directly to restaurants. “I guess part of my drive aside from being a side gig is to figure out how easy it is to grow regeneratively. I’d like to see the benefits of it firsthand.”
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“Sustainability is a global issue
that touches all of the aspects of JEDI work: justice, equity, diversity and inclusion. When we’re thinking about Stan State as a system of higher education and how our campus community members — in particular, our students, their families and the communities where they come from — are impacted, we have to be at the forefront to help bring awareness and to drive change.” – Carolina Alfaro, Director, Warrior Cross Cultural Center
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C O L L E G E O F B U S I N E S S A D M I N I S T R AT I O N
Engaging Entrepreneurs
“Being entrepreneurial is just something that’s ingrained in you. We build. We see. We’re visionaries.” - Evan Porges
Evan Porges and Patricia Villalpando Will Share Their Business Acumen and Expertise as Stanislaus State’s Inaugural Entrepreneurs-in-Residence by Donna Birch Trahan
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van Porges and Patricia Villalpando know what it takes to build and sustain a successful business from the ground up. Each of them has done so. Porges served as president of Prime Shine Car Wash, a chain founded in the early 1990s by his father Norman Porges. Prime Shine grew to be the largest privately-owned car wash chain in California and the 15th largest in the nation before Mister Car Wash bought the company in 2018. Villalpando served as chief operating officer and sales director for Paleteria La Michoacana, a Mexican ice cream company producing paletas, a frozen dessert. Porges and Villalpando are joining forces to advise budding entrepreneurs who want to launch their own businesses. The two will serve as the inaugural Entrepreneurs-in-Residence as part of Stanislaus State’s Warrior Entrepreneur Initiative (WEI). WEI is an ambitious program established by a $250,000 gift from the Porges Family Foundation. WEI is designed to provide inspiration, mentorship and financial support to emerging entrepreneurs as they strive to turn their ideas and concepts into
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new business ventures that can help grow the region’s economy. “Patricia and I can bring some reallife experience to campus and to the students, and ultimately, that is what the Entrepreneurs-in-Residence program is about,” Porges said. “Those of us who have started businesses have a multi-faceted background. Bringing some of our expertise to students is the ultimate goal.” Villalpando says she believes students will be able to relate to her and Porges’ journey. But they won’t take on this work alone. The two plan to assemble an Entrepreneurs Council, which will consist of individuals who’ve successfully launched and operated businesses and possess decades of experience to coach and mentor students and community members. “We want them to understand that where they are now, just getting started, is where we were 20 and 30 years ago,” Villalpando said. “Yes, it’s a long and difficult path, but you can get there. Nothing is impossible.” After he graduated from Modesto’s Downey High School, Porges attended Arizona State University (ASU). “I wasn’t a business major,” he said. “I just ended up in business.” 30
Evan Porges
While at ASU Porges attended talks and workshops by entrepreneurs who were invited to the University. “It was always fascinating to hear their stories,” he said. Now he’ll do the same. “I’ve come full circle.” He found the anecdotes and expertise valuable, especially as his family was growing the Prime Shine business. After he graduated, Evan started as an assistant manager of their one site in operation, and he worked his way up the ladder, eventually becoming president after 20 years in the business. He amassed real-life experiences and knowledge during a 30-year career — one with highs and lows, of being told no, overcoming obstacles, navigating public agencies, managing employees, handling accounting, marketing and development. “Being entrepreneurial is just something that’s ingrained in you,” Porges said. “We build. We see. We’re visionaries.” Porges said the concept of bringing the private sector to campus to share knowledge and develop partnerships — was inspired by what he and his father experienced in college. “It’s important for the local business community to be a part of educational institutions in the region,” Porges said. “I went to a big school where the university partnered with the private sector and the private sector partnered with the university. There was so much ebb and flow between the two.” The Entrepreneurs-in-Residence program can foster those types of collaborations. “It’s part of the bigger picture to connect the business community to the Stan State community,” Porges said. The first entrepreneur Patricia Villalpando knew was her father. “My dad always used to say that he didn’t want to work for anyone,” she recalled. “He wanted to have his own business. Whether I realized it or not, that had a big influence on my mentality.” When she moved to the United States from Mexico, Villalpando was young and curious about the world.
Patricia “Obviously, Villalpando you come to the United States thinking this is a country of opportunities,” she said. “Here, people can make more money, and there’s an opportunity to get an education. So, in my mind, I felt like it was the right time to make something happen.” One lesson she learned: challenges led to opportunities to be innovative. “To be honest, when solving business’ problems, I cannot say I had this brilliant idea,” she said. “Every time we ran into troubles it was, ‘OK, how do we get out
I want students to know that having an idea is just the beginning, and at the end of the day, it’s all up to them. They do have the potential to make an idea become a reality. Because if I did it, anyone could do it. There’s nothing special about me. We all have potential.”
“We want them to understand that where they are now, just getting started, is where we were 20 and 30 years ago. Yes, it’s a long and difficult path, but you can get there. Nothing is impossible.” - Patricia VillalpanDo of this, and what’s going to work?’ At the end of the day, I was just trying to find a solution to a problem. To survive those challenges, you have to be creative. The struggle is what makes you stronger. It makes you look for answers.” Villalpando didn’t have mentors or advisors to guide her through the early phases of her business journey, so she wants to give back by helping others.
Villalpando adds that to be successful, one needs to be realistic. It’s not about luck or being in the right place at the right time. Starting and running a business is an everyday fight.
“I want students to know that they have the potential, but they have to believe in themselves. Attitude is what’s going to make you either succeed or fail, and that’s not something you can teach someone. But we can tell them, ‘I’ve been there,’ and ‘I’ve done that, so don’t be afraid.’ If you have the courage to get up the next day and do it again, you’re going to succeed.”
“I didn’t have a mentor. I didn’t have someone who said, ‘Hey, do it this way.’
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Division of University Advancement STANISLAUS STATE One University Circle Turlock, Ca 95382
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