19 10 212 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Oral Histories Description An account of the resource Video and audio oral histories can be viewed here. Histories are listed alphabetically by last name. Individual histories are indexed and transcribed and can be searched. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available California State University San Marcos University Library Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <p>Rights to oral histories vary depending on the history. The library owns the copyright to some histories, and has license to reproduce for nonprofit purposes for others. Please contact CSUSM University Library Special Collections at <a href="mailto:%20archives@csusm.edu">archives@csusm.edu</a> with any questions about use.</p> Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Interviewer The person(s) performing the interview Jason Beyer Interviewee The person(s) being interviewed David Shaffer OHMS Object This field contains the OHMS Hyperlink (link to the XML file within the OHMS Viewer) https://archivesoralhistories.csusm.edu/ohms-viewer/render.php?cachefile=ShafferDavid_BeyerJason_2025-11-20.xml Interview Keyword This filed adds keywords to the Omeka Oral History item type. Keywords are included in the OHMS XML, this field in Omeka will allow for full data migration between OHMS XML and the Omeka Record. This field does not impact the OHMS / Omeka integration and is optional if you do not need to map the "keywords" field in the OHMS XML to the corresponding Omeka record. Veteran;Master Sergeant;United States Air Force;Germany;Portugal;Cold War;Six-Day War;Air Traffic Controller;San Diego County OHMS Object Text This field contains the OHMS Index and / or Transcript and is what makes the contents of the OHMS object searchable in Omeka 6.0 Shaffer, David. Interview November 20th, 2025 SC027-095 00:00:00 SC027 California State University San Marcos University Library oral history collection CSUSM csusm Veteran ; Master Sergeant ; United States Air Force ; Germany ; Portugal ; Cold War ; Six-Day War ; Air Traffic Controller ; San Diego County David Shaffer Jason Beyer Moving image ShafferDavid_BeyerJason_2025-11-20.mp4 0 https://archivesoralhistories.csusm.edu/files/original/e60dc869cbce01c35fe843aa0a4ca62d.mp4 Other video English 0 Interview Introduction and Military Background David Shaffer served in Europe as a captain in the U.S. Air Force during the 1960s. US Air Force ; Captain ; Cold War ; Europe 0 56 Personal Background Shaffer was born in Colorado Springs, Colorado. At four years old, he and his family moved to San Diego, California where his father worked as an engineer for Consolidated Aircraft. His family lived in defense housing. Shaffer remembers a large celebration in Balboa Park on Victory over Japan Day. Colorado Springs (Colo.) ; Colorado ; San Diego (Calif.) ; California ; Consolidated Aircraft ; B-24 ; B-32 ; South Cheyenne Canyon Road (Colo.) ; Pikes Peak (Colo.) ; Convair ; VJ Day ; Victory over Japan Day ; Balboa Park 0 237 Military Veteran Family Members Shaffer says his great-grandfather was a soldier in the 2nd Pennsylvania Heavy Artillery Regiment in the American Civil War. He says he also had a Prussian ancestor who defected during the American Revolution and lived in German-speaking Pennsylvania. His grandfather’s brother was an Army cavalryman in the Philippines in 1898. Shaffer’s father tried to join the Navy but was rejected due to a knee injury. His father worked for Convair in Colorado Springs, studied engineering at Denver University, then moved to San Diego. 2nd Pennsylvania Heavy Artillery Regiment ; American Civil War ; Prussian ; British ; American Revolution ; Pennsylvania ; German ; American ; Philippines ; cavalryman ; Fort Bliss ; Texas ; Colorado ; Cortez (Colo.) ; Galloping Goose ; Denver and Rio Grande Railroad ; Navy ; Convair ; Colorado Springs (Colo.) ; Denver University ; San Diego (Calif.) 0 387 Work, Education, and Beginning of Military Service Shaffer was a marine engine mechanic on Shelter Island and a student at San Diego State. After college graduation, he enlisted in the U.S. Air Force. Shaffer wanted to be a pilot but was too tall, so he became an air traffic controller. Designing forward airfields was one of his responsibilities, which he did during the 1967 Arab–Israeli war. Shaffer got married at Lajes Field in the Azores, Portugal. He was a shift supervisor at Lajes Field for 18 months. He then transferred to Hahn, Germany and became the flight facilities officer at Hahn Air Base. Shaffer was the Officer in Charge of all the air traffic controllers at Hahn Air Base in West Germany from 1965 to ‘68. When his military service ended, he settled down in San Diego and became a high school teacher in North County. marine engine mechanic ; Shelter Island ; San Diego ; San Diego State University ; Air Force ; Officers Training School ; Second Lieutenant ; Air Force ; air traffic controller ; Keesler Air Force Base ; TERPS ; Terminal Instrument Procedures ; forward airfield ; U.S. Army Corps of Engineers ; Six-Day War ; Sinai Peninsula ; Lajes Field ; Azores (Portugal) ; Portugal ; Strategic Air Command ; General Curtis LeMay ; Hahn (Germany) ; Germany ; Officer in Charge ; Hahn Air Base ; West Germany ; North San Diego County 0 584 Decision to Join the Air Force Shaffer decided to join the Air Force because he always wanted to be a pilot. He was especially fond of the B-36 Peacemaker, which his father worked on as an engineer at Convair. Shaffer says his father hired many little people to install jet engines for the A model B-36 because they were small enough to enter the wing. Air Force ; B-36 ; B-36 Peacemaker ; Convair ; San Diego ; A model B-36 ; engineer ; little people 0 719 Military Training Shaffer began officers training school at Lackland Air Force Base. He tells a humorous story about how his training officers tricked the trainees into getting drunk at an officers' club then forced them to mow the lawn by hand. Shaffer’s air traffic controller training took place at Keesler Air Force Base. He then took his final exam at Tinker Air Force Base. When he returned to Keesler, he worked on the terminal instrument approach procedure (TERPS). Shaffer says he was the only TERPS certified officer while on air base in Germany. He recalls the impact that Jimmy Stewart’s films about officer responsibility had on him. Lackland Air Force Base ; San Antonio (Tex.) ; Texas ; officer trainee club ; officers' club ; Germany ; Keesler Air Force Base ; air traffic controller ; Air Force ; FAA ; Federal Aviation Administration ; ATC ; air traffic controller ; Navy ; Army ; Tinker Air Force Base ; Oklahoma City ; TERPS ; BFS ; Bundesanstalt für Flugsicherung ; Hahn (Germany) ; sergeants ; Azores (Portugal) ; Jimmy Stewart ; World War II ; Air Force 0 944 Military Promotions Shaffer was promoted to Captain while serving in Germany, but as an AFSC 1634B he could not fly. He did not receive pilot training due to his tall height and a shortage of air traffic controllers on base. Ultimately, Shaffer requested his release from active duty in Germany because he wanted pilot training. Azores ; Second Lieutenant ; First Lieutenant ; Captain ; Germany ; 1634B ; AFSC ; Air Force Specialty Code ; 1634A ; air traffic controller ; airmen ; sergeants ; Hahn (Germany) ; Air Force ; traveling ; skiing 0 1074 Adjusting to Military Life Shaffer says his disciplined childhood made adjusting to military life easy. He felt comfortable as an air traffic controller but wishes he could have flown a B-36, his favorite plane. childhood ; air traffic control ; B-36 ; Davis–Monthan Air Force Base ; Tucson (Ariz.) ; Arizona ; B-52 0 1137 Deployment to Europe After tech school, Shaffer was assigned to Lodges Field in the Azores, Portugal. Shaffer grew up in a Portuguese community of San Diego. When he arrived at Lodges Field, the family members of a childhood friend gave him a surprise welcome. He says being in the Azores felt like home. Shaffer married the daughter of a colonel at Lodges Field. Keesler Air Force Base ; Mississippi ; Lodges Field ; Azores (Portugal) ; Portugal ; San Diego (California) ; McGuire Air Force Base ; New Jersey ; Navy ; Air Force ; Colonel ; wife 0 1289 Designing Forward Airfields during the Six-Day War Shaffer designed forward airfields during the 1967 Arab–Israeli war, also known as the Six-Day War. The 50th Tactical Fighter Wing at Hahn Air Base needed a landing place in the Sinai Peninsula. Ultimately, the war was over before the forward bases could be used. Six-Day War ; forward airfield ; 50th Tactical Fighter Wing ; Hahn (Germany) ; U.S. Army Corps of Engineers ; Sinai Peninsula ; Israel ; Middle East 0 1374 Experience with Local Populations in Europe Shaffer would often snow ski during his free time in Europe. He and his friend once had a negative encounter with some German men in a bar who resented the American military presence, but overall people were very nice. While living in Kastellaun, Germany, he and his roommate decided to visit a nearby German Army base, Hunsrück-Kaserne, and drink beer with the Lieutenants there. At the base, he and his friend were treated to a German dinner with some lieutenants and colonels who told them a story. The German officers were in the Afrika Korps during WWII. In North Africa, they were captured by the British, held in a POW camp, then passed on to Americans who brought them to the United States. The German soldiers were held in a POW camp in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. In 1944, the U.S. military put them in civilian clothes and took them on a tour of the United States. Ultimately, they were sent to work on a loading dock for the R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company. At that job, there was an old night watchman called Old Gold. In 1957, after they returned to Germany, they received word that Old Gold had passed away. The German officers returned to the U.S. and served as pallbearers for Old Gold’s funeral. Shaffer concludes this story by noting how much those German officers loved the United States. snow ski ; Ramstein Air Base ; Austria ; Bavaria ; Lieutenants ; German ; World War II ; Hitler Youth ; Kastellaun (Germany) ; Germany ; Koblenz (Germany) ; Hunsrück-Kaserne ; military police ; BMW ; Afrika Korps ; Libya ; POW camp ; North Africa ; United States ; Winston-Salem (N.C.) ; North Carolina ; Marshall Plan ; Texas ; California ; Mount Rushmore ; Yellowstone National Park ; Iowa ; R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company ; Bundesrepublik Deutschland ; Federal Republic of Germany ; Bundeswehr ; West German Army 0 1854 Serving as an Air Traffic Controller in Germany In 1966, Shaffer got permission to visit Berlin where he got facility rated in the control tower at Tempelhofer Feld. Shaffer describes how the Americans did all the air traffic control in West Berlin. Shaffer says a C-130 once left Rhine-Maine and entered the corridor at Checkpoint Alpha, but the East Germans cancelled the flight plans. Shaffer believes that the East Germans wanted to cause a midair collision between an Air France passenger plane and an Air Force cargo plane. Shaffer describes how Vietnam War protests made the U.S. look like a “paper tiger” in Russia’s eyes. Shaffer was convinced that protests in the U.S. were going to cause a Soviet invasion of West Germany. Whenever Shaffer could take leave, he and his friends would go skiing. F-100 Super Sabre ; Hahn (Germany) ; Air Force ; Vietnam ; F-4 Phantom ; Ground-Controlled Approach ; Berlin (Germany) ; Keesler Air Force Base ; Mississippi ; Tempelhofer Feld ; Checkpoint Alpha ; Frankfurt (Germany) ; Checkpoint Bravo ; West Berlin ; Berlin Tegel Airport ; C-130 ; Frankfurt Rhine-Main ; Checkpoint Alpha ; Air France ; Sud Aviation Caravelle ; Stars and Stripes ; ADIZ ; Air Defense Identification Zone ; East Germany ; West Germany ; Soviet Union ; Europe ; Garmisch-Partenkirchen ; US Army ; Austria ; Kitzbühel (Austria) ; Canadian Air Force ; Zweibrücken (Germany) 0 2192 End of Military Service and Return to San Diego Shaffer was released from active duty in December 1967. He and his wife traveled to the Soviet Union, where many people admired their Western European clothes. They then spent a few weeks skiing in Austria before flying back to McGuire Air Force Base from Rhine-Main. Due to escalating anti-war protests in 1968, they returned to the U.S. in their civilian clothes. Shaffer took leave and decided to return to San Diego. He encountered protestors at Philadelphia Airport while disembarking from an Air Force bus. Shaffer says a “hippie” spit on him, so he “decked the hippie right there in the airport.” Shaffer was received well by his family and community in San Diego, which he considers a “military town.” Shaffer says he still hates those who dodged the military draft. Europe ; Austria ; Soviet Union ; Air Force ; Moscow (Russia) ; Munich (Germany) ; clothes ; Germany ; Frankfurt Rhine-Main (Germany) ; McGuire Air Force Base ; United States ; Vietnam ; the Pentagon ; Andrews Air Force Base ; San Diego (Calif.) ; Philadelphia Airport ; Philadelphia (Pa.) ; Navy ; Marines ; Army ; hippie ; protest ; Ohio ; San Diego (Calif.) ; family ; community ; draft dodgers ; New Zealand ; Australia ; Germany ; France ; Canada 0 2522 Return to Civilian Life, the G.I. Bill, and Pilot Training Shaffer started teaching high school upon his return to civilian life. He says kids’ attitudes had changed considerably since the early sixties, which he attributed to the influence of hippie culture. The G.I. Bill helped Shaffer get his master’s degree at San Diego State College (now San Diego State University) and his private pilot license. civilian life ; teaching credentials ; high school teacher ; Air Force ; hippies ; G.I. Bill ; pilot training ; VA ; Veterans Affairs ; ATP ; airline transport pilot ; private license ; San Diego State College ; Palomar Airport ; Carlsbad (Calif.) ; Fallbrook (Calif.) 0 2699 Maintaining Friendships After Service Shaffer had a close friend and skiing partner in the military, Fred Deal, who recently passed away. Their wives are still friends. friendship ; skiing ; Air Force ; Arkansas 0 2726 How Military Service Shaped His Identity reflection ; military service ; veteran ; Air Force ; Shaffer reflects on how military service shaped his identity. He says he wanted to serve in the military since he was a little kid. Shaffer hoped to fly planes in the military, but his height prevented him from receiving the necessary training. 0 2785 The F-4 Phantom Shaffer shares his experience with the McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II, also known as the F-4 Phantom. While serving at Hahn Air Base, Shaffer had to redesign the holding patterns in order to accommodate the F-4. In his opinion, the F-4 was not a good dogfighter. F-4 Phantom ; F-100 ; TACAN ; Tactical Air Navigation ; DME ; Distance Measuring Equipment ; German Air Force ; MiG ; Mikoyan ; Sukhoi ; Vietnam ; Wild Weasel ; F-105 ; radar ; anti-aircraft ; Navy ; Robert McNamara ; Lyndon Johnson ; Cuthbert A. Pattillo ; Russian ; Fulda Gap ; Hahn (Germany) ; the 50th Wing ; West Germany 0 2980 Message for Future Generations Shaffer says, “Patriotism is number one in my book.” He thinks that those who do not study history are bound to repeat it. Shaffer tells his granddaughter that “whatever land we think is ours is only ours as long as we're strong enough to keep it.” As a Freemason, he is dedicated to promoting patriotism with younger generations. history ; patriotism ; Freemasonry 0 3064 What More People Should Understand About Veterans Shaffer wishes that more people understood the difference between military veterans who were drafted and those who chose to enlist. He talks about his brother-in-law who is in poor health due to Agent Orange in Vietnam but is still proud of his military service. veteran ; draft ; Agent Orange ; Vietnam ; military 0 3144 Life Lessons from Military Service Shaffer reemphasizes that his military service taught him the importance of patriotism. He describes the United States as “the best country that ever existed on the face of the earth.” patriotism ; country 0 3211 Personal Connection with San Diego County Shaffer’s parents, sister, and friends were still living in San Diego County. After ending his military service, Shaffer accepted a job teaching high school industrial arts in North County, where he and his wife relocated. San Diego County (Calif.) ; Europe ; Germany ; Air Force ; wife ; parents ; sister ; friends ; high school ; teaching ; industrial arts ; North County 0 Oral history Captain David Shaffer served in Europe as an air traffic controller during the 1960s. Shaffer was raised in San Diego County where his father was an engineer for Convair. From a young age, Shaffer aspired to become a military pilot, a goal which his tall height prevented. As an air traffic controller, Shaffer spent most of his deployment in Portugal and West Germany during the Cold War. He designed forward airfields during the 1967 Arab–Israeli war, although the conflict was over before they could be used. After leaving military service, Shaffer taught high school industrial arts in North San Diego County. He used the G.I. Bill to gain his master’s degree from San Diego State College and his private pilot license. In this oral history interview, Shaffer tells stories from his military service and reflects on the importance of patriotism. NOTE TRANSCRIPTION BEGIN 00:00:03.544 --> 00:00:37.676 My name is Jason Beyer, and I'm a graduate of CSUSM (California State University San Marcos). Today's date is Thursday, November 20, 2025. And we're conducting this interview at CSUSM in the CSUSM Library, located in San Marcos, California. Today we're with veteran David Shaffer. This oral history will help preserve the lived experiences of United States military veterans. Please state your full name. 00:00:37.676 --> 00:00:39.715 David Bernard Shaffer. 00:00:39.715 --> 00:00:41.564 Your branch of service. 00:00:41.564 --> 00:00:43.424 US Air Force. 00:00:43.424 --> 00:00:45.234 The highest rank that you attained. 00:00:45.234 --> 00:00:47.103 Captain. 00:00:47.103 --> 00:00:52.005 And please state the war or conflict that was happening during your time in service. 00:00:52.005 --> 00:00:56.945 Well, it'd be the Cold War, 'cause I was in Europe in the 1960s. 00:00:56.945 --> 00:01:02.284 So right now we're gonna start with introductions. Where were you born and raised? 00:01:02.284 --> 00:01:25.105 I was born and raised in Colorado Springs, Colorado until I was four years old. Then we came to San Diego, California when I was four. My dad worked for Consolidated Aircraft building B-24s and B-32s and all other airplanes thereafter, till he retired in 1974. 00:01:25.105 --> 00:01:29.305 For the years that you were in Colorado, do you remember what that experience was like? 00:01:29.305 --> 00:02:28.004 Yes, I do. My dad—we lived on South Cheyenne Canyon Road and the river that came over Seven Falls came down in front of our house in a meadow. My dad used to go out every morning before he'd go to work, and the deer were being forced down off Pikes Peak, and he's gonna pick out a deer that he wanted for deer season and—nope, not that day. So the next day we'd do the same thing, and I'd go out there with him—oh, there's one. He'd shoot the deer. We'd pile in our '37 Ford and go up and go across our little stone bridge into that meadow, and he'd wrestle the deer up onto the fender—bring it back, hanging it up in the garage by its rear feet. My grandfather would come up and he and I would dress that deer all day long. I was a 3-year-old kid. Somewhere in my archives, I have a picture of me at three years old standing by that deer with a wooden gun (laughs). 00:02:28.004 --> 00:02:34.525 When you moved to San Diego, what was life like for you in San Diego? Or the transition to San Diego? 00:02:34.525 --> 00:03:57.064 Well, in San Diego we lived in defense housing, and my dad had told me then my mother that he's not coming home from work maybe once a month until this war was over—World War II. So he stayed at Convair—Consolidated Aircraft—24 hours a day, seven days a week, and expected his employees to do the same thing. And he said, if the soldier, sailors, airmen and Marines can live in tents and in foxholes, the last least he could do was stay at work until the war was over. And he did. I very seldom ever saw him. And on VJ Day (Victory over Japan Day)—was my sister's first birthday, so my mother's getting ready to go down and pick him up from work, and we're gonna go out to Balboa Park for a party—for a birthday party for my sister. I was a 5-year-old kid. So we went down there and my dad piled in the car and says, "Yeah, the Japanese surrendered today." So when we got to Balboa Park, I never saw such a party in my life. There were thousands of people hugging and kissing and drinking and having a grand old time. And at first I thought they were all there for my sister's birthday, but I realized they weren't (laughs). VJ Day, San Diego, in Balboa Park. 00:03:57.064 --> 00:04:00.985 Did anyone in your family ever serve in the military before you? 00:04:00.985 --> 00:06:27.274 Yes. My great-grandfather was a soldier of the second Pennsylvania heavy artillery (2nd Pennsylvania Heavy Artillery Regiment) in the Civil War (American Civil War). His dad and people before him were—well, I shouldn't say this, but I'm going to anyway. His grandfather—my grandfather's great-grandfather's grandfather—was a soldier with the Prussian army fighting with the British in the revolution (American Revolution). And he realized he'd made a big mistake. So he deserted, went over into Pennsylvania and took out a couple letters in his name and blended in in German-speaking Pennsylvania and became an American in that process in the 1700s. But yes, I have my Uncle Bliss, Bliss Shaffer. He was my grandfather's little brother. He joined the Army in 1898 and was in the Philippines. He was a horse soldier, cavalryman. And he was at Fort Bliss, Texas. And when I was a little kid, I always thought they named Fort Bliss after my Uncle Bliss. But I realized later they didn't. Anyway, he got outta the Army in 1928 and did a lot of jobs around Colorado. He had a pinto bean farm in Cortez. He drove the Galloping Goose (railcar) on the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad for a while. He drove my grandmother nuts 'cause he was always showin' up at the house with another saloon floozy (laughs)—that she called 'em. Anyway, Bliss, my grandfather, and my dad—and my dad would try to join the Navy, but my mother had taught him to ski and he'd really wrecked a knee. And he always had this trick knee the rest of his life. And the Navy wouldn't take him. He wanted to be a photographer with the Navy. So he ended up getting hired from Convair in Colorado Springs. They sent him to Denver University for a crash course in engineering that took about six or eight weeks—or months, I'm not exactly sure—in 1943. Then we came to San Diego in March of 1944. 00:06:27.274 --> 00:06:37.685 What were you doing before you joined the service? Were you going to school? Did you have a job? Or were you helping the family out? 00:06:37.685 --> 00:09:44.205 I had a job. I was a marine engine mechanic, outboard motors and inboard motors on Shelter Island in San Diego. I was a student at San Diego State (San Diego State University). The Air Force wouldn't talk to me until I had a college degree, 'cause I wanted to go to OTS—Officers Training School. So I graduated in January, 1963, then they would talk to me 'cause I could show 'em a diploma (laughs). And by the end of '63, I was a Second Lieutenant in the United States Air Force, but I was too tall to be a pilot, and that's what I wanted to be. I was six-foot four and about 220 pounds. And they said, "Nope, too tall." So I was—I said, "Okay, air traffic control, then. I wanna be an air traffic controller." So they sent me to Keesler Air Force Base in January of 1964 as a Second Lieutenant for tech school for air traffic control. And I finished that along with a TERPS (Terminal Instrument Procedures) certified terminal instrument approach procedure. It would've been my job, if we'd ever had to deploy to a forward airfield, to design the forward airfield to give it to the Corps of Engineers in the Army and also the BCE, the base civil engineers of the Air Force, to build the runway where I had designed it. And in 1967, that Six-Day War, I designed six of them in the Sinai Peninsula for real. But they never used 'em 'cause the war was over in six days. Which amazed me, 'cause I had gotten married the day that war started. I had a wife floating around somewhere in the world, and I didn't know where she'd gone. So after six days, I signed out on leave to go find her. And we ended up finding her. Had the church wedding in Lajes Field in the Azores (Portugal). Now air traffic control officers are required to be shift supervisors in bases that are run by the Strategic Air Command (SAC). General LeMay (General Curtis LeMay) said, "I want all of my shift supervisors and all SAC bases to be officers." Well, it was a good way of getting training to become a flight facilities officer later, like I was at Hahn, Germany. I was a shift supervisor in Lajes Field for 18 months, and then I was transferred to Hahn, Germany as the flight facilities officer. I was the OIC (Officer in Charge) of all the air traffic controllers at Hahn Air Base, West Germany from 1965 to '68. And then my wife—being an Air Force brat, I married the colonel's daughter that I found in the Azores—she didn't want to spend any more time living three years here and three years there, so I didn't go into air traffic control when I got back to San Diego. I had teaching credentials from the state. I started teaching industrial arts and history in high schools here in North San Diego County. 00:09:44.205 --> 00:09:48.433 Why did you particularly choose the branch that you served in? 00:09:48.433 --> 00:11:59.904 Well, I wanted the Air Force because I wanted to fly. I was in love with the B-36 Peacemaker, and I wanted to fly a B-36. I just, ever since I was a kid, my dad had—they brought—the B-36s were built by Convair. They came to San Diego. The A model did not have the jet engines on the wingtips, and all of the jet engines were added to the A model B-36 here in San Diego. And it was my dad's job to figure out how to put the—as an engineer at Convair—to figure out how to put those jet engines on an airplane that was already built. There was two ways of doing it. Either take the skin off of the wing and do all your work and then re-skin it, which meant you had to re-stress the wing—and it was very time consuming and expensive. Or, find somebody small enough to get out in that wing and do the work. So in the summer of 1951, I believe it was—50 or 51—he and two other engineers advertised all over the country for what we today call little people. But in those days we called 'em dwarfs and midgets—not to be derogatory, but that's what they were called. He hired 300 of them that came to San Diego that could get out in that wing and add all the hardware and tubing and brackets and everything to mount those jet engines. At one time, San Diego had more little people—midgets and dwarfs—than any other city in the United States. They were well thought of, they were well paid, and they were very valuable employees even after those jet engines were added to the A model B-36, because there's a lot of places in building an airplane that an adult six-foot tall or five-foot eight and above can't get into to do the work. So they were very, very valuable employees and very well considered. They were loved. 00:11:59.904 --> 00:12:07.715 So we're moving on to your early military experience. What do you remember about your first days in the military? 00:12:07.715 --> 00:13:34.595 Well, my first days in the military were in officers training school at Lackland Air Force Base, San Antonio, Texas. And it's basically what I thought it was going to be. They're not interested in my opinion. They just—I'm to do what I'm told. And so I did. I tried to cooperate the best I could. I made it through there. When our upper class graduated and got their commission as second lieutenants, on a Saturday we got all called together—we're lower classmen. They said, "Monday morning you're gonna be upper classmen, and what we're gonna let you do is go to the OT club"—the officer trainee club, just like a regular officers' club where they had beer and so forth. Now we're all college graduates. We're all 23, 24 years old, and we haven't had a beer in months, so we went in there and within two hours there wasn't a sober person in there. And all at once in the front door come all our training officers all upset with us. So we're out there mowing the lawn—by hand, mowing the lawn. Years later in Germany, I ran across a colonel that was one of the instructors there. And I told him about that. He says, "Oh yeah, we sat out front in the car, and we called the bartender once in a while. Are they ready yet?" It was a big setup, but I thought it was funny, anyway (laughs). 00:13:34.595 --> 00:13:37.475 What kind of training or schooling did you complete? 00:13:37.475 --> 00:14:43.345 Well, the schooling was at Keesler Air Force Base. It was basically—teach you how to be an air traffic controller. The Air Force was the only one at that time that used the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) written exam as an ATC, air traffic controller. The Navy and the Army had written their own—why, I don't know. But we went up to Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma City and took our final exam in the FAA headquarters there in Oklahoma City and then flew back to Keesler. And then after we got back to Keesler, we worked on this TERPS, this terminal instrument approach procedure that officers only are responsible for. I was the only TERPS certified officer on the air base there in Germany. But I worked with a BFS TERPS man from—the BFS is the German FAA (Federal Aviation Administration), the Bundesanstalt für Flugsicherung (Federal Institute for Air Traffic Control). And he and I would design all the—and would change all of the instrument approach or departure procedures for Hahn that needed to be changed, like holding patterns and so forth. 00:14:43.345 --> 00:14:49.264 Do you recall any instructors or leaders who had a lasting impact on you? 00:14:49.264 --> 00:15:44.304 Yes, I do. My sergeants. I learned more on a shift there in the Azores from my E7s and E6s and E5s that I worked with than I ever learned in officers training school—other than one thing in officers training school that I really enjoyed. Every week we had a little film done by Jimmy Stewart. And Jimmy Stewart was a general in the army. He was a bomber pilot in World War II, and he would make a film on officer responsibility—how we were supposed to behave as officers in the United States Air Force. And I really looked forward every week to sitting down and listening to that 20-minute or 30-minute film from Jimmy Stewart. It was really great. 00:15:44.304 --> 00:15:50.264 Were there any promotions or milestones during your early days of service that you'd like to share? 00:15:50.264 --> 00:17:54.597 Well, I was promoted in the Azores from Second Lieutenant to First Lieutenant. And I was promoted from First Lieutenant to Captain in Germany—almost the same time I got married in '67. That was all happening at the same time. And I was glad I made it to Captain, but as a 1634B, which is my AFSC, my Air Force Specialty Code, 1634B meant air traffic control officer, non-rated, no wings, maximum rank, captain. A 1634A was an air traffic control officer doing the same job with wings, maximum rank unlimited. And in 1967, I was trying to get—I was still young enough by about three months—to get into pilot training and they were gonna waiver me for my height. But the command that's in charge of air traffic controllers wouldn't release me from my air traffic control duties because it was less than 80% manned worldwide. I was authorized to have 96 airmen and sergeants work for me there in Hahn Germany. And I was lucky if I had 60, because the Air Force could not keep enough air traffic controllers to keep everybody fully staffed. And I understood that, but I lost my opportunity to become a winged pilot. I told them I would go right back into air traffic control if I could just get my wings and be a 1634A instead of a 1634B. And finally I decided to request a release from active duty. So I requested a release from active duty in Germany. My wife and I stayed there for a few more months traveling, around and skiing and so forth before we came home. 00:17:54.597 --> 00:18:00.000 What was the hardest adjustment to military life for you? 00:18:00.000 --> 00:18:22.125 It wasn't really difficult. I had a very disciplined childhood. My dad was the kind that didn't tolerate fools very well. So if I acted like a fool, I got notified of the fact. So it wasn't really hard. It was very easy. As a lieutenant and captain. 00:18:22.125 --> 00:18:25.954 What part came naturally or felt the easiest for you? 00:18:25.954 --> 00:18:57.664 Well, the air traffic control just kind of was—not easy, but it was comfortable. I liked it. But I would've liked to have flown that B-36. But by the time I got in the Air Force in 1963, all of the B-36s were in the boneyard at Davis–Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson. The B-52 had taken over the B-36, but I was really in love with that B-36 from a little kid on. 00:18:57.664 --> 00:19:06.204 So we're moving on to your deployment to Europe. When and where were you deployed in Europe? 00:19:06.204 --> 00:21:29.115 Well, my first assignment out of tech school at Keesler Air Force Base in Mississippi was to Lodges Field in the Azores, Portugal. And I got those orders while I was still in tech school in Mississippi. And I'd grown up in a Portuguese colony here in San Diego. And all my kids and I from the fourth grade on were Portuguese. And one of my best friends could not believe that I got sent to Portugal. He thought that was a funny—"How'd you pull that?" I didn't, it just happened. When I got off the airplane in Lodges Field from McGuire Air Force Base in New Jersey in three o'clock in the morning, the only people on the airplane were Navy and Air Force personnel for the base, and I coming down the ladder there, the steps to get off the airplane, and there's a string of Air Force and Navy personnel to accept their new troops. And there are 10 Portuguese civilians standing there. And I thought, what in the world are they doing out here at three o'clock in the morning? I got down to the bottom of the steps, they hollered out my name, they all came running over, were shaking my hand and giving me hugs. They were the grandparents, uncles, cousins, all the relatives of the kid that I'd grown up with in this Portuguese community in San Diego. And my Colonel looks over at me. He says, "Come over, stand Lieutenant. You've been here before? How come you know everybody?" And I had to think about it for a minute, 'cause my mother had told all our neighbors that I was being—and they were all Portuguese for that, in that period of time—that I'm getting transferred to the Azores, Portugal. And one of my friends that I grew up with, the only kid in the fourth grade that was not Portuguese, that he and I got to be friends first—when I first went into this school in San Diego—he kept talking to my dad about it. He kept—"How in the world did they do that? Get to Portugal?" But I loved their father music, their folk music that we used to play in school. I loved their food they had. The Portuguese food, their wines. It was just like old home, being in the Azores. I met my wife there. She was a daughter of a Colonel there on the base. 00:21:29.115 --> 00:21:37.345 What stands out most about your time overseas? Moments that were meaningful or difficult? 00:21:37.345 --> 00:22:54.233 It was a little difficult with that Six-Day War. I thought for sure—I'd gotten married the day that thing started, and I got put on alert instantly. And I started designing those forward airfields because our 50th tac fighter wing (50th Tactical Fighter Wing) at Hahn had to have a place to go. And it was up to me to tell the Corps of Engineers (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers) and the Air Force where was a place that was proper to build an airfield in the Sinai (Sinai Peninsula). And I thought for sure I was gonna end up down there in the Sinai Peninsula. And that was a little difficult those times right in there. But the war was over in six days. I couldn't believe it. How could Israel have taken care of all that in six days? Was just amazing to me. So for those six days it was a little tiring, a little troublesome, 'cause we were dividing up our air traffic controllers to stay at Hahn and most of 'em were gonna go with me down to the Mid East. We were just—and all our fighters were getting ready to go down to the Middle East when the time came to help out. And we didn't get to go. Which is fine. 00:22:54.233 --> 00:22:59.204 What were your experiences like with the local populations or different cultures in Europe? 