CSUDH News

The primary source of news and information about California State University, Dominguez Hills, its students, faculty, and staff.

Veterans Resource Center

Cultural Grad Events Celebrate the Journey

By

A smiling student is congratulated during the Latine Graduation Celebration.

Malcolm X called education “our passport to the future” in his speech at the founding forum for the Organization of Afro-American Unity in 1964. He linked it to the struggle for human rights, the discovery and celebration of cultural identity, and the development of greater self-respect. In his view, education provided an essential conduit for progress, a roadmap for continuous travel and not just a destination.

It was in this spirit that CSUDH’s cultural and affinity organizations gathered this month ahead of formal Commencement on May 19 and 20 for a series of smaller, culturally focused graduation celebrations.

“It’s important to celebrate the accomplishments of our graduates in a way that is culturally responsive and affirming, said Rony E. Castellano, program director for La Casita, the university’s Latinx Cultural Resource Center. “Our hope is that in years to come, we can continue to (un)learn together and build spaces where our histories, identities, and experiences can be fully honored.”

Ana Miriam Barragan, program director for the Toro Dreamers Success Center, said commemorating the extraordinary achievements of the university’s undocumented students was part of a broader commitment to honor family and community. “It’s our way to let them know that we see them, that we’re always here for them, and that they didn’t get here on their own. They got here because of family, friends, and loved ones.”

All commencement events celebrate CSUDH’s deep commitment to diversity, inclusiveness, and a culture where students and faculty can thrive together, says Trimaine Davis, director of the Black Resource Center. “I think the mainstream commencement does a phenomenal job of highlighting that this is a completion, whereas cultural commencements highlight the journey and what it took for our students to achieve this incredible accomplishment.”

“One of the best parts of a more intimate celebration like the Lavender Graduation event is that graduating students have an opportunity to speak and to express their appreciation for those who’ve supported them and share their feelings about the milestone,” says Megan Tagle Adams, director of the Women’s & Multicultural Resource Centers. “Many of our graduates spoke about the importance of queer visibility, finding strength in community, and their commitment to creating change.”

For Nathan Nguyen, program director for the Asian & Pacific Cultural Center, the intimacy of the cultural and affinity events helps illustrate that graduates are not alone on their academic journeys. “In these smaller events, we are all reminded of the importance of community cultural wealth that helped carry our graduates to the finish line. During our API Graduation Celebration, graduates honored their families and supporters by having a loved one bestow the API sash on them.”

The Toro Guardian Scholars (TGS) program at CSUDH connects students transitioning from or currently in the foster care system with critical services and resources to help guide them throughout their educational journey. Those resources include a network of dedicated community partners, says Program Director Ludivina Vasquez Snow.

“The cultural and affinity graduation events are a beautiful way of showcasing what can happen if all campus partners work together to support students who are most in need,” says Snow. “It is important that we continue hosting these events so that students can have a place where they feel comfortable and safe enough to talk about what they’ve had to overcome and celebrate with their community.”

This year’s event included a special gift from TGS partner organization The Change Reaction, a Los Angeles-based nonprofit that connects donors with individuals and communities in need of financial support to overcome barriers and take advantage of opportunities for success. The Change Reaction generously provided each TGS graduate with a check for $500 to help them on the next stage of their journey.

CSUDH is proud to have celebrated our diverse Toro community at the following cultural and affinity graduation celebrations this year:

  • The Queer Cultural Resource Center held its annual Lavender Graduation Celebration on May 4 in the LSU Ballroom to honor the university’s LGBTQIA+ community.
  • The Latinx Cultural Resource Center held its newly named Latine Graduation Celebration on May 5 in the Torodome Gym to honor the achievements of the university’s Latina/o/x/e student community.
  • The Asian Pacific Cultural Resource Center held its annual API Graduation Celebration on May 5 in the LSU Ballroom to honor the achievements of the university’s Asian and Pacific Islander as well as Southwest Asian North African student communities.
  • The Black Resource Center commemorated its 28th annual Frederick Douglass and Mary McLeod Bethune Africana Graduation Celebration on May 6 in the Torodome Gym to honor the achievements of the university’s African and African American student communities.
  • The Toro Dreamers Success Center held its annual UndocuGrad celebration on May 7 in the LSU Ballroom to honor the achievements of the university’s undocumented student community.
  • The Toro Guardian Scholars program held its annual graduation celebration on May 12 in the I&I building to honor students that have transitioned from the foster care system.
  • The Educational Opportunity Program held its annual graduation celebration on May 18 in the LSU Ballroom to honor the achievements of the university’s low-income, historically educationally disadvantaged, and first-generation student communities.
  • The Veterans Resource Center held its annual Student Veteran Graduation Celebration on May 18 in the LSU Ballroom to honor the achievements of the University’s student veteran community.

