I’m excited to write the second “On My Mind” column in the Berkeleyan, where senior campus leaders like me will share our experiences, thoughts and visions for the community. Today, in honor of National Hispanic Heritage Month, I want to talk about what UC Berkeley was like when I first came here as a graduate student in 1989, how that informs the work I do today as the vice chancellor of equity and inclusion, and how I see the campus moving forward in the coming years.
I spent more than six years here at Berkeley earning my graduate degrees in engineering. During this time I don’t recall knowing any other Latinx engineering Ph.D. students. I do know I wasn’t always bringing my full, authentic self — the whole me — to the campus and to my work.
I had a very rewarding graduate experience at Cal, but sometimes feeling like the only Latinx graduate student wore on me and my sense of belonging. I never felt like there was one moment where someone truly doubted me, but not seeing other Latinx people in my field inculcated self-doubt, a sense that “you are a little different.” (I was fortunate to have met other Latinx scholars in other fields through the student organization Graduate Students de la Raza. This is also where I met my wife!)
So, in graduate school, I really tried to first and foremost succeed academically. Sometimes you have to be selfish enough to invest in yourself so that later on you can invest in others. I tried to focus on my oral exams, my grades, and my research to keep the bigger goal in mind.