00:22:59.204 --> 00:35:51.695 Well, the local population, the Germans, were glad we were there. I liked to snow ski. So my friend who was stationed at Ramstein (Ramstein Air Base), he and I were snow skiers and we were always heading to Austria on our leave time to go skiing. We got down in Bavaria and it was so snowy and icy, we couldn't make it on into Austria. So we checked into a (unintelligible) down there. And there were—what did two young Lieutenants do the first thing they get their junk thrown in their room? They head for the bar for a beer! So we're down in the bar—and speaking English, of course—and a couple of guys that were only about six or eight years, maybe five years older than we were—German guys—way too much stupid juice came over and they wanted to pick a fight. They wanted to go out and fight in the snow. Mm-hmm (Shaffer shakes his head). You take a swing at me in here and that's gonna be the last one you swing at me. And finally some older guys came over—World War II vets—and told 'em to knock it off and to be thankful we were American military and not Russian military. And that calmed them down. They went away, but they were probably Hitler Youth and been brainwashed as teenagers. Never made it into the German army, but they had poor little alcohol on them. And up comes all of that stupidity from the—as a Hitler youth. But for the most part they were very nice. Very, very nice to us. And in our town where I lived, Kastellaun, Germany, which is just west of Koblenz, there's a Hunsrück-Kaserne (Hunsrück Barracks), Kastellaun, a German Army base there—tanks, Panzer base. And it was only about a half-a-mile from our house. And my roommate and I decided one afternoon—we were both wandering around the house, still in our uniforms—we're gonna go up to that Hunsrück-Kaserne, Kastellaun and have a beer with the other Lieutenants up there—see what they're up to. So we went up there, the gate guard, the MP (military police) at the gate wanted to know if we knew where the officer's club was. And I said, "No, we've never been on the base before. Driven around it a lot, but never on it." He said, "Well, let me show you." So he jumps on his BMW motorcycle and led us to the officer's club. Walked in there and there's nothing going on down the hall to the right in the bar. I couldn't figure it out. It's not like our fighter base where all the fighter pilots are in there trying to out story each other. Anyway, we walked down the hall and I heard voices in a room just to my left. And I opened the door to see what was in there, and it was a private dining-in with all these German army officers, from two Colonels all the way down to some Lieutenants at the end of the table. And I said, "Oh, excuse me." And I started to close the door. And the Colonel says, "Oh, wait a minute. Come here, come here. I wanna talk to you." So we walked in there. He says, "What's your deal here?" I said, "Well, we live downtown. We just thought we'd come up to the Hunsrück-Kaserne for a beer with the—your lieutenants—and have a beer with you guys." He says, "You had anything to eat yet?" No. "Would you like to join us?" So yes, that'd be nice. So the lieutenants set us up, a couple chairs down at the end in place setting. We had dinner with them—full dining-in, German style. And at the end of the dining-in, the two Colonels up at the—full Colonels—up at the end of the table said, "I wanna tell a story, especially to the two American Lieutenants down there." They had been soldiers, young soldiers, young Lieutenants, in the Afrika Korps. And they were taken prisoner by the British, and they were in a little field, POW camp in North Africa—in Libya probably. And when the United States entered the war in 19—and sent all the troops over in '42 to North Africa, the ships were gonna go back to the United States empty. So they put all of the POWs they'd collected—the British and the Americans—into those ships and brought 'em back to the United States. And these two colonels, along with two other Lieutenants were—four of 'em were buddies—they were put in a POW camp in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. So they spent the rest of the war in Winston-Salem. And because of the Marshall Plan, Marshall told all of the POW—all of the commanders of POW camps in the United States—to treat them well, because whatever's gonna become of Germany after the war is over, these guys that are in these POW camps are going to be the leaders of whatever Germany is to become. So treat them well, so they're not all pissed off at the United States. So in the summer of 1944, they gathered up all of these young Lieutenants and Captains and so forth into a room, into an auditorium, and told them that—that you guys are gonna be the leaders of Germany, and what we want you to do—you don't have to do it, but if you want to—we're gonna put you in civilian clothes, put you on a train, and give you a tour of the United States. So they did. The summer of '44, they went all the way down into Texas, across into California, and up across by Rushmore (Mount Rushmore), Yellowstone (Yellowstone National Park), all the way back across the north, through Iowa, and back to North Carolina. And when they got back there—this is the fall now or the late summer of '44—they said, "We need—if you want to, you would like to, there's an awful lot of businesses in the town here that need help. If you want to, we'd like to send you out to do something besides sitting in the camp." So the four of 'em decided, yeah, they wanted to do that. So they sent 'em to the loading dock on the R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, loading product on the trains in the evening at night shift. And there was an old night watchman on the dock there called Old Gold. And Old Gold was way up in his sixties or seventies. He weren't too sure he wanted four German Lieutenants on his dock. But after a few days he realized, these guys are okay. So Old Gold invited them over to his house for Thanksgiving 1944, Christmas of '44, and Easter of '45. The four of them went back to Germany, and when the Bundesrepublik (Bundesrepublik Deutschland, or "Federal Republic of Germany") was formed in 1953, they went back into the West German Army (Bundeswehr). And in 1957, they were probably all four of 'em Majors or Lieutenant Colonels, Old Gold died. All of 'em took leave from the West German Army, went back to Winston-Salem to be Old Gold's pallbearers. And I would love to have a picture of that if I could find it. Old Gold being buried and being carried by four West German Majors or Lieutenant Colonels. But their love for the United States was just as great as those guys I'd met down in Bavaria that said, "Be thankful they're American soldiers and not Russian soldiers." And in 1966, late '66, we had F-100 Super Sabres there at Hahn. The Air Force, decided to send them back to the States—probably needed them in Vietnam—and provide us with F-4 Phantoms. So there was a period in there of about eight weeks in the late fall, early winter of '66, where we didn't have any airplanes. So I got orders to send my controllers except for a skeleton crew that ran the GCA (Ground-Controlled Approach) and tower during the day—five days a week, just Monday through Friday—and shut down that air base until we got our F-4s. So I gathered 'em all together and asked them where they wanted to go. Some of my sergeants and airmen wanted to go to Berlin. Well, a fellow I'd gone to tech school with in Keesler Air Force Base down in Mississippi, he was doing the same job at Tempelhofer Feld in Berlin that I was doing at Hahn in Germany. So I said, "I want to go too. I wanna see what Berlin's like." So I got permission to go there, and I got facility rated in the control tower. I wasn't there long enough—as long as my sergeants were—I had other things I had to do. I had to get back to West Germany, prepare for the F-4. And the corridor between Checkpoint Alpha, which is just outside Frankfurt, and Checkpoint Bravo—it's when you enter the American sector of West Berlin. And everybody knows about Checkpoint Charlie. That's the third one. That's a footpath in and out east to east. It was all run by the East German air traffic controllers, en route air traffic controllers. So I was sitting there in the control tower one afternoon, and Tegel (Berlin Tegel Airport) was the only civilian airfield in West Berlin, and it was up in the French sector. And we did all the air traffic control in West Berlin—period. Whether it was the American sector, the British sector, or the French sector. So they had to get permission from us to take off and land at Tegel. We had up above Tempelhofer Feld in the American sector, what we call the upside down wedding cake. It wasn't real long approaches to—along the final. It was a kind of a spiral down and a spiral up to get into those corridors. So C-130 had left Rhine-Maine, which is in Frankfurt (Frankfurt Rhine-Main), and entered the corridor at Checkpoint Alpha. And the East Germans canceled his flight plan. And I thought at the time, "Well, why would they do that?" And they were—the pilots flying in and out of Berlin—were briefed, if they do that to you, to shut off all your electronics, all your transponders, everything, and pull out flaps and throttle back and go into what they call slow flight, but don't try to turn around in that corridor or they're gonna shoot you down. So I thought, "Well, he's almost 200 miles away, and he's in slow flight. Now what's the deal?" About that time an Air France Caravelle (Sud Aviation Caravelle) called me from Tegel for takeoff. And I said, "Well, I can't have him ascending in the corridor until I know where that C-130 is." So I told him to stay on the ground until further notice—stay right where he was. About the time I said that, the East German air traffic controller called me and says, "Clearance is approved on the 130." They wanted us to have a midair right over Berlin between an Air France passenger plane and an Air Force cargo plane." Can you imagine that? And every time there was a war protest that went on over here in the United States, especially in Berlin—draft burning and draft dodging and all this other stuff—the Stars and Stripes newspaper would publish it. Of course, the Russians were keeping track of what was going on here too. They thought it was hilarious that we were a paper tiger. They pushed the ADIZ, the Air Defense Identification Zone, between East Germany and West Germany, with just masses of aircraft. And I thought for sure we were gonna get invaded. I didn't think we'd ever not be invaded because of the actions of the war protestors here in the States, especially giving the Soviet Union a green light actually to invade by their attitude here. And fortunately they didn't, but I don't know why they didn't. Sure came close. 00:35:51.695 --> 00:35:59.005 While you were stationed in Europe, did you do anything for good luck or did you have good luck items during your time of service there? 00:35:59.005 --> 00:36:32.224 Well, I loved to snow ski, so I was always heading for Garmisch-Partenkirchen, which is run by the US Army, or the ski areas in Austria. Kitzbühel was my favorite spot in Austria. We'd take leave—probably a week or so, two weeks maybe—in January, and head for Kitzbühel, Austria to go skiing. All of us. The Canadian Air Force was at Zweibrücken down by Ramstein. All the Canadians and us we're always truckin' down to go skiing (laughs). 00:36:32.224 --> 00:36:41.000 So now we're getting ready to talk about your transition out of service. Do you remember the day your service ended? And please describe what that was like. 00:36:41.000 --> 00:40:47.905 Well, I got a release from active duty, actually on the 20th of December '67. And my wife and I decided to stay in Europe. We went back to Austria to go—she liked to ski too—so we went back to Austria. We did make a trip to the Soviet Union. I wanted to see how the other half lived. And I asked the Air Force if it'd be all right if I—my wife and I—went to Moscow. They said, "Oh hell yeah, Dave. You don't know anything. They'd pull all the fingernails outta you they want, but you're not gonna tell 'em anything that's important." So we did go to Moscow. And what Moscow reminded me of in January, 1968, was it was run by a bunch of junior high school kids. They didn't know how to make change in the store. They didn't know how to make change in the restaurants. They didn't seem to care if you were satisfied or not. They'd walk down the street and about knock you in the gutter in, and my wife was all dressed up in her Bavarian clothes 'cause she had been going to college in Munich when we got married. And so they saw these European clothes on us—Western European clothes. We could have gone back to the hotel every night naked because all the locals wanted to buy our clothes off of us. And after that we came back to the Germany and got the car and went down to Austria—spent about three weeks down there skiing and having a good time before we came back to the States. But when I went back up to Rhine-Main to fly back to McGuire, I was authorized to put my uniform back on. I was—all of us lined up to get on the airplane, and the Air Force personnel came out and said, "Do all you guys have civilian clothes?" Yes. "Well, please go put 'em on. Don't be going back to the United States in your military uniforms in '68." And so I went back in—had to put civilian clothes on a ride home. Embarrassing—because of the hatred for Vietnam they were taking that out on us. In 1966, as an Air Force officer in the com squadron, we were also responsible for all of the secret stuff that was going on in the combat operation center. And they had cards printed. And I would take the crypto cards back—had to take the crypto cards back to the Pentagon. And I thought, "Well, no way I can get out of Andrews Air Force Base back to Germany." But I got up to McGuire. And then I thought I'd take a leave and come back to San Diego for a couple days—visit my folks—hadn't seen 'em in several years. So I got a boarding pass out of Philadelphia Airport. And so I piled on the little Air Force bus and rode from McGuire Air Force Base to the airport in Philadelphia. I was the only officer on the bus. There were Navy, Marines, and Army on there. And as I came in there, I got to go through the door first, right into a bunch of hippies that were having a protest. And I got spit on—I decked the hippie right there in the airport. He was out cold instantly. And all the soldiers and sailors and airmen behind me kinda huddled around me, and we stepped over him and went onto our airplane. But that was my first interception of a hippie that spit on me. Now I wasn't so much worried what the Philadelphia police were gonna say to me for deckin' that hippie. I was worried what the Air Force is gonna say. Air Force officers aren't supposed to be decking hippies in airports. I was afraid of what—they were gonna chew me out for it. But nobody ever did anything. About somewhere over Ohio, I cleaned up my uniform and my knees quit shaking. I sat down properly in the airplane and rode on to San Diego. 00:40:47.905 --> 00:40:54.005 How were you received by your family and your community once you returned? Did you come back to San Diego? 00:40:54.005 --> 00:40:55.000 I came back to San Diego, yes. 00:40:55.000 --> 00:40:56.724 How were you received by them? 00:40:56.724 --> 00:40:58.485 Fine. Fine, yes. 00:40:58.485 --> 00:41:00.885 What about the community here in San Diego at this time? 00:41:00.885 --> 00:42:02.195 Oh, well, San Diego is a military town and was more so military in those days than it is today. And it's still a very much of a military town. So it wasn't hard to get accepted back in San Diego. However, I always had a heartburn for draft dodgers. I ran into neighbors, guys I worked with after I left the Air Force, that had all gone to New Zealand, Australia, Germany, France, everywhere—Canada—everywhere in the world to evade the draft—guys my age. And they wouldn't back off. They would call me a lifer. They had all these comments, and the hatred is still there. I have one that still lives in my neighborhood and I won't talk to him—that did that. I just want nothing to do with him. To run off—he ran off to New Zealand to stay away from the military draft. 00:42:02.195 --> 00:42:10.000 This sort of leads into our next question. So what was it like adjusting for you back into civilian life after the military? 00:42:10.000 --> 00:42:52.000 Well, coming—I started—I had teaching credentials as a high school teacher before I ever went in the Air Force, so I started teaching high school. And one of the problems was, with my airmen, if I said something, it's "yes sir, no sir." And trying to convince high school kids that I'm in charge was not that easy. See—(Shaffer mockingly mumbles). The attitude of the kids had changed considerably since I got my teaching credentials in the early sixties. By the late sixties, they'd been influenced by too many damn hippies, I think—'cause I could not stand hippies (laughs). 00:42:52.000 --> 00:42:59.000 Did the G.I. Bill influence your next steps after the military service as far as going back to school or— 00:42:59.000 --> 00:44:59.304 Yes, yes. I wanted to learn to fly since I was a kid. And since the Air Force wasn't gonna teach me to fly, I'm gonna do it myself. So I went—I thought, well, I'll use my GI bill to help with my pilot training. So I went down to the local office. They said, "Well, we don't pay for the private, but we'll pay for"—this is the VA (Veterans Affairs) now talking about—"we'll pay for everything above your private"— like the commercial, the instrument, the ATP (airline transport pilot) and all the others above it. So I said, "Well now, how am I gonna pay for the private license?" So I decided to sign up at San Diego State for my master's degree, went back to the VA and said, I'm going to go to San Diego State College to get my master's. I need—they said, "Good, we'll send you some money." Well, I used the money they sent me from my master's to get my private. And I got a master's and a private all at the same time. Then I transitioned—after that, now I have a private license—to Palomar Airport in Carlsbad, California to work on my commercial pilot's license. So I used the balance of my G.I. bill at Palomar Airport with flight trails on my commercial. I accumulated maybe 750 hours total by the end of that. And then I'm on my own nickel. So I joined flying clubs and had a friend at work that had an airplane, but he needed all of us at work that had pilot's licenses to rent it from him several times a month so he could make the monthly payments on it. So I rented his airplane for a long time. He lived in Fallbrook, California, and I'd fly it out of Fallbrook and take the wife and kid somewhere, if they wanted to go. 00:44:59.304 --> 00:45:03.835 Did you maintain any friendships after your time in service. 00:45:03.835 --> 00:45:26.585 With the people in the military? Yes. This Fred Deal, the one that I had gone skiing with. He left the Air Force about the same time I did. And yes, until he passed away just a few years ago. His wife Angie is still a friend of my wife's. They live in Arkansas now. He was a good friend. 00:45:26.585 --> 00:45:35.764 So now we're moving on to reflections. How has your military service shaped who you are today? 00:45:35.764 --> 00:49:40.074 I don't tell—I'm like my dad—I don't tolerate fools very well. And I like everything orderly and straightforward. I don't like wishy-washy things. And when I was a little kid, I thought to myself, "I don't want to be 85 years old and not be a veteran." And I think about that all the time. Now that I'm 85 years old and a veteran—good. I didn't want to ever be 85 and not be a veteran of something. Either I was gonna join the military right outta high school or right outta college. And since I wanted to fly airplane so bad in those days, as a kid, I thought, "Well, I'll wait until I'm outta college and then—" But being too big, they wouldn't take me. I wouldn't fit in the cockpit. One of my jobs in the Air Force, when we got the F-4 Phantom, they couldn't hold the holding patterns on our air base of the F-100. It would—the interturn between two TACAN (Tactical Air Navigation) radials at 15 DME (Distance Measuring Equipment) was—we were way over in a German Air Force's airspace. So I had to redesign the holding patterns for that F-4 'cause it ate up real estate like crazy. And I thought this is ridiculous. That F-4 should have been a bomber, not a fighter. It was not a good dogfighter, for instance. The German or the Russian MiGs (Mikoyan, MiG) and Sukhois (Sukhoi) could have outturned that thing in a heartbeat if we'd ever gone to war with them. Now in Vietnam, they used the F-4—and they had the same problem—but they used it for what they called the Wild Weasel. It would go in ahead of the 105s (F-105), pick up the radar from the anti-aircraft sites, and then fire a rocket right down the—their own rocket, their own radar right into them. But as a dogfighter, in my opinion and the Air Force's opinion, it was not a good dogfighter. It was heavy. It still had the Navy hook on the back—which we didn't need in the Air Force, but they had it anyway—McNamara (Robert McNamara) and Lyndon Johnson decided the Air Force was gonna have that. But my wing ops officer, Colonel Pattillo, Cuthbert Pattillo (Cuthbert A. Pattillo), who retired as a four-star general—three-star—he couldn't he couldn't tolerate having it. He didn't like it. It was gonna be a terrible airplane to fight the Russians over the clouds as they invaded through the Fulda Gap. And we couldn't run away because we gotta stay there. Our life expectancy at Hahn, if they'd ever invaded through the Fulda Gap, those of us that were left at Hahn was 20 minutes before we'd been vaporized. Our pilots used to practice in the F-4 and in the F-100s with a patch over one eye, 'cause each one, each pilot at Hahn had a target in the east. He'd never been there, of course, never seen it. He'd studied it on maps. So he knew to fly this road, that ridge line, that river, whatever it took to get to that spot, drop his ordinance and then be lucky if he ever made it back out. Only about 2% of our fighters in the 50th attack fighter wing (the 50th Wing) were ever expected to make it out. And if they did, they had a patch over one eye because with all the atomic weapons going off, their only way out is the good eye that was under the patch. And then there would be no airfields left in West Germany, because in 20 minutes we were all gonna be vaporized, 'cause every airfield, civilian and military was targeted. That they would just fly as far west as they could till they ran outta gas and the motor quit and then eject. 00:49:40.074 --> 00:49:49.324 What message would you want to leave for future generations who may watch or hear this interview? 00:49:49.324 --> 00:51:04.514 Well It's hard to say. Just that, if we don't know history and we don't study our history, we're bound to repeat it. So if this does anything to tell the younger generation—like I've told my granddaughter this stuff, I want her to always remember—that whatever land we think is ours is only ours as long as we're strong enough to keep it. If you look at the maps of the world, there's been so many changes of ownership on land over the centuries that we're only here as long as we're strong enough to keep it. Somebody else is gonna grab it if we get weak. And that's the thing I want to tell 'em. Patriotism is number one in my book. I try to promote patriotism with a younger generation. I belong to an organization in the Masons (Freemasonry) that is dedicated to that. And that's what I want to do. Try to promote patriotism and keep this country as strong or stronger than it is now forever. 00:51:04.514 --> 00:51:10.114 What do you wish more people understood about veterans? 00:51:10.114 --> 00:52:24.385 Well, there are two kinds of veterans. There are those that are drafted and those that go in on their own. I have—those that go in on their own, go in for a reason—their own personal reason. They want to, like I did. Those that are drafted—I don't say that they're not good. Some of 'em realize that this is the best thing they ever did in their life, and others don't. But it's hard to say. It's an individual thing. Like my brother-in-law. He's a year younger than I am. He was drafted into the army right outta college. I told him when he went in, I says, "With your college degree, why don't you become an officer?" "No, I don't wanna do that." Okay, it's your decision. You could have. But he's suffering now with Agent Orange so bad that I don't—from Vietnam—that I don't think he's gonna live much longer. I just went up to see him about a week and a half, two weeks ago, and he can barely move. He's in such bad shape. And—but yet he's proud of being in the military. He's glad he did it, even with the Agent Orange that he got in Vietnam. 00:52:24.385 --> 00:52:33.914 If you were to reflect on the journey of your service, what themes or life lessons emerge? 00:52:33.914 --> 00:53:31.505 Well, that's a good question. Patriotism, like I just mentioned. This is the best country in the world—the world has ever seen—and I thoroughly believe that. We have our problems, but we're still the best country that ever existed on the face of the earth. And it's all a personal—whether you join the military or not, we have good presidents and bad presidents, and we have good leadership and bad leadership from time to time. But generally, we gotta do the best we can to keep this country the way it is—and better—and stronger. And otherwise somebody will take it over on us. Sure as hell. 00:53:31.505 --> 00:53:39.000 So how did you become connected with San Diego County? Is this where you chose to come back after your time in Europe? 00:53:39.000 --> 00:54:24.135 Yeah, I—before I left Germany, before I got a release from active duty, I contacted the education center here in San Diego County, 'cause my parents still lived here, and my sister was living here, and a lot of all my friends were. My wife is an Air Force brat. She didn't have any long time friends. She'd lived three years here, three years there, three years all over the world and didn't have any real ties to any particular place. So yes, I came back here because this is where I was offered a job before I ever left the Air Force, teaching the high school industrial arts up here in North County. 00:54:24.135 --> 00:54:25.000 Thank you again for sharing your story. 00:54:25.000 --> 00:54:26.611 (Shaffer laughs.) 00:54:26.611 --> 00:54:28.735 It's an honor to help preserve it. 00:54:28.735 --> 00:54:31.000 Thank you. Was that okay? 00:54:31.000 --> 00:54:32.500 Yeah, you're good. NOTE TRANSCRIPTION END ]]> https://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en video Property rights reside with the university. Copyrights are retained by the &#13 ; creators of the records and their heirs. This resource is licensed for noncommercial educational use using CC NC-BY 4.0. Please contact Special Collections at archives csusm.edu if you need reproductions made. 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The researcher agrees not to record, reproduce, or disclose any Social Security number or other information of a highly personal nature that may be found. 0 https://archivesoralhistories.csusm.edu/ohms-viewer/render.php?cachefile=ShafferDavid_BeyerJason_2025-11-20.xml ShafferDavid_BeyerJason_2025-11-20.xml https://archivesearch.csusm.edu/repositories/3/resources/19 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Shaffer, David. Interview November 20th, 2025 Description An account of the resource Captain David Shaffer served in Europe as an air traffic controller during the 1960s. Shaffer was raised in San Diego County where his father was an engineer for Convair. From a young age, Shaffer aspired to become a military pilot, a goal which his tall height prevented. As an air traffic controller, Shaffer spent most of his deployment in Portugal and West Germany during the Cold War. He designed forward airfields during the 1967 Arab–Israeli war, although the conflict was over before they could be used. After leaving military service, Shaffer taught high school industrial arts in North San Diego County. He used the G.I. Bill to gain his master’s degree from San Diego State College and his private pilot license. In this oral history interview, Shaffer tells stories from his military service and reflects on the importance of patriotism. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context SC027-095 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2025-11-20 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource video Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource David Shaffer Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Jason Beyer Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available California State University San Marcos University Library Language A language of the resource English Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="https://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en" target="_blank" rel="noopener">In copyright</a> Rights Holder A person or organization owning or managing rights over the resource. David Shaffer Is Part Of A related resource in which the described resource is physically or logically included. San Diego Veterans History Initiative Subject The topic of the resource United States. Air Force Cold War Consolidated Aircraft Corporation Convair Victory over Japan Day Fort Bliss (Tex.) San Diego State University Keesler Air Force Base (Miss.) United States. Army Corps of Engineers Six-Day War Sinai Peninsula Lajes Field (Azores) Strategic Air Command (U.S.) Hahn Air Base (Germany) Lackland Air Force Base (Tex.) United States. Federal Aviation Administration Tinker Air Force Base (Okla.) Bundesanstalt für Flugsicherung (Germany) World War, 1939–1945 United States. Air Force—Occupational specialties Davis–Monthan Air Force Base (Ariz.) McGuire Air Force Base (N.J.) Ramstein Air Base (Germany) Hitler-Jugend European Recovery Program (1948–1952) Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944 Andrews Air Force Base (Md.) United States. Department of Veterans Affairs McClellan–Palomar Airport (Calif.) Germany. Luftwaffe Mikoyan (Firm) Sukhoi (Firm) Johnson, Lyndon B. (Lyndon Baines), 1908–1973 Fulda Gap (Germany) Freemasons Agent Orange Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Europe Colorado Springs (Colo.) Colorado San Diego (Calif.) California Texas Philippines Pennsylvania Cortez (Colo.) Shelter Island (San Diego, Calif.) Azores (Portugal) Portugal Germany San Diego County (Calif.) San Antonio (Tex.) Oklahoma City (Okla.) Tucson (Ariz.) Arizona Mississippi New Jersey Israel Middle East Austria Bavaria Kastellaun (Germany) Koblenz (Germany) Libya Africa, North United States Winston-Salem (N.C.) North Carolina Iowa Vietnam Berlin (Germany) Frankfurt (Germany) Berlin (Germany : West) Germany (East) Germany (West) Soviet Union Garmisch-Partenkirchen (Germany) Kitzbühel (Austria) Zweibrücken (Germany) Moscow (Russia) Munich (Germany) Philadelphia (Pa.) Ohio New Zealand Australia France Canada Carlsbad (Calif.) Fallbrook (Calif.) Arkansas San Diego Veterans History Initiative Veteran experience https://archivesoralhistories.csusm.edu/files/original/bf4f4b113bcc11eb37cf6ce6bdf0b1fc.pdf 8c4371b5c262998739da418766fb3436 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Transcripts Description An account of the resource Written oral histories and transcripts are available for researchers that prefer the written word, or to see the whole interview in a document. Transcripts of <a href="https://archivesoralhistories.csusm.edu/collections/show/5">audio and video files</a> are also available as part of those video files. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Shaffer, David. Interview transcript, November 20, 2025. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource David Shaffer Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Jason Beyer Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2025-11-20 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available California State University San Marcos University Library Language A language of the resource English Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="https://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en" target="_blank" rel="noopener">In copyright</a> Rights Holder A person or organization owning or managing rights over the resource. David Shaffer License A legal document giving official permission to do something with the resource. <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context ShafferDavid_BeyerJason_2025-11-20_transcript Is Part Of A related resource in which the described resource is physically or logically included. San Diego Veterans History Initiative Description An account of the resource Captain David Shaffer served in Europe as an air traffic controller during the 1960s. Shaffer was raised in San Diego County where his father was an engineer for Convair. From a young age, Shaffer aspired to become a military pilot, a goal which his tall height prevented. As an air traffic controller, Shaffer spent most of his deployment in Portugal and West Germany during the Cold War. He designed forward airfields during the 1967 Arab–Israeli war, although the conflict was over before they could be used. After leaving military service, Shaffer taught high school industrial arts in North San Diego County. He used the G.I. Bill to gain his master’s degree from San Diego State College and his private pilot license. In this oral history interview, Shaffer tells stories from his military service and reflects on the importance of patriotism. Subject The topic of the resource United States. Air Force Cold War Consolidated Aircraft Corporation Convair Victory over Japan Day Fort Bliss (Tex.) San Diego State University Keesler Air Force Base (Miss.) United States. Army Corps of Engineers Six-Day War Sinai Peninsula Lajes Field (Azores) Strategic Air Command (U.S.) Hahn Air Base (Germany) Lackland Air Force Base (Tex.) United States. Federal Aviation Administration Tinker Air Force Base (Okla.) Bundesanstalt für Flugsicherung (Germany) World War, 1939–1945 United States. Air Force—Occupational specialties Davis–Monthan Air Force Base (Ariz.) McGuire Air Force Base (N.J.) Ramstein Air Base (Germany) Hitler-Jugend European Recovery Program (1948–1952) Andrews Air Force Base (Md.) Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944 United States. Department of Veterans Affairs McClellan–Palomar Airport (Calif.) Germany. Luftwaffe Mikoyan (Firm) Sukhoi (Firm) Johnson, Lyndon B. (Lyndon Baines), 1908–1973 Fulda Gap (Germany) Freemasons Agent Orange Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Europe Colorado Springs (Colo.) Colorado San Diego (Calif.) California Texas Philippines Pennsylvania Cortez (Colo.) Shelter Island (San Diego, Calif.) Azores (Portugal) Portugal Germany San Diego County (Calif.) San Antonio (Tex.) Oklahoma City (Okla.) Tucson (Ariz.) Arizona Mississippi New Jersey Israel Middle East Austria Bavaria Kastellaun (Germany) Koblenz (Germany) Libya Africa, North United States Winston-Salem (N.C.) North Carolina Iowa Vietnam Berlin (Germany) Frankfurt (Germany) Berlin (Germany : West) Germany (East) Germany (West) Soviet Union Garmisch-Partenkirchen (Germany) Kitzbühel (Austria) Zweibrücken (Germany) Moscow (Russia) Munich (Germany) Philadelphia (Pa.) Ohio New Zealand Australia France Canada Carlsbad (Calif.) Fallbrook (Calif.) Arkansas Community history San Diego Veterans History Initiative Veteran experience Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Oral Histories Description An account of the resource Video and audio oral histories can be viewed here. Histories are listed alphabetically by last name. Individual histories are indexed and transcribed and can be searched. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available California State University San Marcos University Library Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <p>Rights to oral histories vary depending on the history. The library owns the copyright to some histories, and has license to reproduce for nonprofit purposes for others. Please contact CSUSM University Library Special Collections at <a href="mailto:%20archives@csusm.edu">archives@csusm.edu</a> with any questions about use.</p> Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Interviewer The person(s) performing the interview Michael De Maria Interviewee The person(s) being interviewed Sara Sheikh-Arvizu OHMS Object This field contains the OHMS Hyperlink (link to the XML file within the OHMS Viewer) https://archivesoralhistories.csusm.edu/ohms-viewer/render.php?cachefile=Sheikh-ArvizuSara_DeMariaMichael_2023-03-30.xml OHMS Object Text This field contains the OHMS Index and / or Transcript and is what makes the contents of the OHMS object searchable in Omeka 5.4 Sheikh-Arvizu, Sara. Interview March 30, 2023 SC027-30 SC027 California State University San Marcos University Library Special Collections oral history collection CSUSM This oral history was made possible in collaboration with the Cross-Cultural Center and with generous funding from the Instructionally Related Activities fund. csusm California State University San Marcos. Cross-Cultural Center Education, Higher Civil rights LGBTQ+ activism San Marcos (Calif.) LGBTQ life Chapman University Orange County Human Relations Commission (Orange County, Calif.) Sara Sheikh-Arvizu Michael De Maria .mp4 Sheikh-ArvizuSara_DeMariaMichael_2023-03-30.mp4 1:|10(12)|21(11)|30(12)|42(13)|49(13)|58(6)|68(14)|81(5)|91(17)|102(5)|110(12)|121(10)|132(3)|143(8)|155(16)|170(8)|179(10)|189(6)|205(12)|219(10)|230(6)|237(4)|245(7)|255(3)|266(16)|280(10)|287(17)|305(3)|315(16)|326(12)|334(17)|347(9)|357(10)|367(13)|378(13)|390(12)|403(2)|410(14)|420(5)|433(9)|444(11)|453(6)|463(14)|471(19)|482(3)|494(3)|503(19)|514(13)|524(7)|533(3)|542(3)|549(17)|557(16)|567(4)|578(10)|587(3)|598(5)|608(5)|618(16)|624(16)|631(7)|643(2)|662(5)|668(10)|676(11)|683(3)|691(18)|703(14)|712(5)|720(11)|728(19)|739(13)|749(5)|759(18)|768(11)|779(14)|787(4)|798(8)|808(12)|819(14)|829(4)|843(13)|852(4) 0 https://archivesoralhistories.csusm.edu/files/original/8c3d53da6a7254a1d38286db42d7e1dc.mp4 Other video English 1 Intro Oral history interview of Sara Sheikh-Arvizu by Michael De Maria, March 30th, 2023. 0 48 Early experiences with Social Justice Sheikh-Arvizu describes her experiences with social justice in college and the experiences that led her to want to pursue it as a career, including diversity training that greatly influenced her. 0 220 Activities in Social Justice Sheikh-Arvizu describes talking to people with diverse identities while attending academic conferences, as well as the impacts that had on her work in social justice, including her role as Associate Director of the Cross-Cultural Center. 0 407 Projects at Chapman University Sheikh-Arvizu talks about the major projects that she led at Chapman University at the Office of Social Justice, where she held her first job after completing her undergraduate and graduate studies. 0 897 Joining the CSUSM Cross-Cultural Center Sheikh-Arvizu describes getting the opportunity to get to work for the Cross-Cultural Center at CSUSM as Associate Director ; she sought to execute a vision in a new space, as Chapman did not have a Cross-Cultural Center. 0 1116 Social Climate at CSUSM in 2008 Sheikh-Arvizu describes the climate of CSUSM at the time of her joining the Cross-Cultural Center as Associate Director in 2008. She describes the work around the Cross-Cultural Center as not being seen by the rest of campus and not being recognized as much as it should have been, with many students feeling like they were not being seen or heard as well. 0 1502 Proudest Accomplishments for the Cross-Cultural Center Sheikh-Arvizu discusses the major projects she led for the Cross-Cultural Center, including Cafe La Paz and the Social Justice Summit. 0 2170 Empowering Student Staff Sheikh-Arvizu recalls how she empowered her student staff at the CCC. Reflecting on herself a "yes person" who enjoys watching ideas become reality, Sheikh-Arvizu considers listening to her staff as a form of empowerment. She specifically recounts one experience with a former student staff member in their interview process. 0 2529 Sheikh-Arvizu's Favorite Memories of the Cross-Cultural Center After discussing ways in which she empowered her student staff, Sheikh-Arvizu shares two of her favorite memories revolving around the Cross-Cultural Center. One includes an individual memory regarding one of her first experiences running the Social Justice Summit, while another involves an interview of a potential CCC staffer. Sheikh-Arvizu recalls how the community of the CCC came together to support and prepare a student for their interview. 0 2890 How the CCC Impacted Sheikh-Arvizu's Professional Journey Sheikh-Arvizu remembers initial feelings of doubt regarding leadership of the CCC. However, she states she did not subscribe to the belief that a leader had to direct her staff. Rather, Sheikh-Arvizu remembers embracing and encouraging her staff to take charge and lead in their own way. Sheikh-Arvizu reflects on this setting the foundation for her professional career. Now working with Orange County Human Relations, Sheikh-Arvizu shares how the CCC has impacted her current work with diversity and inclusivity. 0 3491 Students, Community, Conversations, and the CCC Considering future students who interact with the Cross-Cultural Center, Sheikh-Arvizu shares that she would stress the importance of community. Sheikh-Arvizu considers the CCC as a community-friendly space that also engages with difficult conversations including racism, sexism, homophobia, xenophobia, and other forms of oppression. In addition to encouraging friendly connections, Sheikh-Arvizu stresses the duality of the CCC as it enables connection and safe space for difficult conversations. 