Helping Student Vets Chart a Path to Success

By

Dr. William Franklin with CSUDH student veterans at a lunch commemorating this year’s Veterans Day holiday.

Tucked away on the third floor of Leo F. Cain Library, the Veterans Resource Center (VRC) may be small, but it exerts an outsized influence on the lives of students making the challenging transition from military service to academic life.

“The Veterans Resource Center is the reason I’m here today and about to graduate with my bachelor’s degree in business administration in December,” says Luigi Torres, 30, a former artillery cannoneer in the U.S. Marines. “It’s the family that you don’t think you need and that you don’t know you have.”

The VRC currently serves about 350 student veterans at CSUDH -250 who attend using the GI Bill, and another 100 who get support through the Cal-Vet program. VRC’s small but dedicated staff provide critical academic support, personal coaching, and assistance in understanding what benefits are available to student veterans and how to access them.

It’s also much more than that, says Brett Waterfield, director of the Office of Educational Partnerships at CSUDH, which oversees operations at the VRC. “Student veterans are probably one of our most unique communities on campus. It’s hard for anyone who is not a veteran to truly understand the experiences they bring with them to campus.”

Luigi Torres, a former U.S. Marine

This is what makes the work of the VRC so important and worth considering now as we prepare to honor armed services members on Veterans Day, says Waterfield. In addition to helping student veterans adjust to the rigors of academic life, the VRC also helps the university “understand the culture around student veterans and how best to contribute to their success,” he says.

DaWayne Denmark, director of the VRC at CSUDH, spent six years in the U.S. Air Force as a firefighter before graduating from Chapman College and running the veterans resource center at Concordia College. He’s seen a lot of student veterans make the transition to higher education, and he says the key to providing effective help is to make it personal.

“We want to build relationships. We don’t want the work we do to be merely transactional,” says Denmark. “You need help getting books or figuring out what classes to take? We can do that. But we want to invest time in getting to know student veterans on a deeper level to find out where they want to be and how we can help get them there.”

Rosalva Rios, a former U.S. Marine administrative specialist, grew up not far from CSUDH in Compton. She joined the military because she felt she was destined for a life of service. Rios says the VRC helped clarify her future goals. “I knew I had a passion for helping people, but I didn’t really know what to do about that.” Now she’s on track to complete her degree in child development in 2024 and plans to get her master’s degree in social work.

Visit the VRC’s Resources page to learn more about the programs and opportunities available to student veterans.

Encouraging student veterans to pursue post-graduate degrees is something Waterfield is most proud of about the work the VRC does. “It helps our veterans see themselves not just as students trying to get a degree but as scholars who are fully capable of mastering a discipline and becoming lifelong learners.”

It’s not always easy for student veterans to ask for the help they need, says Rodrigo Rodrigo, program advisor at the VRC. “They’ve accomplished so much at a young age. They’ve deployed, carried out difficult missions, and often feel like they can handle anything all by themselves. But they didn’t do any of that on their own. They had support from commanding officers and their fellow soldiers. You won’t get to where you want to be without help from others. That’s where we try to fill the gap.”

This Veterans Day also marks the 247th birthday of the U.S. Marines.

When the VRC isn’t helping student veterans take full advantage of their GI Bill or audit their course loads to make sure they align with their educational plans, it serves as a refuge for fellow veterans to study, socialize, or simply take a quiet moment for themselves. “It’s a community here,” says Edgar Alvarado, a former U.S. Army infantryman who started at CSUDH in 2019.

The 30-year-old from Bell Gardens is a first-generation student who needed a lot of guidance to find the right career path. He says it hasn’t been easy making connections with students from non-military backgrounds, and that the VRC has been a social anchor for him. “It’s a wonderful place to come, even if you don’t have a specific question about anything. Sometimes, you just want to talk, and they always welcome you in.”

Denmark knows that each student veteran comes to the VRC with a common background but unique needs. They all want to make the most of their experience and to secure a better future for themselves and their families, and they’ve chosen education as the best pathway to that success.

“A lot of our student veterans are transfers from community colleges. We’ll only have them for two or three years. I tell them that by coming here, they’re not simply making a two- or three-year decision. They’re making a 20- to 30-year decision,” says Denmark. “All these things that we provide at the VRC have the opportunity to change not only their life, but the lives of generations to come.”