CSU trustee Yammilette Rodríguez: “The CSU is my story.”

Yammilette Rodríguez is a first-generation college graduate still recalls the first time she walked across the stage at Bulldog Stadium for the Fresno State Chicano/Latino Commencement Celebration.

“It stood out so much because my parents were in the crowd, and they were my utmost supporters,” said Rodríguez, who was appointed by Gov. Gavin Newsom to the California State University Board of Trustees last September.

“To be able to experience that joy with my family right there beside me, but also enriched by my culture and celebrating who I am as a Latina, was just amazing.”

Last Saturday, Rodríguez returned to the stage, this time at the Save Mart Center, as an honored guest speaker for the 46th anniversary of what is the nation’s largest ethnic graduation celebration.

Her message to almost 900 graduating Latinos was to become a “changemaker” by using their education for greatness.

“Be a risk taker. Get out of your comfort zone,” said Rodríguez, who was given the Bold Visionary Award. “Take those risks that are needed to make change in the community.

“We need more love. We need to lead with love. Standing up is not easy; but we need to change that cannot happen in our neighborhoods, in our cities, our nation if you don’t engage.”

Rodríguez, the senior director of the Central Valley Youth Leadership, shared her educational journey that parallels that of many participants as evidenced by the number of sashes identifying them as first-generation college graduates.

“I stand here before you on the backs of those that came before me,” said the Dinuba resident. “I am here because of the sacrifices my immigrant parents made so that I could have a better life. Mi papí de Michoacán, y mi mamí de Colima.”

Rodríguez recalled her parents being unfamiliar with the college process.

“When my dad dropped me off at the community college in Reedley, he said, ‘OK, I’m dropping you off but mija you have to figure it out.’”

Once she figured out the process, Rodríguez got her sisters, cousins and friends into college. Even her mother went back to college.

That support in college, she said, is extremely important. She pointed to former national poet laureate Juan Felipe Herrera, who also received a Bold Visionary Award, and thanked her former Fresno State professor for his support.

“When I walked into your class, I was able to embrace my Latino heritage in a way I never did before,” said Rodríguez, who served as president of the Hispanic Business Student Association at Fresno State.

Rodríguez said the support of “so many people” created the opportunity for her “to be a changemaker.”

“We have to take the risks that are needed to ensure that those without a voice are heard, and stand up when it isn’t easy,” she added. “We need to give our talents and our strengths so that we can make a better world.”

Rodríguez has attended many Latino graduation celebrations at Fresno State because of her work in promoting higher education to Latinos the last 20 years.

Opening doors to higher education

In an interview prior to the ceremony, Rodríguez expressed her desire to “open doors for students that don’t necessarily have that pathway to higher education.”

She wants to improve the path from community college to the CSU, and “expand these spaces for our most marginalized students, our students that don’t necessarily have the direction that they need.”

Rodríguez said she wants to visit all 23 CSU campuses “to hear directly from the students, from the staff, from the faculty.”

“They are the most important keyholders to see what is happening,” she said. “It’s important for me to know what their stories are.”

Thus far, she’s gone to five campuses.

“I see the CSU as being the gateway and an economic engine for our entire state in providing these incredible programs for our students to be prepared for the workforce,” said Rodríguez.

She called being on the board of trustees “an incredible process.”

“The CSU is my story.”