0 3735 Underrepresented Communities Sheikh-Arvizu considers underrepresented communities on campus, as well as those that she works with in her current position with Orange County Human Relations. She considers both the importance and challenges of statistical data and how this impacts minority students. Sheikh-Arvizu discusses the importance of having difficult conversations so as not to erase the history and lived experiences of minority groups impacted by various forms of oppression. 0 4057 Future Direction of the Cross-Cultural Center Sheikh-Arvizu once again considers the communal aspects to be a major point of the CCC, and as something she knows will continue in the future. In addition to creating that communal environment within the center, Sheikh-Arvizu also believes the Cross-Cultural Center will continue to work closely with other student centers and organizations to better improve that communal atmosphere. 0 4318 Advice for Those Seeking a Career in Social Justice Michael De Maria inquires about any potential advice for those seeking a career in social justice. Sheikh-Arvizu considers a "home base community" crucial to her work in social justice. She also recognizes the importance of being surrounded by diversity, as well as the ability to ask and address difficult or uncomfortable questions regarding social justice and diversity. Sheikh-Arvizu also discusses how her role as a parent has shifted her approach to diversity and social justice work. 0 Sara Sheikh-Arvizu was Assistant Director of the Cross-Cultural Center at California State University San Marcos from 2008 to 2011. In this interview, Sara discusses her roles at CSUSM and the various programs she initiated or facilitated. Sara also briefly discusses her current work with Orange County Human Relations. Michael De Maria: My name is Michael De Maria. I'm a graduate research assistant here at CSU (California State University) San Marcos with Kellogg Library’s Special Collections Department. I'm joined here today by Sarah Sheikh-Arvizu. The date is March 30th, 2023, and the time is ten thirty-six A.M. So today we're going to be focusing on Sarah's involvement with the Cross-Cultural Center, especially as it pertains to her stint as the Associate Director of Programs at the Cross-Cultural Center. So Sarah, thank you for joining me today. To start things off, I actually wanted to take things back a little bit. My first question is more about your background in the field, and I wanted to know when you decided to make social justice a focal point of your career. Sara Sheikh-Arvizu: I, it's a great question. Thank you. I'm happy to be here and be part of this project. For me, you know, to get-- jump right into your question, I wanted social justice to be the center of my work and my work life, since I was in college. I, there's a training that stood out to me. When I first became a student staff member on my own undergraduate campus. I was gonna be starting working in housing, and there was a diversity training which feels so regular and normal now, that's just part of what training involves. And it was at the time for me as well. But there was something that happened in that training that I felt like, “You know, I wanna be in this work and I want to do better.” I, it was a training that was focused on race, and what happened was they asked us to split up into two different spaces. A space for white folks and a space for folks of color, and I being mixed race, and there was about five or six other folks also, all sort of like walked up to the people who were facilitating, who were not directly our staff members, as another organization who came in to do this training, and asked “Where do we go? We don't fit into either one of these spaces.” And for us, we were looking for an answer and also validation. We were also offering to create our own space and asking if we could do that. And we weren't given permission to do that. We were told to choose one of those spaces, and that was a choice that I feel like I shouldn't have been asked to make. None of the five or six of us should have been asked to make. And honestly, I didn't want other folks to have to choose something like that in their experience on a college campus. So that really was like the moment that I wanted to be part of social justice work. It was honestly that moment in college. De Maria: Very, very interesting. And from then on, what sorts of organizations or activities did you involve yourself in, to kind of further that goal? And then also where did you attend undergraduate studies? Sheikh-Arvizu: Yeah so, my undergrad was at UC (University of California) Irvine , and other things I got involved with, some of it was just about learning for me. So, some of the things I got involved with were taking classes that were in gender studies, queer studies, and just learning more about what else was going on, right? Learning more about how we socially work together? You know, what does oppression look like? And kind of exploring and unpacking that. I think for me, other spaces that I was trying to get connected to and involved with was the LGBTQ Center on our campus. And so, I did a(n) internship there , connected to research. That was what my program, it was a requirement of my program as well, but I chose that as the place to do my site study. And then, and then just creating those spaces. So I, beyond my undergrad, the other places that I sought to be connected, education was always really important to me. And so, whenever I attended conferences as a professional, that was, I really focused all of the sessions I went to on learning more about folks that were different from me, had different identities than myself. So, I was drawn to topics about transgender students. I was drawn to topics about equity and how to measure and set out plans . So, like my (laughs) and my interest was wide. I wanted to, I tried to attend a lot of panels where folks were kind of sharing their stories or insight or, advice as it related to their identity. It was something that I felt like I needed to hear, but I also felt very validated in hearing those stories and really taking those on as something like, they were not my stories to take on, but they were the knowledge from what people were sharing I could take on and I could apply in other ways. De Maria: That's very, very profound, and look, talking about your background, I also know that you have your masters. Of course, you are quite educated , and you've emphasized a lot about the learning aspect of social justice and being a participant that way. So, I wanna shift gears here and start talking about your professional career, post education. I know that you were also a program coordinator at Chapman (University) prior to joining the Cross-Cultural Center. So, I just wanted to walk you through, or walk me through some of the major projects that you led there. Sheikh-Arvizu: Yeah. (clears throat) Excuse me. Yeah, so I was at Chapman. That was my first professional job outside of undergrad and graduate school. And so, some of the projects that I focused on, so I was in the Office of Social Justice. So honestly, as a young professional it felt amazing to have a job where social justice was actually in the title of my position. I felt like it's what I was seeking . And what I found out when I was there was that they needed a lot of foundational work. So, something to really be a launching point for this Office of Social Justice. And so, what I did there was really try to figure out, “Okay, well what are the cornerstones of this office of the work?” And working directly with students to do that. For me, something that was a program that was well developed but was handed kind of, I don't know whether to say back to me or quote unquote my position or handed to me to lead, was a Safe, the Safe Space Training Program. So that was a program that I was kind of gifted. And for me, I wanted to expand it, expand the reach of that program, expand the depth of what that program could offer, with regard to training and education and visibility. And so, that was a focus area of what I tried to develop. So, to increase the committee that was really working on the safe space trainings and initiatives. We added a train the trainer component so that there were more trainers on campus and it wasn't, you know, focused on just three people doing every training for the whole campus. You know, rotating through, over and over. And then we increased the number and the types of trainings that we offered. So it wasn't, it wasn't solely like a-- essentially at the time LGBT101 ; really going over definitions and some case study work and unpacking bias and things like that. (We) started to do more trainings in addition to that, which was, which was amazing. And then other foundational pieces of the Office of Social Justice. Some of the work that students really wanted to do was have these landmark programs where they could keep doing it and build from every year, which I thought was a great foundation-setter. So, some of the programs that I remember starting there and then doing a few times in my time there (at Chapman), was we called it Reel Justice, R-E-E-L. So focused on films, right? So, exploring social justice through films. It was a film week, and we were showing films that were not, that were kind of along the lines of a theme. And something that was really unique that I loved that our students put into this was connecting with-- at Chapman there's an excellent film program where students are developing and creating and directing their own, producing their own films. So that was part of the Reel Justice program. Another one was a Peace and Earth Fair. So, it was also working with students who were in their student government, on a team called the Awareness Team. And so, they were also charged with doing programs that were more along the lines of awareness, raising awareness about justice was really the focus there. And so, they wanted to do a Peace and Earth Fair. And so, what was really cool about the way that they wanted to approach it, and they were kind of willing to explore was how do you align the purpose of the program with the process of the program? So, you know, if it's a Peace and Earth Fair and we're really focusing on earth justice, what kind of, what are we using? What are we, we're having tables out there, are we covering those tables with tablecloths? Are we covering them with something that we're gonna, you know, throw away? No! (laughs) So, really like going and going the extra mile to do research of, you know, how can we align this? How can we really show what this program is about in the way that we do it just as much as what's done. And then something that, two things that I was kind of proud of as well, that I think set the tone was starting to explore doing dialogue circles. So, something that I was hearing from more than more than a handful, particularly of white students, was saying, “I don't feel like I can be part of this conversation, this conversation about diversity, this conversation about equity, this conversation about social justice.” And my take is everyone can be part of this conversation and should be. And so, I created a dialogue circle that was really focused on opening space where folks could join, and be part of a conversation together. And it's really simple (laughs) in its, I don't know, in its purpose, was to just have this space. So, we put it out there, we collected people's schedules cause I didn't want schedules to be the thing that, you know, made people not able to participate in this conversation. We had a nine, it was like a nine or ten p.m. (laughs) dialogue circle that folks committed to, 'cause that's, those were the times that they were available and they were putting out there of like, “I wanna do it at this time.” And whew, as a non-student I was like, not exactly ready for a nine p.m. (laughs) dialogue. But that's when folks were available and wanted to participate. So, we did that and it really was just coming together in a circle, setting an intention and having this conversation where everybody was, could come and participate, and feel that sense of belonging to this conversation, belonging to this ideal of social justice. So those are some things that we tried to put together. I'm sure that there are more, but those are the ones that really stand out to me. De Maria: Very cool. And all of that sounds very foundational, so that's really awesome to hear. From that, I want to transition to discussing your involvement with the Cross-Cultural Center. Sheikh-Arvizu: Yeah. De Maria: So, I just wanted to ask, what led you to the Cross-Cultural Center at CSUSM, and why did you choose to depart from Chapman? Sheikh-Arvizu: Yeah, so the opportunity came about like any opportunity does. I wasn't necessarily looking for anything, but you know, saw something come through just on a, on a listserv (computerized list utilized by organizations to email advertisements). And so, I looked at it. Something that Chapman did not have at the time was a Cross-Cultural Center. There was no physical space. Even the Office of Social Justice that I was the program coordinator for, it was an office. It was my office with a door and a window, and that was it and my desk. So, there was no concept of that physical space. Community looked very different, and ways to commune, to come together. It really was, you had to plan an event for people to come together. And so, I was really seeking to be in a space like that. Like the Cross-Cultural Center was named C3 at the time, (laughs) at Cal State San Marcos. And that's what I was seeking. There were, it was just a different kind of opportunity, a different way to build foundation and different kinds of opportunities as well. When I came in for my interview, you know I really was, I was taken aback in a very good way. Something that Dilcie (Perez), who was overseeing the (Cross-Cultural) Center and the Director of Student Life and Leadership at the time, something she wove into the interview, her interview with me, and I'm sure other candidates applying for the position was: “You know, we are a bit of pioneers here, so what does that look like for you?” And honestly, being asked that question just gave me a sense of there's opportunity here. There's an ability to have a vision, set a vision, and go for it. And I was really excited by that. I was excited that I was asked to think about that at an interview, not just when you know I, the day I started or whatnot. And that students were very much a center of the work. So, those things stood out to me. Different kind of opportunity and everything. Everything else that when people go for job interviews, all that excitement, energy that was there. De Maria: Very cool. And one thing that I'm kind of getting from our conversation is this theme of kind of laying down foundational work for others to build off of. Sheikh-Arvizu: Yeah. De Maria: So, that just gives me a little bit of insight about you and is also very inspiring. I want you to take me back to 2008 and just describe the social climate of CSU San Marcos at the time. I know that you're quoted in The Pride, the CSUSM newspaper, as kind of giving a little blurb about Facebook and the advent of social media with regards to organizing. And then, you also, or during that time, it was also the beginning of, essentially the beginning of the Obama administration. Sheikh-Arvizu: Right. De Maria: So again, just reiterating on the social climate of the campus. What was that like? What were you facing when you got into the role? Sheikh-Arvizu: Yeah, what was I facing when I got into the role? I think this is maybe less on the social climate, but also the professional climate that I was kind of stepping into as well. I think folks were feeling like: we're doing this work and it's not seen. And we're tired. It's so hard. We're not given, there's not a lot of resources and, or resources are hard to come by, you know whatever that looks like. And so, so I felt like there-- resources could be money, resources could be space, resources could be knowledge about, you know, what these centers could offer. So, a lot of different things when I say resources. And so, I think that there was a sense of, there's a lot of students who wanna feel like they belong, but don't quite feel like they belong. That's my sense of what the social climate, cultural climate really felt like. And I think in addition to that, there was sense of there's not enough of us, us in it. And again, there could be lots of definitions of “us.” There's not, there's not enough queer students, there's not enough students of color, there's not enough Black students specifically , to really feel like our voices are being heard and seen and understood. And, you know, I love statistical data. And I also feel like stats are not everything. Because if you take stock, do a survey, do a you know climate some kind of climate survey, which we did, and the numbers come back ; again just you know statistically, when a population is only one, two, three percent of the whole population or the everyone who took the survey, it's quote unquote not statistically significant. However, that does not mean that people's experiences are not significant. They most certainly are. And if we continue to move those experiences aside because they are not, quote unquote the majority, and as a group they never will be, because that's not the majority of people who are at Cal State San Marcos or so many places. So, I think that people were actually like feeling that. They were experiencing in real ways what, how we talk about data. I think that folks were experiencing that as people, right? They were feeling like they were not significant enough to the university or in their classroom. And I wanna balance that with, you know, it didn't mean-- there were a lot of folks that cared, but I think it was just a sense of like we're, we're here but people aren't listening, or people don't care. And we need change. And yet more people than quote unquote the “us” didn't see it. So yeah, that's what I feel like (laughs) the climate was. And I think for me as a professional, the other thing that I saw is that there were a lot of folks that were trying hard, I think that I said that at the beginning. They were trying really hard. They were putting a lot of effort in. And so for me, what I felt like I was seeing was all these individual spaces or people were trying really hard, but they weren't connecting. And so that is specifically what I came in feeling like, okay, this is what I wanna do (laughs). I wanna make some connections. I wanna work together. Because this sense of, if we all have this sense that we're not being, we're not strong enough or our voice isn't loud enough, or people aren't hearing us, or we know that we matter, but we don't feel like we belong, what can we do about that? And so, for me it was really important to start to make connections, work together, come together, develop programs together, (laughs) so that that voice is a collective voice. De Maria: I see. And thank you for kind of outlining the challenges that you faced stepping into the role kind of as it related to what I mentioned with the social climate. Sheikh-Arvizu: Yeah. De Maria: So, similar to my question about your experience at Chapman, I'd love to hear about some of your proudest accomplishments for the Cross-Cultural Center, that you were spearheading when you were there. Sheikh-Arvizu: Yeah. So, my time at Cross-- at Cal State San Marcos at the Cross-Cultural Center is like the little spark of my own candle that I feel like really continues to light what my professional career is, and it's because of the work that was done at San Marcos, the willingness, the people coming together. So, one of the programs that for me , I did have a vision for and also wanted folks to come together and envision together was the Social Justice Summit. And I know that it looks different now, as it should (laughs). It should not stay stagnant. That was never the intent. And however, but that's setting the foundation for having a multiple-day overnight retreat to talk, to unpack what social justice is, to unpack what the cycle of oppression and socialization look like, how it affects us, what we can do. That's what that program is about. And so for me, that was a program that I, like I said I had a vision for, but I wanted folks to come together and have this vision together and expand. It wasn't just about my vision. So, I worked with, at the time Rodger D’Andreas, who was the Director of the LGBTQ Pride Center. And I believe at the time briefly, he was also overseeing the Women's (and Gender Equity) Center, which I know is differently named now. Do you know what the name of that center is, Michael? De Maria: I, I—(interruption) Sheikh-Arvizu: It's okay if you don't! De Maria: I cannot recall it off the top of my head, unfortunately. Sheikh-Arvizu: That's okay. So, we'll just continue to call it the Women's Center because that's what I knew it as at the time. And, then other folks on campus and students coming together and saying, “Hey, this is this thought. What do you think? How can we do this? When can we do this? What would it look like? Let's develop essentially the curriculum.” And so, it was a-- people liked it. They wanted to be a part of it. They wanted to come, they wanted to be part of the committee, (laughs) they wanted to come. It was a great success. It was like one of those things where I feel like we were able to read what the social climate was and actually meet a need that was there. The need to come together, the need to know and see and understand that we weren't all alone. That there is actually a community that cares about a lot of these same things. And then this other piece of, now all of a sudden we had more language, we had more examples we had, and I say “we” cause I think that that is the important part. That was the important part, was that (clears throat). Excuse me. Folks did feel like a “we,” felt like there was a community. They could come together. So Social Justice Summit, and quickly I knew that, okay next year when we do this, we need to have student facilitators. It's not just about all of the staff and faculty coming together, teaching students. That's what, that's what happens every day in the classroom. But to have this kind of co-model of students and staff and faculty coming together to lead sessions, to lead dialogues, to conduct training together, conduct this Social Justice Summit together. And so, we started doing that as well the next year and just continuing to have a vision for what could be the future all the time. So that was a program. Something that was incredibly important to me was working together with other social centers, and to talk about what is this? What does social justice look like? Because if we're, if we're not working together then we're only really focusing on one kind of oppression. And when oppression, when one of us are affected by oppression, we all are. And there's not just one type of oppression. So I was, I feel so lucky that the professional staff and the student staff were so willing to come together. To come together to do trainings together, to come together to do programs together. Cafe La Paz was a program that came together where we opened one of the centers a week (at night). And that sounds kind of like, so what? (laughs) But it was really important because no center was open late at night. There was no space open at night for students. Now there's a student center (University Student Union) and it probably looks different. I'm imagining it looks different. I have been on campus, not at night though, since but it, the vibe is different now. But at the time, that wasn't the case. It was like five o'clock everyone's closed. And so, students were really saying, “We want a space to be, we're still here, we're still taking classes, or we're waiting for our next class. Like, but you're closed.” So, we tried to do that. Started with the once-a-week thing, and with the concept of rotating the center that was open so that again, this idea of community could continue to grow. So, Cafe La Paz grew out of that , that thought process. And it was a student run program. Professional staff weren't a part of it. We had a student from each of the centers who planned that week's or, oh gosh, I don't even know what time, I believe that week’s or that month's you know, Cafe La Paz was gonna be open late night. So, they planned what was gonna happen, what's the component from all three centers, what are we focusing on? What's the food, what's the, you know everything. So they really did that. And made sure that people showed up (laughs). And then for me, other things that... There's a lot of things that stand out, but for me, that central kind of line was making connections. So, making sure that faculty knew just as much about the Cross-Cultural Center and the social justice centers as staff did. That other offices did, that orientation did. And that we could start to be seen as a space where everyone was welcome. And that was really important to me. Again, back to that sense of, I started my career in social justice because I didn't feel like I belonged. And so, I wanted to continue to create opportunities and spaces where people felt like they could belong and connect no matter where they quote unquote were, right? On their own social justice journey. So, we did a trivia program and that came directly from (when) a student and I went to a conference. We heard a speaker talk about this idea of history and people of color having this history that's there, but it's totally, it's unknown in the U.S. (United States of America). When you , when you ask folks, you know U.S. history, anything about U.S. history, it's like this laundry list and it's all focused on the White center, right? And so, we were like, what would this, what would it look like if we started to actually know other kind, other histories that are not this list that everyone quote unquote knows and learns. Can we focus outside of the center? And so we did, we developed a (laughs), a multicultural trivia program. Again, it was meant as a thing of like, how can we connect? If folks don't want to come together, go to a Social Justice Summit for three days, that's not their thing, but they wanna do some trivia. Let's go it, let's do it. Right? So just trying to meet people in the space that they want to be in , or that's intriguing to them. And we did, we had some folks that came to trivia but never came to anything else. And that is totally fine because what we gained from that is someone who's still connected, still saying, “Oh this is important to learn. I'm excited to learn this because I'm showing up. And I have pizza, both.” (laughs) I think sometimes we, like in my profession in higher ed, when I was working in higher ed, we focus on the food a lot, a lot, a lot. And I actually think that the program stood on its own without pizza because people still participated. They didn't just show up for pizza and sit there and eat their pizza. They came, they got some pizza, they participated in the program. And really got into it (laughs). And we had zero prizes. It was a clap, like, “Yay, team four, you did it! You were the winners.” That's it. That's all you got. So it was really just like the experience of being there, coming together, having this fun, fun lunch. Which was very cool. De Maria: Very cool. So, just my takeaway from hearing about those programs, with regards to the summit in particular, it sounds like you were making a big impact on an issue that was more of a qualitative nature or difficult to quantify. And that also kind of shines through with the other examples of Cafe La Paz as well as those, that trivia program. In our introductory call, you also mentioned to me the importance of the student staff kind of being the lifeblood of the organization and providing tremendous assistance to you in a leadership position as well as other leaders. So, I just wanted to know about some of the ways that you empowered your student staff, and maybe what that experience was like. Sheikh-Arvizu: Oh, I loved working with students. You know, my approach to empowering my staff was to listen. It was to open up the opportunity for them to think and explore and discuss and I always consider myself a yes person. I really like ideas. I love to see how an idea could turn into something real. And so, I really just encourage my staff to do the same. There are some moments with student staff that really stand out to me and I hope that folks will be okay (with) me talking about them. But having a staff member, this is prior to them being a staff member, 'cause it was an interview. Actually I have two interview moments that really stand out to me. But one was with a staff member in his interview and two of us interviewed him. We asked the questions and this student really struggled with the language. Was you know, (unclear) defining and using terms that we generally feel like is important. However, he had amazing experiences (and) connections. He was making these connections but did not have the terminology. So, it was like you know, the other person who did the interview was like, “I don't know, they don't seem like a good fit. They don't have this knowledge.” And I'm like, “Yes, yes. They have the knowledge. They have the knowledge because let's look back at all of these examples they were able to give. They are on point, they get it.” And I think that's what a lot of students are experiencing. They understand what's going on. They have the experiences and we can help put some of those words together. That's not a problem in my mind. And so, when I made the offer to this student, I think it was a little bit of a surprise 'cause I don't think that they thought they had a good interview. Because all things considered they didn't (laugh)! You know, like they stumbled through questions, all of that stuff. But, I think for me it was just being able to see something and then telling them, telling students like, “Hey, I see this in you. You talked about this. Tell me more about it. You mentioned this. Tell me more about that.” And just opening that space to get to know them , get to understand some of their experiences and what they wanted to do with that or how they wanted to make an impact. The other thing that I tried to do right away was make sure that all of the student staff, and if we had interns, anyone, anyone who was like working in some way, shape or form for the Cross-Cultural Center to open up opportunities for them to be elsewhere on campus, on committees. I had students chair committees and I had supervisors who were really nervous about that. And at times I was nervous about that too. But I felt like, “Okay, if folks are nervous about that, let's explore what the nervousness is about and also let's ensure that whatever they're nervous about isn't gonna happen. And even if it does, it's okay.” But just coming from the perspective of like, I just wanted to open up opportunities for students to be seen, to be heard, to have a voice, to lead. And essentially that's it. Because I really like ideas. We also shifted to a new space (laughs) during my tenure. And so, with in that move it allowed us the opportunity to say, “Oh, let's look around. What is this new space we're in? What could it be?” And it really was working with them on defining what it could be. And so, I think when they experienced that, what their thoughts were, their ideas mattered, and we-- and they could actually see it happen. Then to me they felt empowered to do more, to do differently, to take risks to also see themselves as leaders. And that, to me was the point. De Maria: That's very cool. (both laugh). Kind of going off of that, I mean, obviously we've been talking about your experience at the Cross-Cultural Center in depth. But in your own opinion, or in your own words, what was your favorite memory? Sheikh-Arvizu: Favorite memory? Well, you know, I left-- there's two and one is (a) very tiny moment, but it has significance to me. And one feels like a big thing. I was driving home after the first Social Justice Summit. I'm a complete introvert. So being with people, I have to focus a lot of attention and energy to really be present. And I was just at a three-day retreat with, you know, fifty people (laughs). So, I'm driving home by myself. I have the windows rolled down, no music because I cannot handle more like input after the weekend. That I was like thinking and saying to myself in my quiet car, “That was amazing! And there's so much we could do with this program in the future.” Like my, I know that I'm sharing a memory that was by myself, but it really wasn't the memory of me being by myself. It was the memory of this amazing program and the way that we as staff were able to shift in the moment based on what we saw , what we ha-- what happened, and the flexibility there. And then the students in watching their transformation in just three days of you know, there was an evaluation that I had read before I left as well. And it was like, “I did not believe. I did not believe that you were gonna pull this off!” Right? Like, that's the beginning of the evaluation. Like, I'm sitting in session, I was sitting in session one and I didn't think it was gonna go anywhere. And then they continued to write, and then this happened and this happened and this happened and this was a great experience. And I was like, wow! To both be able to write like this criticism of like, I didn't think this was gonna go well, to this really changed my perspective. Was (laughs) it was a great moment kind of collectively, individually . I feel like I'm not doing a very good job actually expressing what I was feeling about this, very awesome moment. But, that's where it was. I was like literally in my car, just processing this entire, the entire weekend in the moment. But then, in the processing also feeling, “Wow, I have so much energy and I have so much, there's so much more we could give to this program. There's more we can do.” And being excited to do that, even though it was gonna be a year later (laughs). And then another moment was small, like I said. Totally different person (laughs) interviewing, getting ready to interview, because they wanted to work for the Cross-Cultural Center. And he walks in, he has a shirt, a tie, and his baseball hat , which he always wore. And I was like, okay, this is awesome. I'm interviewing him. Well, later I find out that his peers coached him on how to interview. And that for me was the moment of like, it's a great memory because the community was taking care of one another. He was ready to walk in, in like a t-shirt that he wears every single day, which really, in a lot of spaces that's okay. But his peers were saying, “No, you gotta step this up. You know, this is an interview. It's different, it's different than just walking into the Cross-Cultural Center every day.” And at the same time, he wanted to be himself cause they were encouraging him not to wear his hat, but he kept his hat on. That was part of him. Someone else gave him the tie, right? Like this was literally all (laughs), the community was caring for one another in that moment. And so, I was just so proud of folks coming together and I was proud of him for keeping his identity as part of something that he wanted to be present at the interview. Right? So, I don't know, those were my two moments of like, it, they just really stood out for very different reasons. (laughs) De Maria: No, I completely get that. And I think, another challenge that we seem to be getting back to is the quantitative versus qualitative issue. Especially with subjects as profound as this, where people might not be represented. So sometimes that qualitative evidence is also very powerful to see in action . So that's super cool. Next, I wanted to, and again, previously you described your experience at the Cross-Cultural Center as kind of being the spark that fueled the rest of your career. So, this is again kind of like an abstract question, but I wanted to know just how the Cross-Cultural Center helped you develop as a professional and further that journey? Sheikh-Arvizu: That's a great question. And also, I love abstract questions. (laughs) For me, I think part of me felt like I couldn't do it, be in that position, oversee and manage the Cross-Cultural Center. Because I had never worked in a Cross-Cultural Center before . And I had never been part of a student organization before (laughs). Particularly as it relates to, as it related to my identity. And so, part of me felt like, I don't know like I'm doing this work, but it kind of feels like I'm not doing this work. And at the same time, I also knew in my gut I could. It was just like fighting with my own perception of how other people might have perceived me, right? All in my head, but also all in my heart, right? Like, my experience as a person, as a human being, as a mixed-race person, as a queer person. I'm sitting in all these spaces where it's like, I don't often hear that I belong and I can do it. I could do this, I could do this thing that maybe it doesn't seem I'm really qualified for. And so, what the spark was, was I feel like I sort of came into my own power of I can do this and I don't have to be the center. I never really connected with this sense of a leader is someone at the front. They're taking the podium, they have the microphone, they can be seen, they are the first on the list for people to invite. Like I wasn't, I didn't subscribe to that kind of leadership. And so , I felt I could do my kind of leadership and I could also see other people's kind of leadership and say, “Do it! Do your kind of leadership, do it your way.” And I didn't feel I had to prove myself and say, “I am the center stage. This is my program!” No, it wasn't (laughs). I literally did not set structures like that where I was the one leading the program. I was the center. It really was let's do this together, or let me support you (laughs). It's not mine, it's yours. This is your idea. You carry it. Let's figure out how to do it. And, I think that what I learned was I could have a vision. I did have a vision for the Cross-Cultural Center and I could have that vision with other people. And I, that was really, really revolutionary to me that I could have a vision and we could have a shared vision together. And it didn't have to be so individualized. That does not seem like the rest of the culture around me, that does not seem like what it means to be in American society. And so I really held onto that. I still hold onto that, that sense of like, it's better when we do it together. It's better when we have a vision for this together. It's better when we can see our differences and learn what that means. Learn why things matter differently. Learn to take on perspectives that are different from you. So, it felt like I learned a lot during that process. It felt like I set a foundation for myself professionally, not just for that space, the Cross-Cultural Center as a space, as a community and things like that. I felt like I wanted to live what I said my values were. And that was the place that I feel like my alignment was really, really close. De Maria: Very, very cool. Going off of that line of questioning just about you as a professional , and kind of what you took from the experience, I know that you're currently working with OC (Orange County) Human Relations (Commission) on several projects. So, I just wanted to know how your experiences with Cross-Cultural Center influenced the programs that you're working on currently. And maybe what some of those programs are (both laugh). Sheikh-Arvizu: Yeah. Well, so I am a training specialist in Orange County Human Relations, (laughs). By the time this oral history project is done, we likely will have a different name as an organization (laughs). Okay. So it'll be a little bit obsolete, but that's okay. It is what it is. I, and I just started in my role. I was in a different role prior . So, some things that I've done in the organization that I feel like do have a connection to Cal State San Marcos, and working at the Cross- Cultural Center ; I'm training and I'm coaching folks on how to align who you say you are and how you do that work, right? So, we say diversity and equity and inclusion and belonging are all important to us and are important to us in our organization, are important to us in our school, our school district, or in our community? Okay! How do you do that? What does that look like? How do you measure that? Right? So, I feel like I asked very pointed questions right then like boom, boom, boom, right? And lots of times it's more gentle. It's, and also lots of times it's a lot of different kinds of questions. So, what I feel like is the connection for me, from (CSU) San Marcos is this idea of well, when you have a vision (you) have to be able to figure out how to put things in place, right? So, if we have the vision of, living in a community that values equity and enacts, that is an equitable place, then we need to do some hard work. And sometimes that hard work could be training, sometimes that hard work could be conversations and dialogues. Sometimes that hard work is assessing how hate and hate incidents and crimes are impacting our community. And that's all work that I feel like I'm touching or part of directly at Orange County Human Relations. And pulling community together I think is kind of the other theme. On a college campus community is, tends to be the college community or the community of students in particular. So, it's like this little bubble of, you know, built-in community. But working at Orange County Human Relations, that is not just built in. And, you know: timing, availability, interest, money, all of that. Funding, I should say, more than money. Right, all of that plays a role. And so, but still figuring out how do we come together and have a common vision. Literally just went through with a group on writing a mission statement (laughs). So, you know, creating that vision and also laying out how do we do this? This is who we say we are, how do we do it? De Maria: Very, very cool. I do have a few more questions left. And all of them are more about sort of the future of the Cross-Cultural Center and possibly social justice in general. But looking ahead, what aspirations do you have for future students who interact with the Cross-Cultural Center? Want to get involved? Sheikh-Arvizu: I feel like I would just want students to, to try it out. I mean community is really what we make it to be. And it's a we. So, if as a person, if right, if you're seeking community wherever you are, is where community can be. And it means, and it means stepping in, it means taking a risk. It means saying hi. It means going to a program. It means just seeing yourself there. That's all very abstract (laughs), but I think, you know, there's lots of places to connect and find community. You can connect and find community in the chem lab that you're working in, right? Or researching in or studying in. And, and I think for me, the Cross-Cultural Center is a different kind of community in that you can kind of go back and forth between exploring common interests and activities and also talking about how oppression, racism, sexism, identity, politics, how that plays a role in your life. And feel like oh, actually these other folks get it. I don't have to explain that much. And they're here with me for me. And, and we can eat fries together. It just spans so many different kinds of ways to connect. And I think, you know, if you're looking for multiple ways to connect, it's a great way, it's a great space! I would say any identity-based space is a great space cause it's like the opportunity to feel connected to other people, to other identities, to your own identity. And also potentially other things like music, food, we can go play sports together, you know, whatever that is. Yeah, I think that everyone needs, that needs to feel a sense of validation. And for me, I think identity spaces, social justice spaces are spaces where that can happen. De Maria: I think that's beautiful. Sheikh-Arvizu: Are you okay? You this like—(interruption) De Maria: I'm complete. I'm completely fine. Sheikh-Arvizu: Okay. De Maria: Just very, very profound experiences that you're sharing with me that I really appreciate. De Maria: So, regarding my next line of questioning, I also wanted to ask you about what communities you feel might be currently underrepresented on our campus, or possibly bringing some attention to some underrepresented communities that you're currently working with. Sheikh-Arvizu: Yeah. Ooh, great question. I cannot possibly answer that question (laughs), because I'm not there and I have not looked, I've not really walked on campus. I haven't looked at any demographics at all again, like that like I can look at paper, I can look at numbers. However, I think that your last add in there to the question , like populations that I'm also working with you know. I think that... I, last year was charged with writing our hate crime report for the on behalf of the county and, something that I feel like were like central communities that were really impacted. And I personally feel like in the report, but I'm sure out of the report, beyond the report, the depth is much greater and could never be captured in a report. It was the Black community ; so small, percentage wise, right? In the county. And I'm in Orange County right now so, the Black population is about two, sometimes three percent of the whole population of Orange County. But the number of hate incidents and crimes that are because of Black hate, right? Is completely disproportionate, is like exponentially disproportionate. And so really focusing on seeing that community other communities as well. I feel like numbers keep rising for anti-Asian hate and Latinx hate. I feel like numbers... numbers, incidents, experiences, uh, like a little snippet of like media also capturing this rise also in numbers and gravity of anti-LGBTQ hate, and anti-Semitic hate and like how that, that actually as a center for lots of different kinds of hate, kind of like, it looks like what it looks like to the eye. And folks maybe particularly not in the Jewish community where, it's like you could see a swastika and also the n-word both at the same time, right? Graffiti somewhere and it's like, so is that anti-Semitic? Is that anti-black? Like what is that? Whew. And unpacking that is like so much I think for folks, I don't think it's so much for the Black community or the Jewish community, or the Black Jewish community both, right? To unpack. But I think for a lot of other folks it's like, “What kind of hate is that? How do we describe it? Why? Why is this, what is this connection?” But it's really important that we do unpack it, we do explore it, we do start to understand what that means and why, and how it's progressing. It really scares me that we are in a time of, where in the country , that history is being removed, that literally people's histories are being removed, people's existence are being removed from curriculum. And that's really scary to me. That did not exactly answer your question, but I think for me there was a connection there. De Maria: It did answer my question very thoroughly actually. So thank you. And I've got two more questions left to kind of wrap up the interview. But first I just wanted to ask you what direction you think the Cross-Cultural Center should grow in? Sheikh-Arvizu: Oh, also one that I do not feel equipped. So I was only there for like, two and a half years? Pretty small. And there, both on campus and with the Cross-Cultural Center, the Cross-Cultural Center is in a different space even than it was when I was there. I was there for two spaces and I was there to advocate for how much physical space the next Cross-Cultural Center should occupy. So, it is now in that space and now there are more identity spaces, more cultural spaces and centers. And for me, I think with the work that I'm doing now, it still has a collaborative communal coming together need. And I would hope that that's what's happening now too, for the Cross-Cultural Center, right? But there, that the Cross-Cultural Center, the students, the staff, are working with other centers and other spaces and other student organizations and there's connections. That's what I, that's what I, I don't know, future, future (laughs). But I think it's really important to come together. I think it's also really important to make statements, so people know that they're supported. And I think that this is not necessarily just about the Cross-Cultural Center specific space or leadership there ; it's like a broader everywhere that we look to leaders in positional, with positional power, specifically with titles , right? Like presidents, vice presidents, you know, whatever the titles are directors. We look to them, we expect that, we expect to hear from them when something affects the community. And I would encourage that to happen. Right? The-- I am not criticizing anything at all. I'm just saying it should happen, period. If it is awesome, because hopefully what that means is that students feel like they do belong and there's, there's connection there. And they're safe. They're safe in who they are. They're safe in their identity, they're safe to be and belong. And so that I think is important. To take a stand, to say something , right? To say, “We care to say this is not okay here.” If there is hate or if there is, and I say “if,” and really I know that it happens. It's there. It is there, it's everywhere. So yeah, just making sure people feel like they matter, individuals and communities. De Maria: Totally. And wrapping things up, again you continuously kind of reference this process of learning, which is an extremely important part of understanding social justice and also participating in it. Whether that's learning about somebody else's culture, learning how to communicate about someone else's culture to them, or learning how to ultimately take a stand and become a voice in your community. With that being said, if someone were interested in pursuing a career in social justice much like yourself, what tips would you give them? Sheikh-Arvizu: Wow. I think for me, having that sort of like home-base community or people is really important. Folks that you can say, “Hey, this is happening and I don't get it, or I feel like I messed up,” or “What am I missing?” It's really important to have those people in your life! Particularly doing social justice work, because social justice work is hard and it is literally every day. It could be your, the, you know, quote unquote nine to five, like what you're doing during the day , and then you go pick up some dinner and somehow there's still some like quote unquote “social justice work” that needs to be done there (laughs). So it doesn't necessarily, there's not like a timeline like, oh, it's five o'clock, I'm not doing this work anymore. So I think to like have, have your people, whoever those people are, people that you can count on, people that can support you, people that can listen, people that can challenge you, people that can show you a different perspective. And those people should not look like you. Not all of them, maybe some of them. They should-- and when I say look like you, I don't exactly just mean look like you, I mean look like you, think like you, have the same identity markers as you do, or if not like you like one kind of person, right? And to kind of do that inventory and see like what perspectives am I missing in my own life, in my professional life. I think don't be scared (laughs). Don't be scared to be the learner as much as the teacher or trainer or coach. Sometimes I feel like my career was like poking a stick. I was like, look at this (laughs, waves imaginary stick in air), right? Like, look at this thing, what's happening? And I wanted people to see, and you know what? There was certainly a place for that. There's a place for that in my career. I felt like the organization, you know, needed that at the time or different organizations, more than one, right? Needed to see what was happening! And I, what I appreciate now in my career too, and where I am, is that other folks can do that. I can still do that and it might look and sound a little bit different than it did when I was in my early career (laughs), in my career at Cal State San Marcos, where I could say, “Look at this! This is a problem!” And, or I could hear it from a student, I could say, “Then say that, right?” Like, you go do it. “Say that somewhere. Uh, your voice is powerful.” So I think like those lessons I, for someone who wants to get to get into social justice or stay, it doesn't mean you're not in a social justice like job career focus already, is to know your way, right? Know your power, find your power, explore it, see, you know, what works where. And it might be different tactics in different places, and I think it's important to test it out and to lean into other people, to um, you know, see if they could be more effective or more effective with you together. I think too that, you know, for a lot of folks it won't feel like social justice is the center of your work. It won't! You might be doing something else. It doesn't mean that you have to discard social justice or the idea or goal of equity. You don't have to toss it away. It can still be part of your work. There's a lot of like individual things that you can do. There's a lot of cultural things that you can do that, where it can still be central to the way you think about your work, to the way you approach your work, to the way you approach outside of the workplace. I'm now a parent. The way you approach parenting to the way (laugh). Like, I know for me, like what a mind-shift of like, oh, I value this in my work and in my life, but now I have a young human and they are doing things I did not expect! But am I doing things that I didn't expect with my values in social justice and equity with my values in listening and opening up space? Whew. That's hard (laughs). And it's hard, I know I'm framing it in this parent space, but also it's hard when you're in other workplaces again, where social justice might not be the center of the work that you're doing, but it's like, I'm in this organization and like I don't feel like I'm showing up as mys-- As the self I want to or I'm not being supported. Sometimes that means it's okay to leave. It is okay to leave! It's also okay to stay and challenge if that's what you have the capacity for. And you should, if you have the capacity for that or that's what drives you, then do it. Do it that way. If you do not have the capacity or it is a toxic environment, it is okay to leave. And continue your social justice work somewhere else in another space. It can look different. It's okay (laughs). It's not like you don't have to constantly struggle all the time or feel like you don't belong, or that you don't matter at all in a space that's not-- I mean those organizations need to change and do better and do different, but it doesn't mean that you have to be the, you don't have to bear the brunt of that work that they're not really ready to do. I was all over the place with that (laughs), but the, the, the thought of a career in social justice is, like... my thought before my career began in social justice is very different than what my career has been. And so that's where I feel like I have a lot of different like, thoughts of what that can mean for folks. And it can be so different based on the person and your identities and the institutions that you are in. Right? And who even is your network of people, or what's needed in the organ-- in different organizations. I thought I was a great fit for other jobs. I was not. I was not selected. There were other people out there who are doing this work, so also connect. It's okay! They're, they wanna do this work too. They're qualified to do this work. Like, so that sense of like leaving competition out. I dunno. Or putting it in check. De Maria: Very, very cool. I think based on those tips as well as the other information you shared with me, you're an excellent resource for someone who's interested in going into the social justice field. So I really appreciate you taking time out today, Sara, and speak to me about your involvement in the Cross-Cultural Center as well as some of the work that you're doing now. And I think this is gonna be a great resource for anyone trying to learn more about social justice initiatives in their community and how to get involved as well as the history of the Cross-Cultural Center itself. So just wanted to thank you again for taking time out to speak to me about this. This has been a very, very special, special interview. Sheikh-Arvizu: Of course. And I'm here, I'm still here. We have Zoom, we have phone calls, we have, there's so many ways to connect. So yes, if I'm a resource for someone that's listening or watching (laughs) in the future, but you wanna make a connection that's open, like that's available too, right? And I, and I'm pretty sure that, that, I hope, and I'm sure it will stand for other folks that are part of this project and that's why we wanna be part of this project, right? Like not just for the history component, but the future component, which is important. De Maria: Absolutely. Well, we obviously appreciate it. Again, thank you for your time and yeah, I know this isn't the end of your journey. So, (I’m) very excited to see what else you go on to do in your career and what other the communities you’ll impact. Sheikh-Arvizu: Yeah, thank you Michael. Thank you. 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The researcher agrees not to record, reproduce, or disclose any Social Security number or other information of a highly personal nature that may be found. &#13 ; 0 https://archivesoralhistories.csusm.edu/ohms-viewer/render.php?cachefile=Sheikh-ArvizuSara_DeMariaMichael_2023-03-30.xml Sheikh-ArvizuSara_DeMariaMichael_2023-03-30.xml https://archivesearch.csusm.edu/repositories/3/resources/19 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Sheikh-Arvizu, Sara. Interview March 30, 2023. Description An account of the resource Sara Sheikh-Arvizu was Assistant Director of the Cross-Cultural Center at California State University San Marcos from 2008 to 2011. In this interview, Sara discusses her roles at CSUSM and the various programs she initiated or facilitated. Sara also briefly discusses her current work with Orange County Human Relations. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context SC027-30 Subject The topic of the resource California State University San Marcos. Cross-Cultural Center Chapman University Civil rights Education, Higher LGBTQ+ activism LGBTQ+ life Orange County Human Relations Commission (Orange County, Calif.) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2023-03-30 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource video Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Sara Sheikh-Arvizu Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Michael De Maria Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Orange (Calif.) San Marcos (Calif.) Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available California State University San Marcos University Library Language A language of the resource English Rights Holder A person or organization owning or managing rights over the resource. Sara Sheikh-Arvizu Activists and activism Cross-Cultural Center oral history project CSUSM history LGBTQIA+ experience Women's experience https://archivesoralhistories.csusm.edu/files/original/2ec9076e1d55c0a2899af8cdc2860b9a.pdf 7ee6f12c111c3a0a9ea3acd52a996909 PDF Text Text SARA SHEIKH-ARVIZU TRANSCRIPT, INTERVIEW 2023-03-30 Michael De Maria: My name is Michael De Maria. I'm a graduate research assistant here at CSU (California State University) San Marcos with Kellogg Library’s Special Collections Department. I'm joined here today by Sarah Sheikh-Arvizu. The date is March 30th, 2023, and the time is 10:36 A.M. So today we're going to be focusing on Sarah's involvement with the Cross-Cultural Center, especially as it pertains to her stint as the Associate Director of Programs at the Cross-Cultural Center. So Sarah, thank you for joining me today. To start things off, I actually wanted to take things back a little bit. My first question is more about your background in the field, and I wanted to know when you decided to make social justice a focal point of your career. Sara Sheikh-Arvizu: I, it's a great question. Thank you. I'm happy to be here and be part of this project. For me, you know, to get-- jump right into your question, I wanted social justice to be the center of my work and my work life, since I was in college. I, there's a training that stood out to me. When I first became a student staff member on my own undergraduate campus. I was gonna be starting working in housing, and there was a diversity training which feels so regular and normal now, that's just part of what training involves. And it was at the time for me as well. But there was something that happened in that training that I felt like, “You know, I wanna be in this work and I want to do better.” I, it was a training that was focused on race, and what happened was they asked us to split up into two different spaces. A space for white folks and a space for folks of color, and I being mixed race, and there was about five or six other folks also, all sort of like walked up to the people who were facilitating, who were not directly our staff members, as another organization who came in to do this training, and asked “Where do we go? We don't fit into either one of these spaces.” And for us, we were looking for an answer and also validation. We were also offering to create our own space and asking if we could do that. And we weren't given permission to do that. We were told to choose one of those spaces, and that was a choice that I feel like I shouldn't have been asked to make. None of the five or six of us should have been asked to make. And honestly, I didn't want other folks to have to choose something like that in their experience on a college campus. So that really was like the moment that I wanted to be part of social justice work. It was honestly that moment in college. De Maria: Very, very interesting. And from then on, what sorts of organizations or activities did you involve yourself in, to kind of further that goal? And then also where did you attend undergraduate studies? Sheikh-Arvizu: Yeah so, my undergrad was at UC (University of California) Irvine, and other things I got involved with, some of it was just about learning for me. So, some of the things I got involved with were taking classes that were in gender studies, queer studies, and just learning more about what else was going on, right? Learning more about how we socially work together? You know, what does oppression look like? And kind of exploring and unpacking that. I think for me, other spaces that I was trying to get connected to and involved with was the LGBTQ Center on our campus. And so, I did a(n) internship there, connected to research. That was what my program, it was a requirement of my program as well, but I chose that as the place to do my site study. And then, and then just creating those spaces. So I, beyond my undergrad, the other places that I sought to be connected, education was always really important to me. And so, whenever I attended conferences as a professional, that was, I really focused all of the sessions I went to on learning more about folks that were different from me, had different identities than myself. So, I was drawn to topics about transgender students. I was drawn to topics Transcribed by Michael De Maria and Aaron Williams 1 2024-01-25 �SARA SHEIKH-ARVIZU TRANSCRIPT, INTERVIEW 2023-03-30 about equity and how to measure and set out plans. So, like my (laughs) and my interest was wide. I wanted to, I tried to attend a lot of panels where folks were kind of sharing their stories or insight or, advice as it related to their identity. It was something that I felt like I needed to hear, but I also felt very validated in hearing those stories and really taking those on as something like, they were not my stories to take on, but they were the knowledge from what people were sharing I could take on and I could apply in other ways. De Maria: That's very, very profound, and look, talking about your background, I also know that you have your masters. Of course, you are quite educated, and you've emphasized a lot about the learning aspect of social justice and being a participant that way. So, I wanna shift gears here and start talking about your professional career, post education. I know that you were also a program coordinator at Chapman (University) prior to joining the Cross-Cultural Center. So, I just wanted to walk you through, or walk me through some of the major projects that you led there. Sheikh-Arvizu: Yeah. (clears throat) Excuse me. Yeah, so I was at Chapman. That was my first professional job outside of undergrad and graduate school. And so, some of the projects that I focused on, so I was in the Office of Social Justice. So honestly, as a young professional it felt amazing to have a job where social justice was actually in the title of my position. I felt like it's what I was seeking. And what I found out when I was there was that they needed a lot of foundational work. So, something to really be a launching point for this Office of Social Justice. And so, what I did there was really try to figure out, “Okay, well what are the cornerstones of this office of the work?” And working directly with students to do that. For me, something that was a program that was well developed but was handed kind of, I don't know whether to say back to me or quote unquote my position or handed to me to lead, was a Safe, the Safe Space Training Program. So that was a program that I was kind of gifted. And for me, I wanted to expand it, expand the reach of that program, expand the depth of what that program could offer, with regard to training and education and visibility. And so, that was a focus area of what I tried to develop. So, to increase the committee that was really working on the safe space trainings and initiatives. We added a train the trainer component so that there were more trainers on campus and it wasn't, you know, focused on just three people doing every training for the whole campus. You know, rotating through, over and over. And then we increased the number and the types of trainings that we offered. So it wasn't, it wasn't solely like a-- essentially at the time LGBT101; really going over definitions and some case study work and unpacking bias and things like that. (We) started to do more trainings in addition to that, which was, which was amazing. And then other foundational pieces of the Office of Social Justice. Some of the work that students really wanted to do was have these landmark programs where they could keep doing it and build from every year, which I thought was a great foundation-setter. So, some of the programs that I remember starting there and then doing a few times in my time there (at Chapman), was we called it Reel Justice, R-E-E-L. So focused on films, right? So, exploring social justice through films. It was a film week, and we were showing films that were not, that were kind of along the lines of a theme. And something that was really unique that I loved that our students put into this was connecting with-- at Chapman there's an excellent film program where students are developing and creating and directing their own, producing their own films. So that was part of the Reel Justice program. Transcribed by Michael De Maria and Aaron Williams 2 2024-01-25 �SARA SHEIKH-ARVIZU TRANSCRIPT, INTERVIEW 2023-03-30 Another one was a Peace and Earth Fair. So, it was also working with students who were in their student government, on a team called the Awareness Team. And so, they were also charged with doing programs that were more along the lines of awareness, raising awareness about justice was really the focus there. And so, they wanted to do a Peace and Earth Fair. And so, what was really cool about the way that they wanted to approach it, and they were kind of willing to explore was how do you align the purpose of the program with the process of the program? So, you know, if it's a Peace and Earth Fair and we're really focusing on earth justice, what kind of, what are we using? What are we, we're having tables out there, are we covering those tables with tablecloths? Are we covering them with something that we're gonna, you know, throw away? No! (laughs) So, really like going and going the extra mile to do research of, you know, how can we align this? How can we really show what this program is about in the way that we do it just as much as what's done. And then something that, two things that I was kind of proud of as well, that I think set the tone was starting to explore doing dialogue circles. So, something that I was hearing from more than more than a handful, particularly of white students, was saying, “I don't feel like I can be part of this conversation, this conversation about diversity, this conversation about equity, this conversation about social justice.” And my take is everyone can be part of this conversation and should be. And so, I created a dialogue circle that was really focused on opening space where folks could join, and be part of a conversation together. And it's really simple (laughs) in its, I don't know, in its purpose, was to just have this space. So, we put it out there, we collected people's schedules cause I didn't want schedules to be the thing that, you know, made people not able to participate in this conversation. We had a nine, it was like a nine or ten p.m. (laughs) dialogue circle that folks committed to, 'cause that's, those were the times that they were available and they were putting out there of like, “I wanna do it at this time.” And whew, as a non-student I was like, not exactly ready for a nine p.m. (laughs) dialogue. But that's when folks were available and wanted to participate. So, we did that and it really was just coming together in a circle, setting an intention and having this conversation where everybody was, could come and participate, and feel that sense of belonging to this conversation, belonging to this ideal of social justice. So those are some things that we tried to put together. I'm sure that there are more, but those are the ones that really stand out to me. De Maria: Very cool. And all of that sounds very foundational, so that's really awesome to hear. From that, I want to transition to discussing your involvement with the Cross-Cultural Center. Sheikh-Arvizu: Yeah. De Maria: So, I just wanted to ask, what led you to the Cross-Cultural Center at CSUSM, and why did you choose to depart from Chapman? Sheikh-Arvizu: Yeah, so the opportunity came about like any opportunity does. I wasn't necessarily looking for anything, but you know, saw something come through just on a, on a listserv (computerized list utilized by organizations to email advertisements). And so, I looked at it. Something that Chapman did not have at the time was a Cross-Cultural Center. There was no physical space. Even the Office of Social Justice that I was the program coordinator for, it was an office. It was my office with a door and a window, and that was it and my desk. So, there was no concept of that physical space. Community Transcribed by Michael De Maria and Aaron Williams 3 2024-01-25 �SARA SHEIKH-ARVIZU TRANSCRIPT, INTERVIEW 2023-03-30 looked very different, and ways to commune, to come together. It really was, you had to plan an event for people to come together. And so, I was really seeking to be in a space like that. Like the CrossCultural Center was named C3 at the time, (laughs) at Cal State San Marcos. And that's what I was seeking. There were, it was just a different kind of opportunity, a different way to build foundation and different kinds of opportunities as well. When I came in for my interview, you know I really was, I was taken aback in a very good way. Something that Dilcie (Perez), who was overseeing the (Cross-Cultural) Center and the Director of Student Life and Leadership at the time, something she wove into the interview, her interview with me, and I'm sure other candidates applying for the position was: “You know, we are a bit of pioneers here, so what does that look like for you?” And honestly, being asked that question just gave me a sense of there's opportunity here. There's an ability to have a vision, set a vision, and go for it. And I was really excited by that. I was excited that I was asked to think about that at an interview, not just when you know I, the day I started or whatnot. And that students were very much a center of the work. So, those things stood out to me. Different kind of opportunity and everything. Everything else that when people go for job interviews, all that excitement, energy that was there. De Maria: Very cool. And one thing that I'm kind of getting from our conversation is this theme of kind of laying down foundational work for others to build off of. Sheikh-Arvizu: Yeah. De Maria: So, that just gives me a little bit of insight about you and is also very inspiring. I want you to take me back to 2008 and just describe the social climate of CSU San Marcos at the time. I know that you're quoted in The Pride, the CSUSM newspaper, as kind of giving a little blurb about Facebook and the advent of social media with regards to organizing. And then, you also, or during that time, it was also the beginning of, essentially the beginning of the Obama administration. Sheikh-Arvizu: Right. De Maria: So again, just reiterating on the social climate of the campus. What was that like? What were you facing when you got into the role? Sheikh-Arvizu: Yeah, what was I facing when I got into the role? I think this is maybe less on the social climate, but also the professional climate that I was kind of stepping into as well. I think folks were feeling like: we're doing this work and it's not seen. And we're tired. It's so hard. We're not given, there's not a lot of resources and, or resources are hard to come by, you know whatever that looks like. And so, so I felt like there-- resources could be money, resources could be space, resources could be knowledge about, you know, what these centers could offer. So, a lot of different things when I say resources. And so, I think that there was a sense of, there's a lot of students who wanna feel like they belong, but don't quite feel like they belong. That's my sense of what the social climate, cultural climate really felt like. And I think in addition to that, there was sense of there's not enough of us, us in it. And again, there could be lots of definitions of “us.” There's not, there's not enough queer students, there's not enough students of color, there's not enough Black students specifically, to really feel like our voices are being Transcribed by Michael De Maria and Aaron Williams 4 2024-01-25 �SARA SHEIKH-ARVIZU TRANSCRIPT, INTERVIEW 2023-03-30 heard and seen and understood. And, you know, I love statistical data. And I also feel like stats are not everything. Because if you take stock, do a survey, do a you know climate some kind of climate survey, which we did, and the numbers come back; again just you know statistically, when a population is only one, two, three percent of the whole population or the everyone who took the survey, it's quote unquote not statistically significant. However, that does not mean that people's experiences are not significant. They most certainly are. And if we continue to move those experiences aside because they are not, quote unquote the majority, and as a group they never will be, because that's not the majority of people who are at Cal State San Marcos or so many places. So, I think that people were actually like feeling that. They were experiencing in real ways what, how we talk about data. I think that folks were experiencing that as people, right? They were feeling like they were not significant enough to the university or in their classroom. And I wanna balance that with, you know, it didn't mean-- there were a lot of folks that cared, but I think it was just a sense of like we're, we're here but people aren't listening, or people don't care. And we need change. And yet more people than quote unquote the “us” didn't see it. So yeah, that's what I feel like (laughs) the climate was. And I think for me as a professional, the other thing that I saw is that there were a lot of folks that were trying hard, I think that I said that at the beginning. They were trying really hard. They were putting a lot of effort in. And so for me, what I felt like I was seeing was all these individual spaces or people were trying really hard, but they weren't connecting. And so that is specifically what I came in feeling like, okay, this is what I wanna do (laughs). I wanna make some connections. I wanna work together. Because this sense of, if we all have this sense that we're not being, we're not strong enough or our voice isn't loud enough, or people aren't hearing us, or we know that we matter, but we don't feel like we belong, what can we do about that? And so, for me it was really important to start to make connections, work together, come together, develop programs together, (laughs) so that that voice is a collective voice. De Maria: I see. And thank you for kind of outlining the challenges that you faced stepping into the role kind of as it related to what I mentioned with the social climate. Sheikh-Arvizu: Yeah. De Maria: So, similar to my question about your experience at Chapman, I'd love to hear about some of your proudest accomplishments for the Cross-Cultural Center, that you were spearheading when you were there. Sheikh-Arvizu: Yeah. So, my time at Cross-- at Cal State San Marcos at the Cross-Cultural Center is like the little spark of my own candle that I feel like really continues to light what my professional career is, and it's because of the work that was done at San Marcos, the willingness, the people coming together. So, one of the programs that for me, I did have a vision for and also wanted folks to come together and envision together was the Social Justice Summit. And I know that it looks different now, as it should (laughs). It should not stay stagnant. That was never the intent. And however, but that's setting the foundation for having a multiple-day overnight retreat to talk, to unpack what social justice is, to unpack what the cycle of oppression and socialization look like, how it affects us, what we can do. That's what that program is about. And so for me, that was a program that I, like I said I had a vision for, but I Transcribed by Michael De Maria and Aaron Williams 5 2024-01-25 �SARA SHEIKH-ARVIZU TRANSCRIPT, INTERVIEW 2023-03-30 wanted folks to come together and have this