Couple works to create diverse student community at SRJC

If there’s a lesson to be learned when students encounter Luz and Ricardo Navarrette, it’s never to lose sight of your dreams. These educators share a lifelong mission to champion equal opportunity for all students, most recently through their work at Santa Rosa Junior College.

Luz retired last year after building a career as a counselor, helping students realize their potential and developing programs especially for students from low-income families and were first-generation Americans.

As vice president of student services, Ricardo is a force behind SRJC’s plan to become an inclusive, diverse community that supports all students as they complete their educational goals. The Latino population also is a large part of that focus, growing in size from 18 percent to 32 percent of the student body in the past five years.

The Navarrettes point out that they champion all students, not just minorities. “This is what every student deserves,” said Luz.

“I’m not Latino-centric,” said Ricardo. “I work for everyone.”

“This is what every student deserves,”said Luz.

Both understand the importance of education and the challenges faced by residents of a new country.

Luz was a bright student who dreamed of becoming a doctor, but she struggled to gain command of the English language when she moved to Los Angeles from Chihuahua, Mexico, when she was 9. Her teacher wrote “remedial” in bold red letters across her first report card. Young Luz asked her mother what “remedial” meant.

“My mother was very positive. She told me I was so far ahead of everyone else they didn’t know how to grade me,” said Luz, pausing to smile.

It took two years for her to master English and start winning spelling bees, but soon the nuns at her Catholic school began encouraging Luz to take college prep courses. As a freshman in high school, she noticed her friends were treated differently, however, and she made it her mission to be their advocate and counselor.

Ricardo’s early childhood was markedly different. He was born in Tucson, Ariz., in a household that spoke English at home. Though neither of his parents had graduated from high school, they made education a priority for their seven children.

“From that point of view, I was blessed,” Ricardo said.

Ricardo was also a bright student, and academic success came easy. By the time he was in 10th grade, he was tutoring other Latino students in Anaheim’s barrio, participating in a program offered by the League of United Latin American Citizens. That experience inspired him to pursue a career in education.

Their lives converged at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. Luz had enrolled with the goal of becoming a doctor but soon got involved with Upward Bound, a program that helps underrepresented high school students prepare for college.

They met there when Luz was 17 and Ricardo was 19, and Upward Bound became a defining experience. He became the program’s youngest director at age 24, and Luz changed her academic focus to pursue a career in counseling.

“Upward Bound became the foundation and motivation of our education philosophy,” said Ricardo, showing them the value of working with heart and respect when interacting with students.

“We all want to be respected. Students respond when you respect their dreams,” said Luz.

Added Ricardo, “Education is about (building) relationships with a teacher or counselor, especially when you’re a minority. My mission was to hire people who were committed to diversity and open to developing relationships with the people they serve. I wanted to work with educators who could lead with their hearts as well as their minds.”

The Navarrettes married in 1973 and had four children: Luz, Sol, Ricardo and Estrella, who died of leukemia at 12. Both took jobs at the SRJC in 1986.

Luz began as a counselor for the extended opportunity programs and services department and started a mentoring program through the Puente Project that matched students with mentors.

The Puente Project originally involved one year of English and one year of mentoring. To help students with study skills, Luz added a year of counseling to the program. Her work became a statewide model for other colleges interested in mentoring programs.

That project also led the Navarrettes to partner with professional Latinos to form the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce in Sonoma County, which became known for its scholarship program and its unique partnership with education.

Earlier this year, Ricardo also was asked to help California Community College administrators develop policies that will prepare students for existing and future jobs. As a member of the Chancellor’s task force on Workforce, Job Creation and Strong Economy, he will help develop policies to initiate small business development, promote out-of-state business development and train the workforce to staff the new businesses.

At SRJC, Ricardo is part of a strategic plan to champion students of all kinds, but especially those in the growing Latino population. Research shows that many aren’t achieving the same goals as other student populations.

“Our focus is aspirational, imaginative and practical,” Ricardo said. The plan, which will take three to five years to implement, “recognizes that our enrollment future must address how we provide opportunity and a pathway to success for all students. It’s broad reaching in the direction of how we steer this college.

“The goal is to make sure all students are successfully transferring into the system and completing their degrees. We can’t afford to let any group not have the same level of education, because sooner or later it impacts the community.”

The Navarrettes’ three surviving children graduated from the SRJC.

Today, Luz has a private hypnotherapy practice named “Sacred Passages” for clients at key times in their lives. She helps with birthing, officiates at weddings and life celebrations, and offers support to the dying and their families. She also teaches a class at the college named “Staying on Course to Success in College and for Life.”

“The most important message I share with all students is this,” said Luz. “I believe in you, and I believe in your dream. Let’s create a plan to make it happen.

“It gives me great satisfaction to see hundreds of my students working in all sectors of the community taking on leadership roles with confidence and vision.”