vision together and expand. It wasn't just about my vision. So, I worked with, at the time Rodger D’Andreas, who was the Director of the LGBTQ Pride Center. And I believe at the time briefly, he was also overseeing the Women's (and Gender Equity) Center, which I know is differently named now. Do you know what the name of that center is, Michael? De Maria: I, I—(interruption) Sheikh-Arvizu: It's okay if you don't! De Maria: I cannot recall it off the top of my head, unfortunately. Sheikh-Arvizu: That's okay. So, we'll just continue to call it the Women's Center because that's what I knew it as at the time. And, then other folks on campus and students coming together and saying, “Hey, this is this thought. What do you think? How can we do this? When can we do this? What would it look like? Let's develop essentially the curriculum.” And so, it was a-- people liked it. They wanted to be a part of it. They wanted to come, they wanted to be part of the committee, (laughs) they wanted to come. It was a great success. It was like one of those things where I feel like we were able to read what the social climate was and actually meet a need that was there. The need to come together, the need to know and see and understand that we weren't all alone. That there is actually a community that cares about a lot of these same things. And then this other piece of, now all of a sudden we had more language, we had more examples we had, and I say “we” cause I think that that is the important part. That was the important part, was that (clears throat). Excuse me. Folks did feel like a “we,” felt like there was a community. They could come together. So Social Justice Summit, and quickly I knew that, okay next year when we do this, we need to have student facilitators. It's not just about all of the staff and faculty coming together, teaching students. That's what, that's what happens every day in the classroom. But to have this kind of co-model of students and staff and faculty coming together to lead sessions, to lead dialogues, to conduct training together, conduct this Social Justice Summit together. And so, we started doing that as well the next year and just continuing to have a vision for what could be the future all the time. So that was a program. Something that was incredibly important to me was working together with other social centers, and to talk about what is this? What does social justice look like? Because if we're, if we're not working together then we're only really focusing on one kind of oppression. And when oppression, when one of us are affected by oppression, we all are. And there's not just one type of oppression. So I was, I feel so lucky that the professional staff and the student staff were so willing to come together. To come together to do trainings together, to come together to do programs together. Cafe La Paz was a program that came together where we opened one of the centers a week (at night). And that sounds kind of like, so what? (laughs) But it was really important because no center was open late at night. There was no space open at night for students. Now there's a student center (University Student Union) and it probably looks different. I'm imagining it looks different. I have been on campus, not at night though, since but it, the vibe is different now. But at the time, that wasn't the case. It was like five o'clock everyone's closed. And so, students were really saying, “We want a space to be, we're still here, we're still taking classes, or we're waiting for our next class. Like, but you're closed.” So, we tried to do that. Transcribed by Michael De Maria and Aaron Williams 6 2024-01-25 �SARA SHEIKH-ARVIZU TRANSCRIPT, INTERVIEW 2023-03-30 Started with the once-a-week thing, and with the concept of rotating the center that was open so that again, this idea of community could continue to grow. So, Cafe La Paz grew out of that, that thought process. And it was a student run program. Professional staff weren't a part of it. We had a student from each of the centers who planned that week's or, oh gosh, I don't even know what time, I believe that week’s or that month's you know, Cafe La Paz was gonna be open late night. So, they planned what was gonna happen, what's the component from all three centers, what are we focusing on? What's the food, what's the, you know everything. So they really did that. And made sure that people showed up (laughs). And then for me, other things that... There's a lot of things that stand out, but for me, that central kind of line was making connections. So, making sure that faculty knew just as much about the Cross-Cultural Center and the social justice centers as staff did. That other offices did, that orientation did. And that we could start to be seen as a space where everyone was welcome. And that was really important to me. Again, back to that sense of, I started my career in social justice because I didn't feel like I belonged. And so, I wanted to continue to create opportunities and spaces where people felt like they could belong and connect no matter where they quote unquote were, right? On their own social justice journey. So, we did a trivia program and that came directly from (when) a student and I went to a conference. We heard a speaker talk about this idea of history and people of color having this history that's there, but it's totally, it's unknown in the U.S. (United States of America). When you, when you ask folks, you know U.S. history, anything about U.S. history, it's like this laundry list and it's all focused on the White center, right? And so, we were like, what would this, what would it look like if we started to actually know other kind, other histories that are not this list that everyone quote unquote knows and learns. Can we focus outside of the center? And so we did, we developed a (laughs), a multicultural trivia program. Again, it was meant as a thing of like, how can we connect? If folks don't want to come together, go to a Social Justice Summit for three days, that's not their thing, but they wanna do some trivia. Let's go it, let's do it. Right? So just trying to meet people in the space that they want to be in, or that's intriguing to them. And we did, we had some folks that came to trivia but never came to anything else. And that is totally fine because what we gained from that is someone who's still connected, still saying, “Oh this is important to learn. I'm excited to learn this because I'm showing up. And I have pizza, both.” (laughs) I think sometimes we, like in my profession in higher ed, when I was working in higher ed, we focus on the food a lot, a lot, a lot. And I actually think that the program stood on its own without pizza because people still participated. They didn't just show up for pizza and sit there and eat their pizza. They came, they got some pizza, they participated in the program. And really got into it (laughs). And we had zero prizes. It was a clap, like, “Yay, team four, you did it! You were the winners.” That's it. That's all you got. So it was really just like the experience of being there, coming together, having this fun, fun lunch. Which was very cool. De Maria: Very cool. So, just my takeaway from hearing about those programs, with regards to the summit in particular, it sounds like you were making a big impact on an issue that was more of a qualitative nature or difficult to quantify. And that also kind of shines through with the other examples of Cafe La Paz as well as those, that trivia program. In our introductory call, you also mentioned to me the importance of the student staff kind of being the lifeblood of the organization and providing tremendous assistance to you in a leadership position as well as other leaders. So, I just wanted to know Transcribed by Michael De Maria and Aaron Williams 7 2024-01-25 �SARA SHEIKH-ARVIZU TRANSCRIPT, INTERVIEW 2023-03-30 about some of the ways that you empowered your student staff, and maybe what that experience was like. Sheikh-Arvizu: Oh, I loved working with students. You know, my approach to empowering my staff was to listen. It was to open up the opportunity for them to think and explore and discuss and I always consider myself a yes person. I really like ideas. I love to see how an idea could turn into something real. And so, I really just encourage my staff to do the same. There are some moments with student staff that really stand out to me and I hope that folks will be okay (with) me talking about them. But having a staff member, this is prior to them being a staff member, 'cause it was an interview. Actually I have two interview moments that really stand out to me. But one was with a staff member in his interview and two of us interviewed him. We asked the questions and this student really struggled with the language. Was you know, (unclear) defining and using terms that we generally feel like is important. However, he had amazing experiences (and) connections. He was making these connections but did not have the terminology. So, it was like you know, the other person who did the interview was like, “I don't know, they don't seem like a good fit. They don't have this knowledge.” And I'm like, “Yes, yes. They have the knowledge. They have the knowledge because let's look back at all of these examples they were able to give. They are on point, they get it.” And I think that's what a lot of students are experiencing. They understand what's going on. They have the experiences and we can help put some of those words together. That's not a problem in my mind. And so, when I made the offer to this student, I think it was a little bit of a surprise 'cause I don't think that they thought they had a good interview. Because all things considered they didn't (laugh)! You know, like they stumbled through questions, all of that stuff. But, I think for me it was just being able to see something and then telling them, telling students like, “Hey, I see this in you. You talked about this. Tell me more about it. You mentioned this. Tell me more about that.” And just opening that space to get to know them, get to understand some of their experiences and what they wanted to do with that or how they wanted to make an impact. The other thing that I tried to do right away was make sure that all of the student staff, and if we had interns, anyone, anyone who was like working in some way, shape or form for the Cross-Cultural Center to open up opportunities for them to be elsewhere on campus, on committees. I had students chair committees and I had supervisors who were really nervous about that. And at times I was nervous about that too. But I felt like, “Okay, if folks are nervous about that, let's explore what the nervousness is about and also let's ensure that whatever they're nervous about isn't gonna happen. And even if it does, it's okay.” But just coming from the perspective of like, I just wanted to open up opportunities for students to be seen, to be heard, to have a voice, to lead. And essentially that's it. Because I really like ideas. We also shifted to a new space (laughs) during my tenure. And so, with in that move it allowed us the opportunity to say, “Oh, let's look around. What is this new space we're in? What could it be?” And it really was working with them on defining what it could be. And so, I think when they experienced that, what their thoughts were, their ideas mattered, and we-- and they could actually see it happen. Then to me they felt empowered to do more, to do differently, to take risks to also see themselves as leaders. And that, to me was the point. De Maria: That's very cool. (both laugh). Kind of going off of that, I mean, obviously we've been talking about your experience at the Cross-Cultural Center in depth. But in your own opinion, or in your own words, what was your favorite memory? Transcribed by Michael De Maria and Aaron Williams 8 2024-01-25 �SARA SHEIKH-ARVIZU TRANSCRIPT, INTERVIEW 2023-03-30 Sheikh-Arvizu: Favorite memory? Well, you know, I left-- there's two and one is (a) very tiny moment, but it has significance to me. And one feels like a big thing. I was driving home after the first Social Justice Summit. I'm a complete introvert. So being with people, I have to focus a lot of attention and energy to really be present. And I was just at a three-day retreat with, you know, fifty people (laughs). So, I'm driving home by myself. I have the windows rolled down, no music because I cannot handle more like input after the weekend. That I was like thinking and saying to myself in my quiet car, “That was amazing! And there's so much we could do with this program in the future.” Like my, I know that I'm sharing a memory that was by myself, but it really wasn't the memory of me being by myself. It was the memory of this amazing program and the way that we as staff were able to shift in the moment based on what we saw, what we ha-- what happened, and the flexibility there. And then the students in watching their transformation in just three days of you know, there was an evaluation that I had read before I left as well. And it was like, “I did not believe. I did not believe that you were gonna pull this off!” Right? Like, that's the beginning of the evaluation. Like, I'm sitting in session, I was sitting in session one and I didn't think it was gonna go anywhere. And then they continued to write, and then this happened and this happened and this happened and this was a great experience. And I was like, wow! To both be able to write like this criticism of like, I didn't think this was gonna go well, to this really changed my perspective. Was (laughs) it was a great moment kind of collectively, individually. I feel like I'm not doing a very good job actually expressing what I was feeling about this, very awesome moment. But, that's where it was. I was like literally in my car, just processing this entire, the entire weekend in the moment. But then, in the processing also feeling, “Wow, I have so much energy and I have so much, there's so much more we could give to this program. There's more we can do.” And being excited to do that, even though it was gonna be a year later (laughs). And then another moment was small, like I said. Totally different person (laughs) interviewing, getting ready to interview, because they wanted to work for the Cross-Cultural Center. And he walks in, he has a shirt, a tie, and his baseball hat, which he always wore. And I was like, okay, this is awesome. I'm interviewing him. Well, later I find out that his peers coached him on how to interview. And that for me was the moment of like, it's a great memory because the community was taking care of one another. He was ready to walk in, in like a t-shirt that he wears every single day, which really, in a lot of spaces that's okay. But his peers were saying, “No, you gotta step this up. You know, this is an interview. It's different, it's different than just walking into the Cross-Cultural Center every day.” And at the same time, he wanted to be himself cause they were encouraging him not to wear his hat, but he kept his hat on. That was part of him. Someone else gave him the tie, right? Like this was literally all (laughs), the community was caring for one another in that moment. And so, I was just so proud of folks coming together and I was proud of him for keeping his identity as part of something that he wanted to be present at the interview. Right? So, I don't know, those were my two moments of like, it, they just really stood out for very different reasons. (laughs) De Maria: No, I completely get that. And I think, another challenge that we seem to be getting back to is the quantitative versus qualitative issue. Especially with subjects as profound as this, where people might not be represented. So sometimes that qualitative evidence is also very powerful to see in action. So that's super cool. Next, I wanted to, and again, previously you described your experience at the Cross-Cultural Center as kind of being the spark that fueled the rest of your career. So, this is again kind Transcribed by Michael De Maria and Aaron Williams 9 2024-01-25 �SARA SHEIKH-ARVIZU TRANSCRIPT, INTERVIEW 2023-03-30 of like an abstract question, but I wanted to know just how the Cross-Cultural Center helped you develop as a professional and further that journey? Sheikh-Arvizu: That's a great question. And also, I love abstract questions. (laughs) For me, I think part of me felt like I couldn't do it, be in that position, oversee and manage the Cross-Cultural Center. Because I had never worked in a Cross-Cultural Center before. And I had never been part of a student organization before (laughs). Particularly as it relates to, as it related to my identity. And so, part of me felt like, I don't know like I'm doing this work, but it kind of feels like I'm not doing this work. And at the same time, I also knew in my gut I could. It was just like fighting with my own perception of how other people might have perceived me, right? All in my head, but also all in my heart, right? Like, my experience as a person, as a human being, as a mixed-race person, as a queer person. I'm sitting in all these spaces where it's like, I don't often hear that I belong and I can do it. I could do this, I could do this thing that maybe it doesn't seem I'm really qualified for. And so, what the spark was, was I feel like I sort of came into my own power of I can do this and I don't have to be the center. I never really connected with this sense of a leader is someone at the front. They're taking the podium, they have the microphone, they can be seen, they are the first on the list for people to invite. Like I wasn't, I didn't subscribe to that kind of leadership. And so, I felt I could do my kind of leadership and I could also see other people's kind of leadership and say, “Do it! Do your kind of leadership, do it your way.” And I didn't feel I had to prove myself and say, “I am the center stage. This is my program!” No, it wasn't (laughs). I literally did not set structures like that where I was the one leading the program. I was the center. It really was let's do this together, or let me support you (laughs). It's not mine, it's yours. This is your idea. You carry it. Let's figure out how to do it. And, I think that what I learned was I could have a vision. I did have a vision for the Cross-Cultural Center and I could have that vision with other people. And I, that was really, really revolutionary to me that I could have a vision and we could have a shared vision together. And it didn't have to be so individualized. That does not seem like the rest of the culture around me, that does not seem like what it means to be in American society. And so I really held onto that. I still hold onto that, that sense of like, it's better when we do it together. It's better when we have a vision for this together. It's better when we can see our differences and learn what that means. Learn why things matter differently. Learn to take on perspectives that are different from you. So, it felt like I learned a lot during that process. It felt like I set a foundation for myself professionally, not just for that space, the Cross-Cultural Center as a space, as a community and things like that. I felt like I wanted to live what I said my values were. And that was the place that I feel like my alignment was really, really close. De Maria: Very, very cool. Going off of that line of questioning just about you as a professional, and kind of what you took from the experience, I know that you're currently working with OC (Orange County) Human Relations (Commission) on several projects. So, I just wanted to know how your experiences with Cross-Cultural Center influenced the programs that you're working on currently. And maybe what some of those programs are (both laugh). Sheikh-Arvizu: Yeah. Well, so I am a training specialist in Orange County Human Relations, (laughs). By the time this oral history project is done, we likely will have a different name as an organization (laughs). Okay. So it'll be a little bit obsolete, but that's okay. It is what it is. I, and I just started in my role. I was in Transcribed by Michael De Maria and Aaron Williams 10 2024-01-25 �SARA SHEIKH-ARVIZU TRANSCRIPT, INTERVIEW 2023-03-30 a different role prior. So, some things that I've done in the organization that I feel like do have a connection to Cal State San Marcos, and working at the Cross- Cultural Center; I'm training and I'm coaching folks on how to align who you say you are and how you do that work, right? So, we say diversity and equity and inclusion and belonging are all important to us and are important to us in our organization, are important to us in our school, our school district, or in our community? Okay! How do you do that? What does that look like? How do you measure that? Right? So, I feel like I asked very pointed questions right then like boom, boom, boom, right? And lots of times it's more gentle. It's, and also lots of times it's a lot of different kinds of questions. So, what I feel like is the connection for me, from (CSU) San Marcos is this idea of well, when you have a vision (you) have to be able to figure out how to put things in place, right? So, if we have the vision of, living in a community that values equity and enacts, that is an equitable place, then we need to do some hard work. And sometimes that hard work could be training, sometimes that hard work could be conversations and dialogues. Sometimes that hard work is assessing how hate and hate incidents and crimes are impacting our community. And that's all work that I feel like I'm touching or part of directly at Orange County Human Relations. And pulling community together I think is kind of the other theme. On a college campus community is, tends to be the college community or the community of students in particular. So, it's like this little bubble of, you know, built-in community. But working at Orange County Human Relations, that is not just built in. And, you know: timing, availability, interest, money, all of that. Funding, I should say, more than money. Right, all of that plays a role. And so, but still figuring out how do we come together and have a common vision. Literally just went through with a group on writing a mission statement (laughs). So, you know, creating that vision and also laying out how do we do this? This is who we say we are, how do we do it? De Maria: Very, very cool. I do have a few more questions left. And all of them are more about sort of the future of the Cross-Cultural Center and possibly social justice in general. But looking ahead, what aspirations do you have for future students who interact with the Cross-Cultural Center? Want to get involved? Sheikh-Arvizu: I feel like I would just want students to, to try it out. I mean community is really what we make it to be. And it's a we. So, if as a person, if right, if you're seeking community wherever you are, is where community can be. And it means, and it means stepping in, it means taking a risk. It means saying hi. It means going to a program. It means just seeing yourself there. That's all very abstract (laughs), but I think, you know, there's lots of places to connect and find community. You can connect and find community in the chem lab that you're working in, right? Or researching in or studying in. And, and I think for me, the Cross-Cultural Center is a different kind of community in that you can kind of go back and forth between exploring common interests and activities and also talking about how oppression, racism, sexism, identity, politics, how that plays a role in your life. And feel like oh, actually these other folks get it. I don't have to explain that much. And they're here with me for me. And, and we can eat fries together. It just spans so many different kinds of ways to connect. And I think, you know, if you're looking for multiple ways to connect, it's a great way, it's a great space! I would say any identity-based space is a great space cause it's like the opportunity to feel connected to other people, to other identities, to your own identity. And also potentially other things like music, food, we can go play sports Transcribed by Michael De Maria and Aaron Williams 11 2024-01-25 �SARA SHEIKH-ARVIZU TRANSCRIPT, INTERVIEW 2023-03-30 together, you know, whatever that is. Yeah, I think that everyone needs, that needs to feel a sense of validation. And for me, I think identity spaces, social justice spaces are spaces where that can happen. De Maria: I think that's beautiful. Sheikh-Arvizu: Are you okay? You this like—(interruption) De Maria: I'm complete. I'm completely fine. Sheikh-Arvizu: Okay. De Maria: Just very, very profound experiences that you're sharing with me that I really appreciate. De Maria: So, regarding my next line of questioning, I also wanted to ask you about what communities you feel might be currently underrepresented on our campus, or possibly bringing some attention to some underrepresented communities that you're currently working with. Sheikh-Arvizu: Yeah. Ooh, great question. I cannot possibly answer that question (laughs), because I'm not there and I have not looked, I've not really walked on campus. I haven't looked at any demographics at all again, like that like I can look at paper, I can look at numbers. However, I think that your last add in there to the question, like populations that I'm also working with you know. I think that... I, last year was charged with writing our hate crime report for the on behalf of the county and, something that I feel like were like central communities that were really impacted. And I personally feel like in the report, but I'm sure out of the report, beyond the report, the depth is much greater and could never be captured in a report. It was the Black community; so small, percentage wise, right? In the county. And I'm in Orange County right now so, the Black population is about two, sometimes three percent of the whole population of Orange County. But the number of hate incidents and crimes that are because of Black hate, right? Is completely disproportionate, is like exponentially disproportionate. And so really focusing on seeing that community other communities as well. I feel like numbers keep rising for anti-Asian hate and Latinx hate. I feel like numbers... numbers, incidents, experiences, uh, like a little snippet of like media also capturing this rise also in numbers and gravity of anti-LGBTQ hate, and anti-Semitic hate and like how that, that actually as a center for lots of different kinds of hate, kind of like, it looks like what it looks like to the eye. And folks maybe particularly not in the Jewish community where, it's like you could see a swastika and also the n-word both at the same time, right? Graffiti somewhere and it's like, so is that anti-Semitic? Is that anti-black? Like what is that? Whew. And unpacking that is like so much I think for folks, I don't think it's so much for the Black community or the Jewish community, or the Black Jewish community both, right? To unpack. But I think for a lot of other folks it's like, “What kind of hate is that? How do we describe it? Why? Why is this, what is this connection?” But it's really important that we do unpack it, we do explore it, we do start to understand what that means and why, and how it's progressing. It really scares me that we are in a time of, where in the country, that history is being removed, that literally people's histories are being removed, people's existence are being removed from curriculum. And that's really scary to me. That did not exactly answer your question, but I think for me there was a connection there. Transcribed by Michael De Maria and Aaron Williams 12 2024-01-25 �SARA SHEIKH-ARVIZU TRANSCRIPT, INTERVIEW 2023-03-30 De Maria: It did answer my question very thoroughly actually. So thank you. And I've got two more questions left to kind of wrap up the interview. But first I just wanted to ask you what direction you think the Cross-Cultural Center should grow in? Sheikh-Arvizu: Oh, also one that I do not feel equipped. So I was only there for like, two and a half years? Pretty small. And there, both on campus and with the Cross-Cultural Center, the Cross-Cultural Center is in a different space even than it was when I was there. I was there for two spaces and I was there to advocate for how much physical space the next Cross-Cultural Center should occupy. So, it is now in that space and now there are more identity spaces, more cultural spaces and centers. And for me, I think with the work that I'm doing now, it still has a collaborative communal coming together need. And I would hope that that's what's happening now too, for the Cross-Cultural Center, right? But there, that the Cross-Cultural Center, the students, the staff, are working with other centers and other spaces and other student organizations and there's connections. That's what I, that's what I, I don't know, future, future (laughs). But I think it's really important to come together. I think it's also really important to make statements, so people know that they're supported. And I think that this is not necessarily just about the Cross-Cultural Center specific space or leadership there; it's like a broader everywhere that we look to leaders in positional, with positional power, specifically with titles, right? Like presidents, vice presidents, you know, whatever the titles are directors. We look to them, we expect that, we expect to hear from them when something affects the community. And I would encourage that to happen. Right? The-- I am not criticizing anything at all. I'm just saying it should happen, period. If it is awesome, because hopefully what that means is that students feel like they do belong and there's, there's connection there. And they're safe. They're safe in who they are. They're safe in their identity, they're safe to be and belong. And so that I think is important. To take a stand, to say something, right? To say, “We care to say this is not okay here.” If there is hate or if there is, and I say “if,” and really I know that it happens. It's there. It is there, it's everywhere. So yeah, just making sure people feel like they matter, individuals and communities. De Maria: Totally. And wrapping things up, again you continuously kind of reference this process of learning, which is an extremely important part of understanding social justice and also participating in it. Whether that's learning about somebody else's culture, learning how to communicate about someone else's culture to them, or learning how to ultimately take a stand and become a voice in your community. With that being said, if someone were interested in pursuing a career in social justice much like yourself, what tips would you give them? Sheikh-Arvizu: Wow. I think for me, having that sort of like home-base community or people is really important. Folks that you can say, “Hey, this is happening and I don't get it, or I feel like I messed up,” or “What am I missing?” It's really important to have those people in your life! Particularly doing social justice work, because social justice work is hard and it is literally every day. It could be your, the, you know, quote unquote nine to five, like what you're doing during the day, and then you go pick up some dinner and somehow there's still some like quote unquote “social justice work” that needs to be done there (laughs). So it doesn't necessarily, there's not like a timeline like, oh, it's five o'clock, I'm not doing this work anymore. So I think to like have, have your people, whoever those people are, people that you can count on, people that can support you, people that can listen, people that can challenge you, people Transcribed by Michael De Maria and Aaron Williams 13 2024-01-25 �SARA SHEIKH-ARVIZU TRANSCRIPT, INTERVIEW 2023-03-30 that can show you a different perspective. And those people should not look like you. Not all of them, maybe some of them. They should-- and when I say look like you, I don't exactly just mean look like you, I mean look like you, think like you, have the same identity markers as you do, or if not like you like one kind of person, right? And to kind of do that inventory and see like what perspectives am I missing in my own life, in my professional life. I think don't be scared (laughs). Don't be scared to be the learner as much as the teacher or trainer or coach. Sometimes I feel like my career was like poking a stick. I was like, look at this (laughs, waves imaginary stick in air), right? Like, look at this thing, what's happening? And I wanted people to see, and you know what? There was certainly a place for that. There's a place for that in my career. I felt like the organization, you know, needed that at the time or different organizations, more than one, right? Needed to see what was happening! And I, what I appreciate now in my career too, and where I am, is that other folks can do that. I can still do that and it might look and sound a little bit different than it did when I was in my early career (laughs), in my career at Cal State San Marcos, where I could say, “Look at this! This is a problem!” And, or I could hear it from a student, I could say, “Then say that, right?” Like, you go do it. “Say that somewhere. Uh, your voice is powerful.” So I think like those lessons I, for someone who wants to get to get into social justice or stay, it doesn't mean you're not in a social justice like job career focus already, is to know your way, right? Know your power, find your power, explore it, see, you know, what works where. And it might be different tactics in different places, and I think it's important to test it out and to lean into other people, to um, you know, see if they could be more effective or more effective with you together. I think too that, you know, for a lot of folks it won't feel like social justice is the center of your work. It won't! You might be doing something else. It doesn't mean that you have to discard social justice or the idea or goal of equity. You don't have to toss it away. It can still be part of your work. There's a lot of like individual things that you can do. There's a lot of cultural things that you can do that, where it can still be central to the way you think about your work, to the way you approach your work, to the way you approach outside of the workplace. I'm now a parent. The way you approach parenting to the way (laugh). Like, I know for me, like what a mind-shift of like, oh, I value this in my work and in my life, but now I have a young human and they are doing things I did not expect! But am I doing things that I didn't expect with my values in social justice and equity with my values in listening and opening up space? Whew. That's hard (laughs). And it's hard, I know I'm framing it in this parent space, but also it's hard when you're in other workplaces again, where social justice might not be the center of the work that you're doing, but it's like, I'm in this organization and like I don't feel like I'm showing up as mys-- As the self I want to or I'm not being supported. Sometimes that means it's okay to leave. It is okay to leave! It's also okay to stay and challenge if that's what you have the capacity for. And you should, if you have the capacity for that or that's what drives you, then do it. Do it that way. If you do not have the capacity or it is a toxic environment, it is okay to leave. And continue your social justice work somewhere else in another space. It can look different. It's okay (laughs). It's not like you don't have to constantly struggle all the time or feel like you don't belong, or that you don't matter at all in a space that's not-- I mean those organizations need to change and do better and do different, but it doesn't mean that you have to be the, you don't have to bear the brunt of that work that they're not really ready to do. Transcribed by Michael De Maria and Aaron Williams 14 2024-01-25 �SARA SHEIKH-ARVIZU TRANSCRIPT, INTERVIEW 2023-03-30 I was all over the place with that (laughs), but the, the, the thought of a career in social justice is, like... my thought before my career began in social justice is very different than what my career has been. And so that's where I feel like I have a lot of different like, thoughts of what that can mean for folks. And it can be so different based on the person and your identities and the institutions that you are in. Right? And who even is your network of people, or what's needed in the organ-- in different organizations. I thought I was a great fit for other jobs. I was not. I was not selected. There were other people out there who are doing this work, so also connect. It's okay! They're, they wanna do this work too. They're qualified to do this work. Like, so that sense of like leaving competition out. I dunno. Or putting it in check. De Maria: Very, very cool. I think based on those tips as well as the other information you shared with me, you're an excellent resource for someone who's interested in going into the social justice field. So I really appreciate you taking time out today, Sara, and speak to me about your involvement in the CrossCultural Center as well as some of the work that you're doing now. And I think this is gonna be a great resource for anyone trying to learn more about social justice initiatives in their community and how to get involved as well as the history of the Cross-Cultural Center itself. So just wanted to thank you again for taking time out to speak to me about this. This has been a very, very special, special interview. Sheikh-Arvizu: Of course. And I'm here, I'm still here. We have Zoom, we have phone calls, we have, there's so many ways to connect. So yes, if I'm a resource for someone that's listening or watching (laughs) in the future, but you wanna make a connection that's open, like that's available too, right? And I, and I'm pretty sure that, that, I hope, and I'm sure it will stand for other folks that are part of this project and that's why we wanna be part of this project, right? Like not just for the history component, but the future component, which is important. De Maria: Absolutely. Well, we obviously appreciate it. Again, thank you for your time and yeah, I know this isn't the end of your journey. So, (I’m) very excited to see what else you go on to do in your career and what other the communities you’ll impact. Sheikh-Arvizu: Yeah, thank you Michael. Thank you. And for inviting me to be part of this. Transcribed by Michael De Maria and Aaron Williams 15 2024-01-25 � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Transcripts Description An account of the resource Written oral histories and transcripts are available for researchers that prefer the written word, or to see the whole interview in a document. Transcripts of <a href="https://archivesoralhistories.csusm.edu/collections/show/5">audio and video files</a> are also available as part of those video files. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Sheikh-Arvizu, Sara. Interview transcript March 30, 2023. Description An account of the resource Sara Sheikh-Arvizu was Assistant Director of the Cross-Cultural Center at California State University San Marcos from 2008 to 2011. In this interview, Sara discusses her roles at CSUSM and the various programs she initiated or facilitated. Sara also briefly discusses her current work with Orange County Human Relations. This oral history was made possible in collaboration with the Cross-Cultural Center and with generous funding from the Instructionally Related Activities fund. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Sara Sheikh-Arvizu Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Michael De Maria Aaron Williams Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2023-03-30 Subject The topic of the resource California State University San Marcos. Cross-Cultural Center Chapman University Civil rights Education, Higher LGBTQ+ activism LGBTQ+ life Orange County Human Relations Commission (Orange County, Calif.) Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Orange County (Calif.) San Marcos (Calif.) Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available California State University San Marcos University Library Language A language of the resource English Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource https://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en Rights Holder A person or organization owning or managing rights over the resource. Sara Sheikh-Arvizu License A legal document giving official permission to do something with the resource. <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context Shiekh-ArvizuSara_DeMariaMichael_2023-03-30 Activists and activism Cross-Cultural Center oral history project CSUSM history LGBTQIA+ experience Women's experience https://archivesoralhistories.csusm.edu/files/original/694828807984d331d6d9c34d9ef41c55.mp3 b0e3053193e3e877f17a5c3dfe7d6e7a Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Spackman, Amy. Interview February 23, 2017. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Amy Spackman Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Judith Downie Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available California State University San Marcos University Library Language A language of the resource English Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="https://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en" target="_blank" rel="noopener">In copyright.</a> Rights Holder A person or organization owning or managing rights over the resource. California State University San Marcos License A legal document giving official permission to do something with the resource. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource sound Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context SC027-066 Is Part Of A related resource in which the described resource is physically or logically included. community history Description An account of the resource Amy Spackman began working in the tasting room at Mission Brewing in San Diego after switching careers from being a preschool teacher. In this interview she discusses her experience breaking into the San Diego craft brewing industry, her continuing education, and what it is like to be one of few women in the industry. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2017-02-17 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant San Diego (Calif.) El Cajon (Calif.) Subject The topic of the resource Brewing industry -- California -- History Microbreweries -- California -- San Diego County Brewchive(r) Community history Women's experience Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Oral Histories Description An account of the resource Video and audio oral histories can be viewed here. Histories are listed alphabetically by last name. Individual histories are indexed and transcribed and can be searched. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available California State University San Marcos University Library Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <p>Rights to oral histories vary depending on the history. The library owns the copyright to some histories, and has license to reproduce for nonprofit purposes for others. Please contact CSUSM University Library Special Collections at <a href="mailto:%20archives@csusm.edu">archives@csusm.edu</a> with any questions about use.</p> Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Interviewer The person(s) performing the interview Judith Downie Interviewee The person(s) being interviewed Amy Spackman OHMS Object This field contains the OHMS Hyperlink (link to the XML file within the OHMS Viewer) https://archivesoralhistories.csusm.edu/ohms-viewer/render.php?cachefile=SpackmanAmy_DownieJudith_2017-02-13.xml Interview Keyword This filed adds keywords to the Omeka Oral History item type. Keywords are included in the OHMS XML, this field in Omeka will allow for full data migration between OHMS XML and the Omeka Record. This field does not impact the OHMS / Omeka integration and is optional if you do not need to map the "keywords" field in the OHMS XML to the corresponding Omeka record. San Diego brewing;women in brewing;Mission Brewing;brewing industry;craft brewing OHMS Object Text This field contains the OHMS Index and / or Transcript and is what makes the contents of the OHMS object searchable in Omeka 6.0 Spackman, Amy. Interview February 23, 2017. SC027-066 00:00:00 SC027 California State University San Marcos University Library oral history collection CSUSM csusm San Diego brewing ; women in brewing ; Mission Brewing ; brewing industry ; craft brewing Amy Spackman Judith Downie sound SpackmanAmy_DownieJudith_2017-02-13.mp3 0 https://archivesoralhistories.csusm.edu/files/original/694828807984d331d6d9c34d9ef41c55.mp3 Other audio Oral history Amy Spackman began working in the tasting room at Mission Brewing in San Diego after switching careers from being a preschool teacher. In this interview she discusses her experience breaking into the San Diego craft brewing industry, her continuing education, and what it is like to be one of few women in the industry. NOTE TRANSCRIPTION BEGIN 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:33.000 This is Judith Downie, oral historian for California State University, San Marcos, on February 23rd, 2017, collecting an oral interview from Amy Spackman of Mission Brewing, and she has signed the authorization documents and has been given a copy of the authorization, and we will now be starting the history. (Unintelligible) These are just some sample questions here. You definitely don't have to answer these questions. You can riff off in any direction that you want. 00:00:33.000 --> 00:01:29.000 Cool. All right. So, my name is Amy Spackman, I live in National City and yes, I am over twenty-one. Thankfully. All right. (Unintelligible). Okay, good. So pretty much how I got started working with beer, I taught preschool for seven years and got really burnt being in the field. It was something I was really passionate about before, and then it just wasn't really doing it for me any longer. And I didn't feel that it was something fulfilling. And I was looking at, you know, I'm in my early mid-twenties, what am I going to do to change that? I didn't want to become my dad that is counting down until Friday and when the weekend is and dreading that and bringing on that negativity so early on. So I decided to just quit, essentially. My director was really supportive of it. 00:01:29.000 --> 00:02:28.000 I told him, I said, this just isn't working out anymore, and I need to do something that's more authentic. And, it was an interesting couple of months of searching, honestly. I found out that coffee wasn't what I wanted to do. That wasn't a big enough passion. Even though it's a serious love, but beer was always something, and jokingly, the kids kind of drove me to drink beer all the time, and I was spending more and more time kind of nerding out on those things and collecting bottles with my husband. And it just dawned on me, why not try to work in beer? It’s San Diego, It's--why not? So, just kind of randomly set out some emails, and I was hoping, you know, am I gonna be taken seriously, I’m a teacher? What are they going to see as a value for me coming from preschool that's already viewed as a daycare. How is that going to apply into a brewery? So that was a really scary thing, honestly. I didn't know what was going to happen, if anything was going to happen, am I wasting my time? 00:02:28.000 --> 00:03:37.000 And then I got a response back from Twisted Manzanita in Santee, which bless their hearts at the time for bringing me on, for giving me the chance to jump over and seeing that as a teacher coming into beer, I had organization and things of the sort. And so I did some office work for them and then somehow just drifted into the tasting room, due to people not showing up for shifts and had no formal training whatsoever on anything. I didn't know how to change a keg. I didn't know how to, I hadn't worked cash register since my first job when I was in high school. I hadn't done any of these things and it was just, you were thrown out and the brewers really taught me everything. And I think that was one of the biggest things I loved about beer was that no one treated you like you were lesser because you didn't know. And it was always a learning opportunity, and ever since I started at that particular brewery, it was always something I was learning new every single day. And I thought that was the coolest thing that it was a community and that you were all in it together, even if the particular place wasn't the greatest. 00:03:37.000 --> 00:04:54.000 They've now since gone under, which is no surprise, but finding Mission was one of the best things because I had gone out into that job search again. I thought, oh God, you know, was this a reputable enough brewery? Am I gonna be able to get somewhere else? What am I going to do? And thankfully Mission just really just popped up, and it's extremely close to the house. And there were so many opportunities presented early on. I really connected with the staff right away, which was really cool to see such warmth. So now I do tours, which back to the teacher thing, you know, managing crowds, being organized, timely, things of the sort that was really helpful. And so that was nice to bring those skills over into that side. So I do tours here, I bartend, and I am also in charge of our merchandise. So that's been really fun to have a variance in the schedule and also be so close to the house and be with this--Mission (Brewery) I kind of consider it my extended family. I'm here all the time, all the time, and everyone is really sweet. And again, if I don't know something I'm not afraid to go ask another brewer or one of the supervisors of another department that I don't know something about, and they're more than happy to teach me. 00:04:54.000 --> 00:05:48.000 And I think that's the coolest thing, is again, that community furthered. It's a little daunting sometimes being, going from a woman-dominated field to the opposite. That was an interesting change being like I'm one of two, but here at Mission, we have so many. Our offices probably got five or six women that work in there. We've got three female bartenders, no female brewers at this point, but it's just really cool to have that element going on. And I think that's just really cool. But it, it can be kind of daunting to prove yourself that, you know, beer is a passion rather than the aesthetics behind the bar pouring a beer for somebody that doesn't quite understand that you know about beer. So that's why I've really been interested in continuing school. 00:05:48.000 --> 00:06:38.000 So I've been enrolled in the San Diego State (University) Business of Craft Beer program, finishing up my last class for the level one certification in May. And then I'm gonna take a break for baseball season, because that's a busy season for us and then go back probably in the fall to finish up my level two. And then I just judged my first beer competition, which was really scary and daunting at AleSmith (Brewing Company). And it was a really cool learning experience. I'm looking more into getting BJCP (Beer Judge Certification Program) certified and studying for my Cicerone test, hopefully in December to take that. So there's really no end all in my goal for where I want to go with beer, honestly. It's more, I like having my fingers in different pots ’cause it keeps it--there's variety, and I like that. I feel like you'd never know everything, and that's the coolest thing. 00:06:38.000 --> 00:07:28.000 I don't know anything about brewing. I'd be super excited to learn more about that. But yeah, the whole reason behind going to school is because it was something I was passionate about and because it was cool to finally learn something that was exciting. And again, you’d never know everything, and I've just wanted to get every beer book, read it all. I love obviously going out and drinking lots of beers at different places and every brewery has its own element. It's just a different family at each place, and I think that's the coolest, and for the most part, I feel like San Diego breweries are a big family and we all support each other in various ways, whether it's by sharing ingredients or sharing ideas, or just acknowledging that you do the same work. I think that's just the coolest thing. Um, yeah. 00:07:28.000 --> 00:07:31.000 How many years have you been here at Mission? 00:07:31.000 --> 00:07:49.000 Sunday will be my one year. So probably two years in beer now, coming up on two, which doesn't, it's really nothing. There's lots of people here that started real, way earlier on. So it's, it's been cool to jump into the school side of things to kind of make up for the lost time but it's been, it's been fun. 00:07:49.000 --> 00:08:25.000 And the involvement with the Pink Boots Society has been really exciting to collaborate with other women as well and learn about scholarship opportunities and network and support each other. I think that's a really fun organization. We just had a meeting last night, and it was, it was exciting. Big fan. It's neat to see the full circle of women coming back into beer, more in the spotlight from historical times to now that it's coming back around. And I think that's really cool. 00:08:25.000 --> 00:08:35.000 Okay. So considering your, your educational process right now, it looks like you're planning on being in beer for a long time. 00:08:35.000 --> 00:08:42.000 Yeah, I, I can't see myself leaving the industry honestly. It's not an option at this point. 00:08:42.000 --> 00:08:58.000 Well let me go back to Twisted Manzanita. Since you did work there for a little bit, did they have any women working there with brewers? I mean, since they're gone, it's kind of like, you know, to piece in a little bit of missing history here. 00:08:58.000 --> 00:09:51.000 There were no female brewers at Manzanita. There was a woman that ran the packaging line. Maybe one that volunteered once in a while on a very informal basis. And aside from our HR lady, that was really it. And one or two female bartenders, but they were just there to have a job. There was really no love kind of showing for beer. It was just more of a, uh, it was just definitely a job for them. And for me, I really liked to connect in with that early on with the customers being like, oh, well, what do you like to drink? Well, let me show you, let me teach you about this style. Let me show you that IPAs aren't scary. Let me show you that dark beers aren't scary. It was, it was cool. But yeah, Manzanita, there was no women there whatsoever. 00:09:51.000 --> 00:10:14.000 Let me think here for a minute, there was something on the tip, the tip of the skull and it's gone. Other than Pink Boots, do you see any formal or informal networking for the women in, in beer in San Diego? 00:10:14.000 --> 00:11:12.000 Pink Boots is kind of the main one. Um, I want to say, and I could be wrong on this. I know inside QUAFF (Quality Ale & Fermentation Society), the homebrewer society, I want to say there's one called Suds that's for women, but I haven't broken into the home brew community myself. So I'm, I'm really unsure on that, but that's something that I'd like to explore, but in order to brew, there's lots of there are home brew, um, there's lots of things that need to happen first. Like making space in our house and having an entire day off to make the beer for the first time. But I don't know if I'd ever want to open my own brewery, honestly. Once my husband gets out of the military, we're looking at, you know, making beer more frequently, ‘cause he'd have more time, but at the point of San Diego’s saturation with breweries, I don't know if I would be bold enough to believe that our short term home brewing would be good enough to open a place. 00:11:12.000 --> 00:11:15.000 So does, does your husband brew? 00:11:15.000 --> 00:11:31.000 We are gonna, we have the beginnings of a, of a brew system, but we haven't done it yet. Um, it's ready to go just when both of us have the same day off and an eight-hour chunk of time, which, it's been awhile. 00:11:31.000 --> 00:11:46.000 Oh yeah. Martin at Quantum (Brewing) invited me to come down ‘cause I met him and I said, I don’t really, I don’t understand the brewing process. What’s actually entailed. So he said, come on down one morning when I’m brewing. And I went down and I was just like, oh, this is a lot more than I thought. 00:11:46.000 --> 00:11:56.000 The homebrewing element, that’s a little scary. I can watch the guys do it all day, and I get the gist of it. But as far as making it actually happen in the kitchen, that's a little more frightening. 00:11:56.000 --> 00:12:08.000 It seemed like there was a lot of watching temperatures and a lot more carefulness to it than I would have thought because of just my lack of knowledge about the brewing process. 00:12:08.000 --> 00:12:42.000 Much more science oriented, much more math, which the two of those things are not my strong points. Which is why I'm letting everyone else brew. I’ll help you name a beer. I'll do more of the artsy side of things. But one of my favorite things, though, about brewing here, watching them at least, is coming in and the smell of the brewery. It's the most beautiful smell. Nothing bad can happen to you when that smell is going on. It's, it's just magical. Love that. That's my favorite. 00:12:42.000 --> 00:13:22.000 And then as far as any mentors, like I said, pretty much everybody in all different departments have, I mean, whether it's been at Manzanita or at Mission, everyone's been so great extending a hand or explaining what their positions are, like, how to overcome something that's challenging or encouraging you to continue on with school. There's, it's just kind of been a work of everybody. And I think that's really nice to be around, such a supportive, positive environment. And even on the worst day, it's beer at the end of the day. And just kinda reminds me to really appreciate what we're doing. 00:13:22.000 --> 00:13:43.000 Okay. I remembered the question I had. You mentioned QUAFF and not breaking into that yet. So from your perspective, do you see not an adversarial position, but a division between QUAFF as a home brewer group and you know, the more professional, professionally-focused groups? 00:13:43.000 --> 00:14:07.000 I mean, there's definitely a lot of professionals are in QUAFF. I want to say, I think it's Jeff (Wiederkehr) from Burning Beard he's in that as well. So a lot of the pro brewers are in QUAFF as well, kind of supporting the people starting out in their kitchens and things of the sort. So again, all comes back to that support system. 00:14:07.000 --> 00:14:18.000 Because I haven't reached out to QUAFF yet. I mean, I've seen, uh, Sheldon Kaplan's SUDS documentary (SUDS COUNTY, USA) where he relies a lot on QUAFF members. 00:14:18.000 --> 00:14:19.000 Okay. 00:14:19.000 --> 00:15:20.000 Because that was done in 2000, I can't remember the exact date, but it was really kind of before a lot of the commercial breweries opened up. So he didn't have a huge body of those people to go to, although he did interview Peter (Zien) and Skip (Virgilio) and a lot of the other, the other originals, the long-termers, but he didn't, he didn't get to the newer people. And I'm, I will say I'm really thrilled to see the Mission name, because when I came to Pink Boots, and I talked about Katherine Zitt, poor woman, her unfortunate name, um, her husband did own Mission Brewing for a while. Interesting. And, of course, that was all pre-prohibition, but he did have San Diego Consolidated and Mission, he purchased later, but it was always with a group of investors. So he wasn't the solo owner, but you know, I'm like, “Oh good. You know, this ties back to Kate and you know, my pre-prohibition brewing.” 00:15:20.000 --> 00:16:10.000 It's really cool. Um, I've always been kind of a nerd for history, honestly. Um, I think it's just really cool, and being born and raised in San Diego, it's, it's really neat to be a part of one of the originals, um, and be able to explain that it's one of my, when I give our tours, that's one of my favorite parts to explain that to people, um, besides the brewing process, it's the history and how it came back. And, um, it's just cool that it's, it's still in existence. And, um, every customer has been just in awe that the name’s, you know, been revived and the building is really cool. Everyone thinks that's where we are over off of Washington. We're not. And it's cool to say we haven't been in that space since 1919 ‘cause prohibition. And, um, it's just really cool. It's, it's neat that both these buildings are still standing, um, and haven't been smushed over for condos or a stadium— 00:16:10.000 --> 00:16:32.000 It would be wonderful if Mission could get back to the original building. That would be really, really cool because so many of our buildings are gone. It's, it's real sad. And so for me, as a historian, to see things like that gone, I get real, there's goes another piece of our history. Now, have you looked at the BEERology exhibit at the Museum of Man? What did you think of that? 00:16:32.000 --> 00:17:51.000 Yeah. Um, I thought it was a little small, um, but small is not always bad. Uh, I felt like there was a lot of things that kind of were left out. I mean, especially could have been more of an ode to modern day, um, beer and, um, I just, I feel like it could have been a lot more, uh, female centered for sure. Um, it was just, it was, it was a neat exhibit. I think it's really a, it's a really good start. Um, I feel like there's a lot more to go and always things to add, um, especially for how long beer has been around and how many, I mean, I, I feel like it did a really good job showcasing the different cultural varieties of traditional beers, but there's a lot more that could have been added to that, and beer’s everywhere, um, on, in all different countries. And, and I feel like it kind of only focused on, um, more Latin America and their influence in making beer. I would've liked to see more European influence of, you know, the alewives and things. Um, and yeah, again, more, more modern acknowledgements to San Diego’s roots, since it is featured at a San Diego museum. 00:17:51.000 --> 00:18:52.000 Have you ever been to the San Diego History Center and looked at their (exhibit) ‘cause they actually did an exhibit in 2013 on craft beer, or beer brewing, in San Diego. Their remnants of the online exhibit are still up there. Cool. But I've actually been into the materials because Jane Connelly, the archivist there has kind of kept everything. Those are the materials I've been mining for information about the women in San Diego beer, because there's really not much of anything else. And in the San Diego History Journal, which is available for free online, um, Ernie Liwag has written a couple of articles. The second one was really kind of a recap of his first, but it did have a little bit more information, but it's interesting because he doesn't mention women. It's just, you know, he does talk about Mission. He does talk about, you know, brewing and the effect of prohibition and stuff, but, uh, yeah, it's uh, so that's, that's real fun to, to mine that for interesting things. 00:18:52.000 --> 00:20:24.000 And then of course that's part of what we want to do with the Brewchive is save the history of what's going on in San Diego brewing and North County, including North County working with the San Diego region. But of course, with my focus on women's history, I'm like, you know, “I got to get the women,” because right now with what I'm running across with Kate is she's almost never mentioned anywhere. And she's not mentioned really in connection with San Diego Consolidated Brewing, except for once or twice in the newspaper when J. Henry her husband would be mentioned. And then, yeah. And, or, and of course he was always Mrs. J H Zitt in all the society pages and stuff, but what little prison she even had there. But I was looking to see, um, if there was any reaction to prohibition or to the temperance movement or anything, because as a woman, she would have been in women's groups. She was very active evidently in the floral society. And she's going to be running into women who are not going to approve of her husband's source of income, and the died childless. So probably any papers they had are gone. Yeah. I'm kind of hitting a brick wall on developing anymore about her, but it's been real interesting because absence says so much as well as presence. Yeah. So, yeah, but I'm just determined to not let our women now escape from us, you know that's, that's gotta be recorded. 00:20:24.000 --> 00:21:25.000 That's really cool. Uh, like one other thing I thought of, um, is with that career change, going from preschool to beer, um, it was really hard convincing some of the older members of my family, um, that it's a reputable industry, that it is really such a big impact in San Diego, that San Diego is very notable for their beer. Um, the west coast in general is notable for their beer, and I'm not going into a career that's just willy nilly. I'm not partying all the time, though that happens. Uh, it's trying to show those that wonder why you would abandon something reputable, as teaching, and go off into this. Um, that's been kind of a struggle to show that. So I think that's kind of my push for so much extra school, um, is to show the people that just assume, “Oh, you're, you know, you just haven't figured it out yet. You're just doing a job like this to tide you over, and you're just pouring beer,” and it's, it's bigger than that. 00:21:25.000 --> 00:22:11.000 And I think that's a really interesting point to bring up is the family support and the, the exterior perception of what the beer, the beer industry is like, the beer community is like, and you, especially as a woman in this beer situation. So thank you for bringing that up because that is not something I would have thought about. Um, so that brings me another question that I can add to my list. You know, what, what is your family or, you know, what kind of, not just your in-the-industry mentors, but what kind of support or reaction have you gotten from those around you that you love and interact with outside of the beer? 00:22:11.000 --> 00:22:55.000 I feel like now it's, um, now that it's been a while and they see how much school has gone through and, um, all the resources when they come over, I've got books all over the coffee table. I think they respect it a lot more now. And it's, it's been really cool to bring in family, um, to show them the facility and, and explain, uh, veer a little more in depth, or to bring a beer out to my parents, they typically don't drink beer, or if they do it's, it's not that stellar. Um, it's, it's been really fun to introduce them to that. And I think people get it now. Um, and I think they see that it really lights me up, and I'm just really into it. Um, so that's been, that's always exciting. So anytime I get a chance to show something new at, the brewery, I'm like, “Oh good.” 00:22:55.000 --> 00:23:43.000 You know, or “I can teach you about this beer. I can invite you to a bottle share at our house,” um, which we love to host. Uh, we have so many beers that we cellar, uh, we're needing a second and maybe a third refrigerator, um, ‘cause we have so many. And it's just fun to share that with people or, um, when super like, “oh, it's beer’s gross,” or “I don't like beer.” That's my favorite person to talk to. It's like, “Well, do you like coffee? Do you like chocolate? Then you'll probably like a stout.” And finding the parallels between food and beer has been cool. Um, it's made me want to start cooking, which that's amazing and cooking with beers is really fun. Um, it's, it's cool to find a really neat, uh, like smoked Schwarzbier and marinate a tri tip in it and then make that. 00:23:43.000 --> 00:25:05.000 And my husband's like, “Wow, when did this happen?” And like, it's weird. Um, it motivates me to do things. Um, but, uh, one other thing I think is cool is that, um, the breweries are expanding down into South Bay. Um, we recently purchased a house about like four years ago and being in National City in an area that was kind of a beer free zone, it's really neat to see breweries start to creep down in there. Um, Machete Alehouse (Beer House) is I think it's Ale House is the rest of their name. Um, but it's a husband and wife that own it. And she's the sweetest she's always really, um, great, um, always really welcoming of women coming in. And it's so neat to see it pushing into South Bay into communities, like you said, that don't necessarily, um, reach out for craft beer. Um, that a lot of the, my neighbors, you know, to their bits kind of go into the liquor store, and they'll buy like a forty pack of Natty Ice for $4, when they wonder, “Why would you spend eight bucks on a 22 ounce of beer?” Um, and it's, it's cool to expose them to that, um, and be like, “Hey, this is, you know, this is an offering at your liquor store next to you, try this out” And then, you know, maybe they'll get into the community more as well and kind of find some advancement. But it's, it's great to see it pushing into National City now. 00:25:05.000 --> 00:25:20.000 Do you think National City is, um, because of the economic basis or was National City just not legislated for breweries? I know that's something that winds up having to be done in every single city. 00:25:20.000 --> 00:25:46.000 I know Chula Vista was a lot more welcoming to the breweries coming in, um, National City with it. Um, when I was a kid, there was lots of crime. Um, it's slowly kind of fading out now. So I don't, I, it could be a factor of that. Um, of seeing breweries is more of an invitation for those activities to go on. But, um, it could be a city thing. It could be, I don’t know. 00:25:46.000 --> 00:26:45.000 I mean, I can see a business person looking at that saying, you know, looking at the demographics, looking at the income level, looking at the legis—the rules and regs that the city has passed, you know. Is it a welcoming climate or not? Because you know, up in North County, I've been watching Indian Joe, I drive past Indian Joe every single day. And he's had his Coming Soon sign up now for a year? Or better? And, you know, and yet other breweries in Vista have seem to be opening up. So it's like, is it just he's had problems or is just, uh, did these other breweries that opened up--have they been in the process as long, but just not as visible as a big, giant sign on a building right next to Highway 78? Yeah. So I actually, one of our faculty members knows, um, the owner, and she goes, “Oh, and as soon as he's opened, you know, we'll go there and have a beer,” and I'm thinking, “Great, ‘cause I would love to pick his brain and see what's going on. 00:26:45.000 --> 00:28:35.000 But I know that Vista was very welcoming to a winery that was in Oceanside and then they moved into Vista and then they kind of collapsed and fell apart through no fault of the cities. But they did struggle a little bit with getting it there, even though Vista was supporting them to move in. It was like once they started trying to actually go through the process, it wasn't all that simple. And so, and I know the SUDS documentary there is mentioned in there. I think it was Skip Virgilio. But I'm not, I could be wrong, was saying how, when he went to get licenses or no, it was Chris Kramer of Karl Strauss. He said, “When we went to get licensed, you know, the city didn't know what to do with us. And we said well, what's Alpine doing or whoever it was?” And they didn't know that because nobody had ever gone to get a license. And so that kind of showed that, and of course, Chris didn't mean to expose somebody else, but he just said, “Well, you've got one open. Why can't we do the same model?” It turned out there was no model because the others hadn’t followed the process. So yeah, the legislation and all that is always real tricky and something of interest to me because I also, um, we're a government documents depository, so I kind of like that whole legal issue thing and the constraints that our government puts on us many times probably for our own good, but in other ways it really stifles things. But then, um, there was another question I had. Generally with an oral history, I'm just supposed to let you talk, but it's like, okay. You know, questions are coming up. And I can certainly ask and, um, oh, the Cicerone. Tell me about that process please. 00:28:35.000 --> 00:30:56.000 Oh man. So I believe the, uh, well, the whole process of Cicerone in the beginning is the certified beer server, which, um, a lot of breweries require you to have. Manzanita was encouraging and paid for it. Um, all of the $80 that it was. Um, but it was just general beer keeping, um, basic stuff. Um, I feel like that should be a requirement for all servers to know, um, which most places will require it, but I think it's just great knowledge. Um, so that's the level one. It's a recognized level and it's kind of not um, and then the next level is Certified Cicerone, and that's when you can officially call yourself a Cicerone. Um, once you pass that test, it's about 400 bucks and I believe there's a written component, a tasting, and a practical. Uh, one of our girls here just took her test, um, for the second time, and, um, it's a lot of studying independently. Um, you have to learn about hop flavors. Um, there's a syllabus outlined online, about what is, could possibly be on the test. Um, but it's really intense. I have had a couple of friends take it, uh, mixed, mixed reviews on how they did. Um, but, and then the next level is advanced Cicerone, I believe, uh, which is cool. One of my, uh, girlfriends, uh, over at Modern Times, she's the only Advanced Cicerone in southern California as a female, uh, which I think is really cool. Um, and then up from there is Master, and that's the highest level that you can go. So a Cicerone is kind of the equivalent of a Som (sommelier) for beer world. Um, but, uh, yeah, that's definitely something I want to, to go with. Uh, just studying independently sometimes goes better than expected or not expected. Um, all, I think I'm going to try to take it once I get out of the SDSU program. Um, so I feel like I'll have a, at least a general gist to refer back on to supplement any extra readings I've done. Um, cause I'll remember it back from a class. So that's kinda what I'm waiting for, but yeah, Cicerone is definitely something that's in the sights for sure. Um, and once I attain Cicerone, I'd be interested in going on to the other levels as well, because like I said, you never know everything, and there's so much about beer, there there's so many different avenues that you can go down and, um, you just you'll never know it all. And that's the coolest thing. 00:30:56.000 --> 00:31:35.000 And then you also mentioned, you know, cooking with beer and things like that. Um, something I've seen that I find very interesting is the, um, the tie of food trucks to tasting rooms and breweries. I mean, I realize it's a symbiotic relationship and the fact that the food trucks have to go get that health license because that's a whole different thing than what the breweries have to do. But, um, do you see that continuing, do you think that maybe it's more breweries are going to be going into opening their own eating establishments? 00:31:35.000 --> 00:32:45.000 Um, I mean, I know for us, everyone assumes because we're so large that we have a kitchen and there's also The Mission around the corner that serves the pancakes that everyone confuses us with. Um, and I have to explain to the customers, no, we're not the pancake place that's around the corner. Um, were the breweries having food trucks, a lot of it's, uh, licensing, um, that they can have a kitchen or there's not enough space. And it already is so costly to open a facility that extra kitchen staff and, um, again, all the regulations for health codes that would add a burden to people. Uh, so I think it's really cool to have the variety of food trucks and again, um, extend the community of support to, you know, expose another local business, to help out and partner up. Um, and also for the safety of the customer as being able to eat some food after they've had a few drinks and, um, hopefully manage themselves safely and accordingly. Um, it's always cool when there is a food truck at a brewery and you didn't expect it, or it's one of your favorite ones and you’re hanging out at the breweries a lot, you really get to know the owners of the food trucks and it's, it's kind of a fun relationship to follow them and support their journey as well. 00:32:45.000 --> 00:33:04.000 Yeah, I've noticed on some of the websites, they'll actually have the schedule of which food trucks are coming, and they'll actually say, “We're going to be brewing this, which we'll go with the food on that truck that day,” which I think is really wonderful. I've also met, um, I've talked to Johna (Richards) and met Tony of So Rich chocolates. Oh yeah. That chocolate. Oh my gosh. 00:33:04.000 --> 00:33:10.000 They’re my favorite chocolatier ever. 00:33:10.000 --> 00:33:25.000 Oh, I had to email them cause I, I was at the Craft Beer Expo in Sacramento and I did, um, Dr. Bill's wine—or beer and chocolate tasting at 9:00 AM on a Saturday morning. And I was just like, “Really 9:00 a.m. beer.” 00:33:25.000 --> 00:33:28.000 Sounds perfect to me. Sounds a little late for me, honestly. 00:33:28.000 --> 00:34:17.000 Then you mentioned, you know, that they were in Vista and I was like, perfect. So, yeah. And I find that interesting that they've tied themselves and it's actually, it's funny because now that I think about it several years ago, um, I knit, and Thursday nights to get together with my knitting group. And there was one woman in there whose daughter was making cupcakes with beer and taking them in to a brewery up in North County. I won't say who, because that was probably highly illegal because it was just, you know, home baked beer-infused cupcakes, and everybody was just raving about them and stuff. And I know her daughter didn't continue to pursue that line, but I was like that, you know, that certainly seems like something that you could do because up here, all these breweries popping up, you know, you can start doing, you know, baked goods with beer. 00:34:17.000 --> 00:34:58.000 I love, uh, making, uh, the stout cupcakes. And again, back to I'd rather bake than cook. Um, but I was choosing a different beer every time I made it to see how it tasted and how it changed it. And then obviously keeping a beer for myself ‘cause I was realizing I was shorting the recipe because I was drinking it in the process of convincing myself to bake. Um, but that's fun, but I mean I'll bake, uh, treats with beer from the brewery and bring it to, um, the employees. Um, just as a thank you for all the kindness and yeah, Fall (Brewing Company?) has been requesting some more cookies from me. Um, I just heard from them last night. 00:34:58.000 --> 00:36:00.000 But yeah, actually, um, for one I also hike and one Friday, if we hike on Friday nights, we wind up at one of the local breweries. We were at Rip Current or whatever. And I brought chocolate cupcakes with chocolate coffee frosting, and everybody was raving about how good they were with the beer. And I had not even thought about it. It was just like, yeah, we want to celebrate Ken's birthday, and I'll bring him some cupcakes because he's a single older man that I know doesn’t bake, you know, and I just wanted to do something besides chocolate, although chocolate is always good. So I threw the coffee, instant coffee in there, and it was just perfect with the beers that they were drinking. I'm a very lightweight beer drinker. I don't, I think it's something that you have to work yourself up to. And when I was in Sacramento, um, I did get introduced to fruits sours, which were, you know, I was like, "Oh, okay. I can, I can do this.” It's not real overly coffee flavored or burnt flavored or hoppy or anything like that. 00:36:00.000 --> 00:36:11.000 Sours are kind of my final frontier of, of beer. Um, my first love was stouts because I drank an obscene amount of coffee because of the preschool. Um, and that was just, I could— 00:36:11.000 --> 00:36:15.000 That seems like a real parallel level of a strength. 00:36:15.000 --> 00:36:59.000 Definitely. Um, and I could, I mean, I just, I love stouts. Um, I can drink a stout when it's a hundred degrees in July, and it's just what my most favorite style. I always default to it if I can't figure out what I want on the board and that's what I go for. Um, and then IPAs were a slow venture in, um, and with working in beer, presenting beer to new people that don't drink it all the time or they're intimidated by it. Um, I thought in order to like craft beer in the beginning that you had to love IPAs and the friends of mine that were presenting these beers to me, they were so aggressive and so intense that looking at, if I were to give that same beer to somebody new, there'd be no way. Um, and I think that's why I shunned IPAs until I finally zeroed in on what are my favorite hops? 00:36:59.000 --> 00:37:57.000 Um, why do I like this? Can I drink more than just a sip or two of this beer? And thus it went forward, but sours, I'm still trying to keep an open mind on, um, uh, try not to shut out. It's a slow process, but, um, yeah. And then the beer and cheese, that changed my life. Um, I thought I didn't like cheese until I had it with beer at Dr. Bill's class and now I go into a fromagerie, and I just, I spend all kinds of money and it's not so much that I'm pairing up the beers with the cheeses, but it just complements it so well. And, uh, we led, uh, or I led a beer and cheese pairing here with Smallgoods from La Jolla, it's husband and wife who own it. And that was really fun to see the parallels between beer and cheese and explain that to and make it accessible. And why is this beer grade? And, um, she was able to bring the cheese side of things, which I'm still lost on, but, um, it's opened up a box for me. 00:37:57.000 --> 00:38:17.000 It sounds almost like you could very easily find yourself in, again, kind of going back to your educational background, into tastings and marketing and you know, a more formalized education environment with beers, you know, kind of like what Dr. Bill or, you know— 00:38:17.000 --> 00:38:42.000 Yeah. I would love to teach. Um, I'm back when I was with the preschool, I always thought about teaching a children's literature class someday, um, just for fun. And, uh, once I get way more school to be considered anything reputable, um, I'd be interested in maybe doing something like that, even if it was just a community college level or just a workshop that, you know, we offered here. I think that'd be fun. 00:38:42.000 --> 00:38:44.000 Children’s books and beer. 00:38:44.000 --> 00:39:57.000 Um, I, yoga is a hobby of mine and, um, as I'm teaching my girlfriends, I say that you can either pay me in beer or you can enter a competition. And if it's a beer that I haven't had, you get an extra entry credit. Um, but I'm, I call myself the Craft Yogi and, uh, it's just the whole thing is we do yoga and then we will get a beer afterwards, which seems to be, um, I know there's lots of other females running the same kind of thing with the hobby yoga, and can't think of any other ones, but we just hosted one the other evening, but it's, it's great. Anything you can do to get women to drink beer. Um, so I feel like it's also a stigma of women don't drink beer. And if you are the only girl that orders a beer out with your girlfriends, everyone looks at you and I'm just used to it now, honestly. Um, and used to their, their faces of distaste when they try it and they can drink their fruity cocktails and their white Zin with ice cubes in it, um, I’ll just go ahead and drink my, my beers and be happy with that. Um it's but yeah, I've, I feel like it is a stigma for beer-drinking women, but I'm into it. Those are the kinds of ladies I want to know. 00:39:57.000 --> 00:40:04.000 You're breaking the barriers. The stereotypes have got to come down at some point. 00:40:04.000 --> 00:41:01.000 Definitely. Yeah, yeah. And I, I think too, um, with that it's, I mean, I've at this point in my life, maybe because of the teaching, I have no desire to have kids, um, because I spent so long with other people's kids, but I also feel like that's something that would be, um, an obstacle to overcome being a female in the beer industry is it's kind of frowned upon. I feel like, uh, as a girlfriend of mine was, uh, pregnant when she was bartending at a spot here in San Diego and, as she, her belly was getting larger, people were kind of looking at her like, “Oh, you're the pregnant bartender,” like. “That's classy.” And so there's a whole stigma with that too, of how people view you and is, is that appropriate and all this crap. And I just don't want to deal with that, honestly. Um, but I, I feel like one, I couldn't give up beer for that long do this is I don't want to take a break, um, on a career that's like finally getting going that to pause and have a family. That's, that's not quite my interest. 00:41:01.000 --> 00:41:41.000 Well, you sound confident. That's what matters. Yeah, no, um, no, I, I can see the, the, the impression people might have of a pregnant woman working around alcohol. That, that right there, because we've spent so many years talking about fetal alcohol syndrome and everything else. And then, you know, unfortunately there is still the, the low-class cache about for a lot of people, even though when they come into someplace like this and, you know, it's like, “Get over it.” 00:41:41.000 --> 00:42:08.000 Definitely. Um, or I mean, stigmas of even bringing kids to a brewery. Uh, I think even though I, I don't necessarily want children as part of my family at this particular moment in my life. Um, I think it's, you can't shun out the rest of the community that, you know, they're, they like beer just as much as they did before they had kids and you need to offer an environment for the families to come and, um, make alcohol kind of less of a, uh, I mean— 00:42:08.000 --> 00:42:10.000 Almost elicit. 00:42:10.000 --> 00:42:41.000 Um, I, I look at European countries, and it's, it's so accepted. Um, and it's, if you make it a big thing, it's gonna to be a big thing. And I feel like if children are responsibly, you know, can see their parents responsibly enjoying, um, a beverage at dinner or something in the store. Um, they're going to have a, a less kind of inclination to go crazy when they get older. Um, because it's, it's just treated as something normal. And, um, I feel like a lot of the breweries that shun out the kids. Um— 00:42:41.000 --> 00:42:48.000 Well, are there any, uh, regulations against children being in a tasting room or a brewery? 00:42:48.000 --> 00:43:55.000 I know if you obviously have a full, um, liquor license, then you can't, um, there's a bar nearby that had an encounter with a family that didn't understand that, that you can't have babies around hard alcohol, um, at that particular place, um, some places will say, you know, after eight, you can't have any minors. Um, which I think is responsible. Cause adults still need their place to go and get away from kids. Um, there's one right now, but, um, yeah, I, I think there's a time and a place to bring the kids to brew, but I feel like it also needs to be a welcoming environment at the same time and not make the parents feel like they did something wrong because they came in to fill a growler and happened to have a baby on their arm. ‘Cause they're taking it to go. And it just, I don't know, but I feel like that's more of an individual brewery basis on their decision. Um here at Mission we're dog and kid friendly, um, over and beyond, we've got coloring pages for kids and games and um, we host lots of dog events here. It's they're all part of your family. So. 00:43:55.000 --> 00:43:57.000 You need cat events. 00:43:57.000 --> 00:44:01.000 Bring them in. That’d be cool. 00:44:01.000 --> 00:44:40.000 Oh yeah, she'd be real happy about that. She's a cranky old lady, but uh, oh, this has been great, Amy, you have, well, I mean, just your own personal story and then the things you've had to say about how you see your role as a woman, your place as a woman in the brewing industry. That's exactly the sort of thing I want to record. NOTE TRANSCRIPTION END ]]> https://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en audio Property rights reside with the university. 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The researcher agrees not to record, reproduce, or disclose any Social Security number or other information of a highly personal nature that may be found. &#13 ; &#13 ;  &#13 ; &#13 ; 0 https://archivesoralhistories.csusm.edu/ohms-viewer/render.php?cachefile=SpackmanAmy_DownieJudith_2017-02-13.xml SpackmanAmy_DownieJudith_2017-02-13.xml https://archivesearch.csusm.edu/repositories/3/resources/19 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Spackman, Amy. Interview February 23, 2017. Description An account of the resource Amy Spackman began working in the tasting room at Mission Brewing in San Diego after switching careers from being a preschool teacher. In this interview she discusses her experience breaking into the San Diego craft brewing industry, her continuing education, and what it is like to be one of few women in the industry. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context SC027-066 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2017-02-23 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Amy Spackman Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Judith Downie Subject The topic of the resource Brewing industry -- California -- History Microbreweries -- California -- San Diego County Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant San Diego (Calif.) El Cajon (Calif.) Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available California State University San Marcos University Library Language A language of the resource English Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="https://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In copyright</a> Rights Holder A person or organization owning or managing rights over the resource. Amy Spackman License A legal document giving official permission to do something with the resource. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ Brewchive(r) Women's experience https://archivesoralhistories.csusm.edu/files/original/94d2d0d7cb9c43df70faee7a952cb115.pdf 6eb9d98c96c0eaf4368f2bf5c86aa082 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Transcripts Description An account of the resource Written oral histories and transcripts are available for researchers that prefer the written word, or to see the whole interview in a document. Transcripts of <a href="https://archivesoralhistories.csusm.edu/collections/show/5">audio and video files</a> are also available as part of those video files. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Spackman, Amy. Interview transcript, February 23, 2017. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Spackman, Amy Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Downie, Judith Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2017-02-23 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant San Diego (Calif.) El Cajon (Calif.) Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available California State University San Marcos University Library Language A language of the resource English Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href=" https://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en" target="_blank" rel="noopener">In copyright.</a> Rights Holder A person or organization owning or managing rights over the resource. California State University San Marcos Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource sound Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context SpackmanAmy_DownieJudith_2017-02-23_ADAtranscript Subject The topic of the resource Brewing industry -- California -- History Microbreweries -- California -- San Diego County Description An account of the resource Amy Spackman began working in the tasting room at Mission Brewing in San Diego after switching careers from being a preschool teacher. In this interview she discusses her experience breaking into the San Diego craft brewing industry, her continuing education, and what it is like to be one of few women in the industry. License A legal document giving official permission to do something with the resource. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ Brewchive(r) Women's experience https://archivesoralhistories.csusm.edu/files/original/07a30db156660d21bcc54bcf2578a48f.png e13aceb4ac3aad4e6fd69fef3dbf5efe Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource SpackmanA_250px Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Oral Histories Description An account of the resource Video and audio oral histories can be viewed here. Histories are listed alphabetically by last name. Individual histories are indexed and transcribed and can be searched. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available California State University San Marcos University Library Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <p>Rights to oral histories vary depending on the history. The library owns the copyright to some histories, and has license to reproduce for nonprofit purposes for others. Please contact CSUSM University Library Special Collections at <a href="mailto:%20archives@csusm.edu">archives@csusm.edu</a> with any questions about use.</p> Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Interviewer The person(s) performing the interview Ayana Ford Interviewee The person(s) being interviewed Ariel Stevenson OHMS Object This field contains the OHMS Hyperlink (link to the XML file within the OHMS Viewer) https://archivesoralhistories.csusm.edu/ohms-viewer/render.php?cachefile=StevensonAriel_FordAyana_04-15-21.xml OHMS Object Text This field contains the OHMS Index and / or Transcript and is what makes the contents of the OHMS object searchable in Omeka 6.0 Stevenson, Ariel. Interview April 15th, 2021 SC027-02 00:57:14 SC027 California State University San Marcos University Library oral histories collection CSUSM This oral history was made possible in collaboration with the Black Student Center and with generous funding from the Instructionally Related Activities fund. csusm Activism, Student ; Anti-Black racism ; California State University San Marcos. Associated Students Incorporated ; California State University San Marcos. Black Student Center ; California State University San Marcos. Office of Inclusive Excellence ; Student success, Black ; San Marcos (Calif.) Ariel Stevenson Ayana Ford mp4 StevensonAriel_FordAyana_04-15-21.mp4 0 https://archivesoralhistories.csusm.edu/files/original/4bba51350f71895f7c2665d9240d7951.mp4 Other video English 0 Interview Introduction Oral history interview of Ariel Stevenson, April 15th, 2021, by Ayana Ford, University Library, California State University San Marcos. 0 ["[\"\"]"] 31 Childhood Stevenson talks about being raised in Farrell, Pennsylvania, in a tight-knit community with a high population of Black folks. Warren, Ohio ; Farrell, Pennsylvania ; community ; small population 0 ["[\"[\\\"\\\"]\"]"] 163 Black identity and conception of Blackness Stevenson discusses her early knowledge of being Black and the importance of her community center in shaping that conception. She reflects on a negative experience she had outside of her community. community center ; Black identity ; Black pride 0 ["[\"\"]"] 315 Impact of Black advocacy and social justice movements Stevenson reflects on her family as a key influence in her cultivation into Blackness and Black history as well as her civic engagement in her younger years. active ; activated ; family influence ; Sandusky, Ohio ; Kent State ; mayor ; politics ; civic engagement ; natural hair ; community cultivation ; Civil Rights Movement, Black Lives Matter ; Buffalo Soldiers ; Karamu House ; Underground Railroad 0 ["[\"[\\\"[\\\\\\\"\\\\\\\"]\\\"]\"]"] 594 College experience Stevenson talks about getting her undergraduate degree at Albright College in Reading, Pennsylvania. Upon moving to North San Diego County to pursue her master’s degree at California State University, San Marcos, she found racism that was reminiscent of her time spent in Ohio. master’s ; California State University, San Marcos ; Reading, Pennsylvania ; Albright College ; racism ; North County 0 [""] 681 Early campus spaces, outreach to Black students by Black staff and faculty Stevenson discusses the lack of campus spaces when she first arrived and the role of Black faculty and staff on campus in outreach to and retention of Black students. Her first position on campus was at the front counter, where she interacted with many prospective Black students and their families. Students lead the campaign for a Black Student Center, but faculty and staff encouraged them. space ; belonging ; University Student Union ; Clarke Field House ; Markstein ; Social and Behavioral Sciences Building ; entry-level position ; front counter ; orientation ; African American Faculty Staff Association ; Black Faculty Staff Association (BFSA) ; retention ; families ; cold calls ; welcome program 0 ["[\"[\\\"\\\"]\"]"] 1102 Needs of students, staff, and faculty involved in the Black Student Center's creation Stevenson speaks about how because the Black student population was small, it was important that Black students had a place to gather and be in community with one another. In this place, students could discuss shared experience amongst peers. Black population ; presence ; representation ; student experience ; peers ; gather 0 [""] 1272 Opening of the Black Student Center Stevenson reflects on the opening of the Black Student Center and the important ways that different student groups, such as students affiliated with the Latinx Center advocated for the Black Student Center. Jamaéla Johnson ; Tiffany Boyd ; Darniesha Thornton ; and Dani Thornton, Akilah Green ; strong women ; Latinx Center ; Black Lives ; Asian Americans ; Dr. Luke Wood ; advocates ; President Karen Haynes 0 [""] 1537 Opposition to the creation of the Black Student Center Stevenson speaks about opposition to the opening of the Black Student Center, including calls for a white-only space and resistance to the Black Lives Matter movement. She also talks about the people and strategies combating the social tension. Daryl Smith ; white space ; Ku Klux Klan ; Conversations that Matter ; Dr. Sharon Elise ; Dr. Melina Abdullah ; Black Lives Matter ; social tension ; Gloria Ladson-Billings ; resistance 0 [""] 1831 University Administration's vision for the Black Student Center Stevenson talks about how University administration attempted to work with students in designing the space and budget. She specifically reminisces about the first three women of color to serve as the Associated Students, Incorporated leadership. These women had to be persistent in the face of opposition. Dr. Lorena Checka ; assignment ; budget ; research ; Tiffaney Boyd ; Jamaéla Johnson ; Associated Students, Incorporated ; leadership ; women of color ; persistence ; opposition 0 [""] 2068 First visit to the Black Student Center Stevenson reflects fondly on the opening of the Black Student Center. However, the opening of the Center was not a panacea, and challenges continued to exist. celebration ; dashiki ; Black student retention ; challenges ; Black Lives Matter ; Latinx students ; Floyd Lai ; Cross-Cultural Center 0 ["[\"\"]"] 2322 Early focus of the Black Student Center Stevenson discusses her excitement to be involved with the Center. She states that the expectation of some that the space would be the end all be all for Black students and issues was problematic. excitement ; Student Affairs ; Academic Affairs ; vision ; Black scholars ; Black scholarship ; end all be all 0 ["[\"\"]"] 2424 Initiatives and programming in the Center's early days Stevenson lists some of the early initiatives of the Black Student Center including collaborations with the intent of highlighting Black faculty and staff on campus. Black step shows ; Black Wall Street ; Black Panthers ; Hidden Figures ; Black Excellence Month ; Unity Hour ; Black Faculty and Staff Association ; programming ; interests 0 ["[\"[\\\"\\\"]\"]"] 2577 Hurdles in the early days of the Black Student Center Stevenson discusses the nascent mission and goals of the Center when it opened and how this could lead to conflict. Once again, the idea that the space could be everything to everybody was not coming to fruition. mission and goals ; inclusive environment ; pandemic ; identity ; conflict 0 ["[\"\"]"] 2727 Purpose of the Black Student Center Stevenson talks about how the Black Student Center should be a hub for Black student success and those in roles that are working to make this purpose a reality. Black scholarship ; Black student success ; gather ; be in community ; facilitator ; hub ; John Rawlins III ; pandemic ; Dr. Gail Cole-Avent ; identity crisis 0 ["[\"[\\\"\\\"]\"]"] 2991 Impact of Black Student Center on Stevenson Stevenson speaks about her love for the Black Student Center as a welcoming space and collaborative colleagues. space ; welcoming ; events ; collaboration ; conversation 0 ["[\"[\\\"[\\\\\\\"\\\\\\\"]\\\"]\"]"] 3060 Future expectations for the Black Student Center Stevenson shares what she would like to see for the Black Student Center in the future, including a continued focus on Black student success and scholarship. Black student success initiative ; John Rawlins III ; collaboration ; scholarship 0 ["[\"\"]"] 3130 Stevenson's role on campus as Assistant Director for Programs and Initiatives Stevenson discusses her role on campus as including the broad umbrella of inclusion, diversity, equity, and justice. She works with faculty to revise curriculum, creates and implements trainings, and builds relationships so that this work will be done across campus, not just in the Office of Inclusive Excellence. Assistant Director for Programs and Initiatives ; Office of Inclusive Excellence ; Chief Diversity Officer ; inclusion, diversity, equity, and justice ; anti-racist ; implicit bias ; curriculum ; Faculty Center ; Ethnic Studies ; facilitate ; build relationships ; Dr. Ranjeeta Basu ; capacity ; President Ellen Neufeldt 0 [""] 3376 Stevenson's thoughts on the Black Student Center Oral History Project In conclusion, Stevenson expresses her excitement about the Black Student Center Oral History Project and her appreciation to the University Library for their partnership. institutional memory ; University Library ; students ; partnership ; research ecosystem 0 ["[\"[\\\"\\\"]\"]"] oral history Ariel Stevenson works in the Office of Inclusive Excellence at California State University San Marcos where she works closely with students to increase the diversity on campus. Stevenson has been on campus for 15 years. In this interview Stevenson discusses her impact on campus, including the way she helped get the Black Student Center open through student impact and support. She also discusses her experience as a Black student and CSUSM employee. NOTE TRANSCRIPTION BEGIN 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:28.000 Okay. Today is Thursday, April 15th, 2021 at 11:35 AM. I am Ayana Ford. I'm a student at San Marcos. And today I'm interviewing Ariel Stevenson for the Black Student Center Oral History Project, a collaboration between the CSUSM Black Student Center and CSUSM University Library Special Collections. Thank you for talking with me today. 00:00:28.000 --> 00:00:31.000 Absolutely. Happy to be here. 00:00:31.000 --> 00:00:37.000 I'd like to start by talking about your childhood, when and where you were born. 00:00:37.000 --> 00:04:46.000 Okay. Childhood. Born in Warren, Ohio, raised in Farrell, Pennsylvania, super small population. The size of my community is not even three miles in Farrell, Pennsylvania, all the way around. For the size, population, I would say probably under two or three thousand. I'll have to look it up. Super, super duper small community. Most of the people in that community come from working-class communities, middle-income communities. At the time, factories and steel mills and those kinds of companies existed when I was younger, but those jobs started to fade away as I probably--by the time I entered maybe seventh and eighth grade. So, just a lot of working-class folks in those communities, right? Like when I think back on my childhood, ‘cause you surprised me with that question, I think about like being from one of the, they call them weed-and-seed communities, right? So, from the Department of Justice, kind of like the war on criminal activity and drugs. Right. Which is interesting because the community is so small. So, thinking about maybe even being policed in a community that was policed--looking now back then--but it didn't feel like that growing up. I remember just like football games and neighbors and fun and super love. And when you say community really being in like a community, right? Like parents knowing other parents really closely, looking out for one another, really tight knit, and most importantly for me, our Black community and with Black identity. I knew I was Black at a young age. That was super important for good reasons and when I would travel outside of my community, for other reasons. Like I remember being at my auntie's house, and we were playing kickball on the street, and this car with a Confederate flag, right, yells “get out the street, n-word.“ And then it becomes this whole thing in the neighborhood. I remember that, and I was a little girl, and so, you know, having that, even in the eighties, late eighties. Right. But in the nineties really just formulating who I was in my Black identity, because I went to a community center, it literally it was the center of our lives. My mom worked many jobs and so after school, we were at the center until it closed, and we did our homework there, and we wrote essays there, and we learned how to play chess there. And we learned how to garden there--guerilla gardening, which we used to like go to empty lots and plant seeds and grow food like for the community, right. Like the state or the government owned it, and we were like, We're going to take it back. Doing that at a young age because we had a lot of--when I was growing up-- there was a lot of Black pride. So, we had a lot of folks who were Africanists and being Black and proud and African identity, knowing that you were more than a slave was like super important in our history. That's what we were taught a lot at the community center. So, very fond memories of my childhood in my formative years, but definitely one that shaped who and what I am today. And that I'm proud of, yeah, super proud of. 00:04:46.000 --> 00:05:09.000 That's wonderful. That was actually my next question on how that shaped you. So, specifically on when it comes to the Black social justice movement, such as the Black Lives Matter movement, the Civil Rights Movement, the feminism movement, and the natural hair movement. How do you think those affected CSUSM and you personally? 00:05:09.000 --> 00:05:12.000 That's a big question. [laughter] 00:05:12.000 --> 00:05:16.000 We’ll start with you, like, how did that affect you primarily? 00:05:16.000 --> 00:09:04.000 So, because I came from a place where I was already cultivated in Blackness, and I say this, like, I remember being young and my uncle, my family was always active and activated. And so, things that they did not like in the community. So, the community where my mom came from where I was born, right. We were still pretty active ‘cause that's where my aunties, my grandmother, and my family lived. And then even though I was raised at another school in another community, you know, my mother, we were always back and forth. And so, I just remember, you know, stuff on the news where--I remember these things, Ayana you are recalling some things--like with the police pulling over this guy with a broken taillight. He ends up, you know, getting beat. I remember Sandusky, Ohio. And then I remember working there in the summers for college and Black folks having a very, having to protest in that area because of what was happening to Black college students. I remember my uncle running for mayor. He was going to be the first Black mayor at that time. And he went to Kent state, which is significant because I think during that time, that's when the shooting happened of a Kent state student, historically, if I'm not mistaken. My uncle, he's no longer with us anymore. But I say that to say like, so politically, my family has always been involved. I even remember from my civics class, being like the seventh grade and volunteering to count votes and doing the--this is how old I feel now--doing the chalk and writing the names on the board in the community center. And as it was coming in, really playing a role of like helping to count up the votes, where are we? Right. ‘Cause it's a small community. So, really every vote counting. I remember those things. I remember being like, when I was on, when I used to cheer, natural hair back then it wasn't as prevalent as it is now. But there was a--she's a woman now--there was a girl, she was a year older than me. And she was on the team, and she started just wearing her hair natural. And she was like, Why would I straighten my hair every day? And I was like, Why are we straightening our hair every day? Especially if the perm doesn't even take, like and it's a whole process. And I remember being seventeen or eighteen and wearing natural hair. And it was not the thing, Ayana. It was very much like, Why did you cut off all your hair? You know, people not thinking I'm not as pretty anymore. ‘Cause I had, you know, nice thick hair. So, all of those things, I had already gone through those things and those processes at a young age. So, by the time I came to Cal State San Marcos and even when I went to college, like I should say and also note I grew up--because I grew up in a Black community--I also went to a high school that was majority Black, my vice principal was Black, my science teachers were Black. And so, that's what I mean when I say I was cultivated. And when I went to undergrad, I had a very shocking, like Where are all the Black people? kind of moments. And so, what was good is that I was cultivated by my community, and so even though I was shocked in undergrad, I was, I felt prepared for the things that came with that and the experiences. So, by the time I came to Cal State as a master's student and as a working professional, that was seen in terms of like natural hair or what were the, some of the other things you named, Ayana? 00:09:04.000 --> 00:09:08.000 The Civil Rights Movement, Black Lives Matter movement-- 00:09:08.000 --> 00:09:53.000 Right. The Civil Rights Movement, like growing up knowing those things. Just because when I went to the community center, we learned about the Buffalo Soldiers and then we would go to the Karamu House in Cleveland, and they would do the play. And then at the bottom, they would do the tour of one of the places along the Underground Railroad because it was built on top of it or near it, where we would do a tour. So, the Civil Rights Movement and those teachings were a part of how I was cultivated as a young Black girl and transitioned into my later years. And so, Cal State San Marcos, I was just ready for it all, you know, is how I'll say it. 00:09:53.000 --> 00:09:58.000 So, did you go straight from high school to Cal State San Marcos? Or did you go-- 00:09:58.000 --> 00:10:39.000 No, I went to, I did my master’s at Cal State San Marcos. I did my undergrad, so I went from high school to college, and I went to college outside of Philadelphia, in Pennsylvania, at this place called Reading, Albright College. And then from there, I worked for a year and then I moved to California because when you're from the East coast, you know, people talk about California in this way, like the sun and the trees, and so you're excited. And my mom, when she was younger, had moved to California--my mom and dad for a little bit--and so I had always had this fantasy about California. 00:10:39.000 --> 00:10:40.000 Um-hmm. 00:10:40.000 --> 00:10:58.000 So, I showed up, and I was like, This felt like Ohio, politically and socially, at least in North County, where I'm located and where I stay. So yeah, they got the palm trees and the sun, but racism is very similar. 00:10:58.000 --> 00:11:18.000 That, yeah, I’ve been to the South, and I know that there's a kind of in that area. It’s very hard. So, have you seen, so during your time there, have you seen it like directly affect CSUSM and like the opening of the Black Student Center and stuff like that? 00:11:18.000 --> 00:14:24.000 Yeah, I mean the student would come, and they talked about it for a while. Like not having a space and not having a place and not feeling like they belong anywhere. And at that time, there was no USU (University Student Union), so let's just be clear. The Clarke Field House was the main multipurpose space for everything that we had had on campus. At least my time. I came to campus at year, 2006 to 2007? So, I've been with the campus it'll--on the seventeenth--ooh, it'll be fifteen years that I've been with the campus. Yes, my whole youth. So, the campus at that time, it was growing, like Markstein was like the newest building and there was no SBSB (Social and Behavioral Sciences Building), there was no USU--I already said that. Yeah, a lot of the building, there was no bench that's out there--that bench from the last president. It just looked different, and students would come to our--first, you know, I haven't always worked in the inclusive excellence office. So, my entry-level position was at the front counter, and I loved it because I feel, like I really feel like it's the gateway to students and families, and I would come, and I would see so many families and so many students. And I would interact with them prior to orientation because you know, we're helping them navigate, like what's missing on their application or if they have questions or the parents have questions. And so, that's how I first started to get to know a lot of the students that came through. But a lot of the students that were Black remembered my face and the other woman who was working, who was Black at the time. So, they would just come back because they remembered seeing me at orientation and whenever they would have a question, they would feel comfortable. And I would say, you know, You're here, we welcome you here. And whatever I could do for your experience to enhance it, to make it better, to help you navigate, I'm happy to do that, right. Because even, you know, you work your job, well--as sometimes on this campus as Black folks--you work your job, but you also work other jobs in this labor. And so, when there wasn't a space for Black students, the Black faculty and staff, we were the space. At the time was called African American Faculty Staff Association. And a lot of the programming is now called Black Faculty and Staff Association (BFSA) to be more inclusive for Black-identifying folks from all over the Americas. Right. All over the world. When they come to Cal State San Marcos so that they see themselves and their identity. Were you going to ask me another question? 00:14:24.000 --> 00:14:35.000 Oh, I was actually going to ask you about, so early on, did you hear like a lot of the push for the Black Student Center? Like a center for students who identified as Black or African American? 00:14:35.000 --> 00:17:08.000 I felt like it was a push for, by students, yes, and led by students. But faculty and staff wanted them to have a space as well. Because going back to what I was saying is that, like, we just felt like the retention of our students, they were, they didn't, they didn't have anything. They didn't have anybody but us, as faculty and staff members, right. That's why I talked about, like, just being at that front counter and welcoming students, like that seems like a small thing. But seeing, like students have told me and their families, like, you know, I told my, I told my daughter, I told my son to like, you know, that lady, Ms. Stevenson, you find her ‘cause she's going to be helpful. She said she would help you. And they would come back. And so like, we became Black bodies at Cal State San Marcos became the institution for Black students. So, to answer your question, yes, students definitely led it, but faculty and staff definitely encouraged them to say, Yeah, you do belong. You should have a space. There's nothing wrong with asking for a space, yeah. ‘Cause we would even do cold calls, like Black Faculty and Staff Association would get on the phone—that’s how you know it's back in the day. And if students did not do their intent to enroll, we would call, we would have like a couple of days and we would split it up, and we would get in the office because, you know, we needed an outreach office or we used the outreach office. They would let us use it. And they would let us use their phones, and we will sign it for a few hours. And we would say, May first is coming. Right. Like right now. And if we didn't see it, We want you to choose Cal State San Marcos. We are Black Faculty Staff--or African American Faculty Staff Association--and we want you here. We'll, you know, take care of you. We'll love on you. We did, Ayana, we used to. And I smile because it's some of my best memories because you know, cold calling students, you know, we use everything now digitally, but calling them, a phone call meant something. Even, you know, twelve years ago, fifteen years ago, it meant something. It meant we want you ; we care about you. And you could come to us, and it meant to parents that they were in good hands, that even if whatever was happening or whatever their thoughts was about the institution that as Black Faculty and Staff Association, we were trying to dismantle those thoughts and say, No, you know, we'll still, we'll look out for them. 00:17:08.000 --> 00:17:14.000 That's, that's wonderful. ‘Cause that would probably get a lot of students to feel welcome to come to San Marcos. 00:17:14.000 --> 00:18:09.000 We used to have a welcome program. I still think we have, it's just a little different. So, we would, you know, we would call them and then we'd have the welcome program. And the admissions director would be there and all the key resources and support for mental health for all of the Black faculty and staff, it was like a big deal. ‘Cause then they would come in on move in day and then we would invite their parents because we wanted their parents to say, like, You can't say you're going to be accountable to somebody's child. People want to look you in the eye because then they say, You told me he was going to be accountable for my child. You know? So, and it helped make some of the conversations easier to say, like, they will want to know What's they grades? And we'd be like, FERPA is a thing, we can't just bust out and tell you the grades, you know. The students have rights. I know they're eighteen, and they're your babies, but you know, so yeah. 00:18:09.000 --> 00:18:25.000 Oh, my goodness. That takes me back to when I first got on campus. So, what do you think that the student and staff and faculty involved in the creation of the Black Student Center felt like they needed from the Black Student Center? 00:18:25.000 --> 00:21:00.000 I think they needed a place to see one another. That because the Black population is small, I think we're under, still under four percent, that they didn't see each other--and I can tell you this--they didn't see each other until it was time for the graduation and recognition ceremony. So, so many times prior to having a space where they gather, they do this part, where they call open mic. So many of them would look back to their student peers and say, I did not know that there were so many of us here. If I knew that, I would have, maybe my experience could have been different. So, I think just having a space where they know that they knew that they were there and present, because presence and representation means something. To be in a place, where you can have honest conversation about your experiences because I don't know where else and who else could identify with their experiences except for them, and faculty and staff--they're still professionals, right--faculty and staff are older. So, even though they're having a very similar, or they were having very similar experiences, students needed peers to kind of like, just talk to and talk through, right. And even if they were having classes or being able to share and say, You know, I took this professor, this professor is good. You'll definitely pass and do well. They needed that system. I'm going to say they needed their own railroad because they were trying to figure it out in this way, being sparse and in between and trying to find each other. And the Center became this place where they gathered. I will say the Black Student Union at that time was like, was a big facilitator, as well. I don't want to leave them out. That was, I almost felt like the numbers for their participation was large prior to the Center, just because it was the only space for students to be together and to gather. But if you were a student that was at like Extended Learning (Building) and you weren’t on main campus and you couldn't make the meetings, right, because of the schedule, then it was harder. But now I think the Center being open and being a present and stable place, and a sustained place, now they just know where to go. Am I answering your question? 00:21:00.000 --> 00:21:02.000 Yes! 00:21:02.000 --> 00:21:04.000 Okay. I'm like, I'm just on memory lane. 00:21:04.000 --> 00:21:11.000 We want--I want that. We want that. [laughter] So, were you able to attend the Black Student Center’s grand opening? 00:21:11.000 --> 00:25:31.000 Yes. I wasn't going to miss that! I attended, I was there with the young women I remember, like Jamaéla (Johnson), Tiffany (Boyd), the twins Darniesha and Dani (Thornton), Akilah (Green), such beautiful women. And those women, they really led, those young women really led the conversation for the space to be created. And I also want to note this piece because I don't know if people know this piece that when the Latin center, Latin (Latinx) Center was being built, a lot of Black students supported that space for the Latin(x) Center to be built because they felt like they understood, and then when Black students needed the space, a lot of the Latinx students also supported. I was at the meeting, the open forum where some of the students came in and they had the sign, and they stood, and other students, I remember some of the Latinx leaders at that time, they stood right along with them because they remember when those students stood up with them when they needed a space. So, I would even say that those two spaces really came about because of students' voices, because students wanted a space and because those different populations were advocating for one another, which is super important, you know, when we think about what's happening in terms of you mentioned Black Lives. It's important to see when you see all over the internet and all over the world that you see different organizations, you see Asian Americans standing for Black Lives. You see all the different diverse groups standing for Black Lives. That means something, especially with the experiences of Black Lives and what that means. It's a very unique experience. And other experiences have their experiences and unique--I wouldn't take away from them--but to even focus on Black, what it means for a Black life right, in academia. I think – what I know is yes, Black lives matter. So Black scholarship matters, Black mind--as Dr. Luke Wood would say in his whole movement--it matters, you know. Black grades matter. Black, you know, leaders matter, right? And then higher education is where they're being shaped. So, to go back to those young students, the women and the newer young men that came on working together to make sure that it was a space, it was a very, it was a very beautiful thing, watching as a professional staff member on the outside, because you see your students, you see them evolve, you see them trying to navigate and understand and understand what the policies are and create a space, and those particular students, they weren't trying to like be disruptive or, if, you know, they were definitely advocating to just be students who were heard and welcomed and having better experiences, and they weren't doing it in a way that was like--even when it got to the protest or protesting at the forum--it wasn't like they were making a bunch of like super, like loud noise. They kind of stood up with a sign. They asked the President of that time (President Karen Haynes), ‘cause it wasn't our current President, for the space. You know, and I always see, when I see those young men and women even now, and they always were just, they were organized and advocates and activated. But when I even think about what they're doing now, they're all in like grad school or in wonderful, wonderful jobs or even coming back to our campus talking about free speech. And so, to me, that's why it's even that much more important for our campus community to keep cultivating those students because they come back and they enrich the campus community. 00:25:31.000 --> 00:25:48.000 Exactly. So, to go back, did you see any external or internal pushback on the creation of the Black Student Center? Or did you directly witness any pushback on the creation on social media or anything like that? 00:25:48.000 --> 00:30:06.000 I did not see it for myself. Right. But I just remember the conversations, folks were saying things like--ooh, actually, I'll take it back. I do remember, I forgot all about this. We brought in Daryl Smith to campus to speak about diversity issues. And I remember a small group of white students standing up during her talk. And Daryl identifies as white and does diversity work and is known in the diversity field and really pushed back on the students. So, they were asking for a white space, and they were saying that if we're basically going to make a space for everybody, like we want a space as well. And I remember her saying something like, you have, thinking like that if you want a space for only whiteness in that way that you're saying, because they were saying it in a very harmful way, is how she was and how she took it. And she said, Yes, you have a space for your ideas. Go and join the Ku Klux Klan, where you belong. Right. Like that was like, that was controversial. But just trying to point out the supremacy in that thinking and culture, the way that it was approaching and not really understanding the conversations. And so, there was a lot of conversations about what it meant to have a space. One of the things that I do in our office, we have Conversations That Matter. And so, one of the things that's involved or that's a part of the Conversations That Matter series is you have to have a call to action. And I remember we had one that talked about Black studies matter, because we needed to educate folks on, well the students and the faculty wanted to come, and they want it to educate folks on what it meant to have Black studies in Black spaces. So, it was a campus conversation on that to try to negate, I guess, pushback or to answer questions. Right, and that was great. ‘Cause it had founding faculty from San Diego (State), founding faculty from the African, Africana Studies program, I think from SDSU, it had, I would have to go back. Dr. Sharon Elise had led that conversation. Dr. Melina (Abdullah) from Long Beach, who heads the Black Lives Matter LA version, I think, was on that conversation. I'm getting people's titles all wrong. But the point is, Black faculty from the CSU came to support CSU San Marcos on that conversation because it was a larger conversation, I think, having--happening in the system around spaces for Black students. And, you know, at that time Black Lives Matter, this is Black Lives Matter. People were not acceptable of Black Lives Matter. Like now you see people like donating bunches of, a bunch of money or protesting together and saying, “Black Lives Matter,” no matter how diverse they are to my point earlier, but that wasn't the conversation nationally. It was very much like when you say Black Lives Matter, what about blue lives? What about white lives? So, that is the tension, the social tension that was happening, even in the midst of like, they were coming off of that, even in the midst of this space of higher education, you know. And centers in itself, cultural centers, have been a longer conversation historically, I think, Gloria, Gloria Ladson-Billings, around her publishings on cultural centers. So yeah, it, there was. So yeah, to answer your question, I guess, to go back, there was some pushback for sure. Yes. And resistance coming from--yeah, there was. Sorry I had to reflect a little bit more. 00:30:06.000 --> 00:30:19.000 Oh no, please, please reflect ‘cause that's, that's really interesting, actually. So, what did the university admissions communicate was their vision when it comes to the Black Student Center, as well? 00:30:19.000 --> 00:30:21.000 Wait, say that again? 00:30:21.000 --> 00:30:31.000 What was the vision for the university administration communicating with their vision? 00:30:31.000 --> 00:34:19.000 If I remember correctly, I just remember the students had requested the space, and I think they were Dr. (Lorena) Checka and the President because she (Dr. Checka) oversees Student Affairs, was responsible for working with the students to kind of like look for a space, think about the budget, think about those things. So, I felt like the students were charged with making it happen, with the support of, maybe Dr. Checka trying to like help them make it happen, if that makes sense. But to be honest, I feel like, yeah, it was kinda’ like we asked for the space, the students, this is what the students had told me: We asked for the space and now they're making us do all of the work that administration would normally do to create the space. I think that could have probably been a little bit clearer for students because it made them feel like they're like, Well here, if you want the space, you figure it out, right. Where I think the, they were trying to do--and this is where I don't know for sure--but I think they were trying to be in partnership with the students so that the students also understood this is what it takes to create a space, this is what a budget of a space looks like, making them do the research which is okay. I feel like students need that scholarly, like this is how you research. So, if you get in a nonprofit or you request money or request a space, you need to know this information. But I think originally like just how it came across was interesting. And then even, you know, at the time, I felt like it wasn't, there because there wasn't specific ownership of the space--and maybe you’ll interview Tiffaney Boyd and she’ll have a, as a student, a better, she’ll have more to say about this. But, I remember, so, when Tiffaney was President (of Associated Students, Incorporated, ASI) and Jamaéla (Johnson) was one of the execs, and there was another young woman. I’m forgetting her name. They were, I think, the first women of color to be ASI leadership and executives, at that time, during their leadership time. And they themselves, as women of color, specifically Black women on this campus, was having some challenges just being the leaders of the student body. And, you know, some of the things that were just coming towards them was very, very interesting, like I was surprised, you know. I’m very proud of them because some folks did not make it easy for them. And they had some moments, you know. So, they had to be tough and strong, and they’re students, you know, they’re students trying to be students. But also trying to do this very important political and social thing for students futuristically, you know. And I don’t think that part of the story gets told. That those women of color, when they were leaders, they had some opposition for sure. And I think about that because, you know, whatever we could do to assist, where we could assist, you know. But, you know, I look at them, and they were strong. Whether they wanted to be or not, they had to be. And they had to figure it out. What was your question? I feel like I digressed. 00:34:19.000 --> 00:34:28.000 Oh no, you, you answered it perfectly. (laughter) So, what was it like when you first visited the Center for the first time? 00:34:28.000 --> 00:38:28.000 So, when they had a celebration, in the spirit of it all was like a super proud day. There was a ribbon cutting, there was like smiles everywhere. People had on, I felt like everybody had on the dashiki or dashiki dress or like something to be connected to their African-ness and faculty and staff--not everybody--but faculty and staff, they showed up, supporters of the space showed up. And so, being in that space in the very beginning and what it meant because the people who've been here for a while historically understood what it meant to gain such a place for Black students, when Black student retention and equity gaps and all of those things have been a conversation for so long. And to have this, yes it was one center, but to have it, really felt like okay, now we're going to be able to expand the Black population and do all of these things. So, the spirit of that day, the spirit of that first, you know, year on the outside was interesting. I think that the people who worked in the inside, the students and the staff probably had some interesting experiences ‘cause I think that people felt challenged. One thing about when people focus on things that are Black, it sometimes feels like everybody has input on why it can't be focused on just Blackness, which is interesting. Anytime that Blackness is centered, and we see that right, with Black Lives Matter, right? We can't even say Black lives matter without something, without somebody saying, What about blue lives? What about white lives? And people constantly saying, We never said that those things were not important! We’re saying that you never deemed Black life important since day zero. And we are making--like the young folks are making sure that we matter and that we count and to see that is important. And so, when the space to say like, Yes, all students matter! But we are making sure that we say we recognize and understand the experience, the negative experiences that Black students have been having, and we're trying to improve those, is important, right? That’s why I mentioned, wanted to mention the piece around the Latinx students who support it because I think they understood because they also had some similar things happening in a different kind of way, but just understood when people say we are focusing on this population, and there is nothing wrong to focus on this population. So, I think that the folks who worked there when people would come in and they didn't understand what the space is for, and were like Why? Or if they saw social media saying, here we go again with, you know, whatever people were saying. I think it was a challenge to, for them. And I think it was difficult for them. And you know, they did what they do and as Black folks, they held their head high and shoulders back. But that doesn't mean that those Black students who are just looking for a space, didn't feel again, like, Why is this happening? Why are people making us feel like we don't belong? Why are when I talk about Black people, you're saying et cetera and making me talk about something else, you know? But I think that's important. And also just like and other people that support it. I feel like even the director, Floyd Lai, from the Cross-Cultural Center always has been supportive of the other spaces. Just that understanding and those things are important as well. 00:38:28.000 --> 00:38:43.000 Yeah. Those are very important to know. So, continue, can you tell me a little bit about the early focuses of the Black Student Center, the programming events and focuses? 00:38:43.000 --> 00:40:08.000 Yeah, I mean, I remember--I should say this too, Ayana--I remember I was excited for the Black Student Center. I had applied to be the director of the Black Student Center at one time. I was excited, like this is the place, you know? And so, the vision around it being a place really, even though being in Student Affairs, being connected to Academic Affairs, really developing Black scholars and scholarship, having that historical understanding for folks and that education. Before it was formed, I know that like it was, people have the vision, honestly, that it was going to be the end all be all of everything, which is problematic because one space can't answer all things for Black students. And having people realize that, you know, the diaspora is not a monolith, right. And the students are not monolithic in their thinking and their approaches. So, I think even now, you know, that's a challenge, understanding how the richness and diversity among Black people and Black students. So having it be this end all be all is interesting, was interesting. So that's ‘kinda what I remember about it. My little piece. Yeah. 00:40:08.000 --> 00:40:23.000 Mmm. So, expand upon that a little bit more about that. So, on that early, you didn't, any initiatives or programming specifically that you like knowingly like saw push, like right after the Black Student Center? 00:40:23.000 --> 00:42:40.000 I don't know if it was right after, but I know that they started to have Black step shows. They started to have Black Wall Street. They had the Black Panthers. They had one of my favorite events, they had something called Hidden Figures, and they were recognizing, they had it on so-called Valentine’s Day in February, which was also during a Black Excellence Month and they would recognize Black faculty and staff members on campus and their, the work that they did in a hidden way, and I was one of them. But one of the Black women, she doesn't work here anymore-- many of the Black women that were here don't work here anymore. It was just one of those events, it was one of my favorites because it was like, a we see you from the students, right. It was the student stance of Black faculty and staff, like we see you, we know what you do. They may not know, or other people may not know, but we know what you do for us, and we appreciate you for it. And it just, it was a really good event. So, there were a lot of great events when it first started, yeah, like four or five. But there they were having--oh, they would have Black Unity Hour, Unity Hour, I think they still have that. And they would try to do a lot of coordinator with the Black Faculty Staff Association. So, trying to welcome the Black Faculty Staff Association. They have this thing--I forget what it was called--but the Black Faculty and Staff Association, one person a week could come in and lead a conversation with the students on whatever topic that they were interested in. And, you know, so that was nice. I remember I did a topic in there with them, with another colleague, and we focused on white supremacy, white groups, and kind of like, what does that mean for Black lives and Black students, something like that, you know? So, they were doing a lot of programming, and they had a lot of interests. 00:42:40.000 --> 00:42:48.000 So what are some wrinkles that do you think were worked out in the early days of the Center? 00:42:48.000 --> 00:42:50.000 That I can talk about? (laughter) 00:42:50.000 --> 00:42:54.000 Yeah. That you can, yeah. (laughter) 00:42:54.000 --> 00:45:20.000 Yeah. I think understanding the mission and the goal of the Center, like I think they might even be working on that, like understanding that, like we know it’s a Center and we know it’s the space for Black students. But having a unified goal from the very beginning, not sure if they had that from the very beginning. Who could be in this space? It was always like a conversation. Who could be in the space? And I was like, Well, the space is open to all, right, ‘cause we're an inclusive environment, but let us not forget the space is gonna’ focus on Black scholarship, like what it means to be Black and those different things. And so, they had to always debunk myths. I feel like in the beginning, people would, they had to debunk myths, because people were like, Well, can I be in here? And they're like, It's a space like any other space on campus. Do you ask the other spaces if you can be there? Like they had to do a lot of like that teaching folks, they probably still have to do that. And I'm saying, I don't know for sure ‘cause we're in a pandemic, but you know, but they're still having virtual events. But that was like one of the things like people were out constantly asking people who maybe who didn't understand if they could be in the space and they would always be like, Yeah, you could be in the space, but just know in the space, this is the focus. And if you support the mission and the focus of the space, then there's no problem. And I do think, I do feel like the students were challenged a lot in the space. And I also think there was some internal things happening in this space. Yeah, just trying to work out the identity. I think the identity of the space being worked out and what it meant, you know, and because it didn’t come with a very strong mission or had a strong mission, people made the mission, or the identity of the space based on who they were and what they wanted to see out of the space. So that, I think sometimes that leads to conflict. In terms of just like everybody had their idea of going back to, even, you know, faculty and staff. Everybody had wanted the space to be everything for everybody and then realizing real quick that that cannot be the case. 00:45:20.000 --> 00:45:27.000 So, what would you say is the purpose of the, of the Center specifically? 00:45:27.000 --> 00:48:05.000 Yeah, I would say the purpose of the space is Black scholarship for students is the first and foremost important part of the space. The space is in a place for higher education, and so the goal is to make sure that in whatever way the Center can help facilitate Black student success. So, Black student success and Black scholarship is what I would say is the most important facilitation of the space, right? Like how has that space facilitating Black students to graduate on time, to make sure that Black students know how to write, to make sure that, right, like we have the Writing Center and we have those other spaces, but if Black students are not going to those spaces for whatever reason, that they're also giving, getting that in some, to some degree, in the space. So, I think that’s one of the--this is my opinion--but yeah, one of the most important things that like Black, that Black student success is happening. And so, how they go about Black student success? I think the space gets to determine, right. But just like some of the things that I named, but also a place on a list to, if I had a list of what it's for, students to gather and be, and be in community. There's a long history, I think I even started with my beginning of like the importance of community to Black folks in the Americas. I would say globally, but I'm a scholar in the US mostly, I shouldn't say that. I have a Latin American studies minor. But and that was still like examining Blackness, you know? But yeah, Black student success overall. I know that's super general, but whatever it means for Black students. So, like if a Black student trying to graduate from Cal State, making sure I graduate, like, and I want to graduate, go to graduate school, what things can the space provide in conjunction with the services we have on campus? So maybe, you know, the Black Student Center is a facilitator, making sure that the students know what resources are available throughout the campus. So, a hub of facilitating that student success. 00:48:05.000 --> 00:48:11.000 So, do you think this purpose is being accomplished, the multiple lines that you mentioned, currently? 00:48:11.000 --> 00:48:15.000 Do I think the purpose is being accomplished right now? 00:48:15.000 --> 00:48:16.000 Mmm-hmm. 00:48:16.000 --> 00:49:04.000 Yeah. I think that with their new student director, John Rawlins (III), I think that, well that we’re in a pandemic, but even in that, I think that John is trying to create some sustainable foundation for the space that wasn't there. So, I would say with the new director and with the new AVP Dr. (Gail) Cole-Avent (Associate Vice-President, Student Life), who also oversees all of the centers, they're definitely in tandem, working that that space is a place for student success, Black student success. Yes. I think they're on the journey. I don't know if they've arrived because the space is how old now, like three years? 00:49:04.000 --> 00:49:07.000 Three years, it'll be five coming up, about four years. 00:49:07.000 --> 00:49:42.000 Four years, and it’ll be five. Okay. So, and I think John has only been here one, maybe two, years, and Dr. Cole-Avent maybe one, maybe two years. So, you know, the space has gone through some, I want to say identity crisis, but I'm going to call it that for the lack of a better term. And they're trying to shape that and build that foundation and repair some things, repair some things. So, to your question, yes. I think that they are on the road to recovery and the road to making sure that the foundation for Black students for that space is student success. 00:49:42.000 --> 00:49:52.000 Ok. All right. So how has the Black Student Center affected you personally? 00:49:52.000 --> 00:50:54.000 I love the space. Sometimes just when I walk the campus, I'll go visit all the spaces. But I love that when I come in the space, I feel welcomed by students. I'm happy to see them and they seem happy to see me. Unless they think I'm going to have them, assign them some things. (laughter) Or ask them some questions about classes, if they've gone or not. But the presence of the space has been great to like some of the events that have, I don't know of the capacity if you, of those events could have been had on campus without the space and the collaboration of the space. But just going in there and just seeing like, what's going on, what are y'all up to? What are y'all working on? Sometimes, especially in, you know, thinking about some of the conversations that they were having or some of the programs just to walk by or to stop in for a moment just to see what's going on. So good on campus. 00:50:54.000 --> 00:51:00.000 So, with all that's going on, what do you expect to see next for the Black Student Center? 00:51:00.000 --> 00:52:00.000 I really expect that the Black student success initiative that's going to come down, I really hope that it can help grow our Black student population and have that space be a hub. And I say that, I'm trying to be gentle in saying that because John (Rawlins III, Director of the Black Student Center) is one person, right, and so doing, you know, the best that he can as one person. But what I would like to see next is those student initiatives out of the space, really concrete, and really growing and seeing scholarship, the scholarship that the students produce, the presentation opportunities, seeing, you know, the way that faculty continue to collaborate with the students and produce scholarship. That's what I think some of the next steps are. 00:52:00.000 --> 00:52:10.000 Okay, so you had mentioned previously, but can you talk a little bit about your role on, on the, on campus currently? 00:52:10.000 --> 00:56:09.000 Yeah. I'm the Assistant Director for Programs and Initiatives (in the Office of Inclusive Excellence). My role is to make sure, help make sure that the campus is inclusive and welcoming, to help make sure that the CDO (Chief Diversity Officer) and I, that we advise our presidential administration team on the best decisions for the campus to strategically be doing the work of inclusion, diversity, equity, and justice. And so, I know that's super broad, but it’s broad because, Ayana, it entails a lot. It looks different in different ways, right? It can look like a summit on what we're doing for specific populations. It can look like anti-racist work and implicit bias training. It can look like, what are we doing for students for putting together diversity work and sustainability work, and how is that helping student success? It can look like what are we doing with our social justice grants and how are people doing the work of diversity across campus? It has many forms. I do many things. It can look like, how do we decolonize a syllabus and work with the Faculty Center on a program, such as that and making sure that our faculty and staff also feel welcomed and included on campus doing this work. And that students, no matter where they go on campus, that we have some inclusive curriculum. It can look like there there's a new Ethnic Studies program coming, possibly, not program, I'm sorry bill or conversation, right. Like the work of the Office of Inclusive Excellence is very expansive across the campus because the goal was to make sure that inclusion is in everything that we do, whether in hiring, whether in our search process and our retention of our faculty, staff, and students, and our, again, in our curriculum, and the daily operations of like vendors and policies and how they're applied. So yeah, it's all of that with many forms and my job is to help facilitate it where I can, how I can, really building relationships across the campus and making sure that our Office is you know, also there to advise or to help and guide where folks need the assistance when they're, when they're trying to transform their department from, you know, a more inclusive space or department and they don't know what that looks like. So, it's a lot. I enjoy it. I enjoy working with our current, interim CDO (Dr. Ranjeeta Basu). We're in the midst of hiring a new chief--and I say CDO--that's the Chief Diversity Officer. And so, just trying to figure out where do we go from here? And I know where we go, we need to expand the capacity of our office so that we could continue to do this work all over, consistently. But what's nice is that the new President, President [Ellen] Neufeldt, has said this work belongs to the campus, and it is not just relegated to one office and that we all do this work of inclusion together. So, that's been a great relief, and you know, I applaud the new President for that. 00:56:09.000 --> 00:56:16.000 Okay. So, those are all my questions. Do you have anything you wanted to add or anything you would want to say? 00:56:16.000 --> 00:57:05.000 Yeah, I think this is a great project. I think that it's going to be important. I'm all into the institutional memory that we need to carry forward, especially with the conversations we're having now about like naming of buildings and why do we have those names or why do we have this space or what was the purpose. So, I'm very excited about the project and I love that the University Library was happy to partner with students, graduate students, with the (Black Student) Center, a lot of students, yourself and other students, who are doing the interviews, it becomes this whole research ecosystem, and I'm all happy for that. So good job. 00:57:05.000 --> 00:57:10.000 Thank you so much for allowing me to interview you. This is a wonderful interview. Thank you so much. 00:57:10.000 --> 00:57:12.000 No problem. 00:57:12.000 --> 00:57:14.000 Have a nice day. NOTE TRANSCRIPTION END ]]> https://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en &#13 ; video Property rights reside with the university. Copyrights are retained by the creators of the records and their heirs. &#13 ; &#13 ; This resource is licensed for noncommercial educational use using CC NC-BY 4.0. Please contact Special Collections at archives csusm.edu if you need reproductions made. &#13 ; &#13 ; Please see the related “Preferred Citation note” for language on citing materials from this collection. &#13 ; &#13 ; Permission to examine Library materials is not authorization to publish or to reproduce the examined material in whole, or in part. Persons wishing to quote, publish, perform, reproduce, or otherwise make use of an item in the Library’s collections must assume all responsibility for identifying and satisfying any claimants of the copyright holder. &#13 ; &#13 ; The researcher assumes full responsibility for use of the material and agrees to hold harmless the University Library, and California State University, against all claims, demands, costs, and expenses incurred by copyright infringement or any other legal or regulatory cause of action arising from the use of the Library's materials. &#13 ; &#13 ; In assuming full responsibility for use of the material, the researcher also understands that the materials they examine may contain Social Security numbers, other personal identifiers, and/or sensitive material on potentially living and identifiable individuals (e.g., medical, evaluative, or personally invasive information). The researcher agrees not to record, reproduce, or disclose any Social Security number or other information of a highly personal nature that may be found. 0 https://archivesoralhistories.csusm.edu/ohms-viewer/render.php?cachefile=StevensonAriel_FordAyana_04-15-21.xml StevensonAriel_FordAyana_04-15-21.xml https://archivesearch.csusm.edu/repositories/3/resources/19 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Stevenson, Ariel. Interview April 15th, 2021 Description An account of the resource Ariel Stevenson works in the Office of Inclusive Excellence at California State University San Marcos where she works closely with students to increase the diversity on campus. Stevenson has been on campus for 15 years. In this interview Stevenson discusses her impact on campus, including the way she helped get the Black Student Center open through student impact and support. She also discusses her experience as a Black student and CSUSM employee. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context SC027-02 Subject The topic of the resource Activism, Student Anti-Black racism California State University San Marcos. Associated Students Incorporated California State University San Marcos. Black Student Center California State University San Marcos. Office of Inclusive Excellence Student success, Black Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2021-04-15 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Ariel Stevenson Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Ayana Ford Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant San Marcos (Calif.) Farrell (Penn.) Warren (Ohio) Reading (Penn.) Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available California State University San Marcos University Library Language A language of the resource English Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <span><a href="https://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en" target="_blank" rel="noopener">In copyright</a><br /></span> Rights Holder A person or organization owning or managing rights over the resource. Ariel Stevenson Type The nature or genre of the resource moving image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource video Is Part Of A related resource in which the described resource is physically or logically included. Black Student Center Oral History Project Black experience Black Student Center Oral History Project https://archivesoralhistories.csusm.edu/files/original/b428ee31bab3ba47aa9b2353b1ee70e4.pdf 88bb2f40eee9163df7c45f0134d9cf7f Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Transcripts Description An account of the resource Written oral histories and transcripts are available for researchers that prefer the written word, or to see the whole interview in a document. Transcripts of <a href="https://archivesoralhistories.csusm.edu/collections/show/5">audio and video files</a> are also available as part of those video files. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Stevenson, Ariel. Interview transcript, April 15, 2021. Description An account of the resource Ariel Stevenson works in the Office of Inclusive Excellence at California State University San Marcos where she works closely with students to increase the diversity on campus. Stevenson has been on campus for 15 years. In this interview Stevenson discusses her impact on campus, including the way she helped get the Black Student Center open through student impact and support. She also discusses her experience as a Black student and CSUSM employee. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Ariel Stevenson Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Ayana Ford Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2021-04-15 Subject The topic of the resource Activism, Student Anti-Black Racism California State University San Marcos, Black Student Center California State University San Marcos, Office of Inclusive Excellence Student success, Black Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant San Marcos (Calif.) Farrell (Penn.) Warren (Ohio) Reading (Penn.) Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available California State University San Marcos University Library Language A language of the resource English Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="https://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en" target="_blank" rel="noopener">In copyright</a> Rights Holder A person or organization owning or managing rights over the resource. Ariel Stevenson Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context StevensonAriel_FordAyana_2021-04-15_transcript Is Part Of A related resource in which the described resource is physically or logically included. Black Student Center Oral History Project Black experience Black Student Center Oral History Project