Expert Spotlight: Carlos Rodriguez | The Campaign for College Opportunity

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“How will we produce the next generation of diverse history makers, who will go on to produce wonders, if students, faculty, and leaders of color continue facing exclusion in our higher education system? There are so many students who come from backgrounds like mine that deserve a seat at the UC and to have someone who looks like them reflected in our classrooms.”

Carlos Rodriguez
Transfer Student | University of California, Los Angeles

As part of our Affirming Equity, Ensuring Inclusion, Empowering Action national initiative, we are proud to release expert spotlights sharing the perspectives of three students, in which they emphasize the role of faculty and leadership diversity in their higher education journeys. In this expert spotlight, we interviewed Carlos Rodriguez to learn how colleges and universities nationwide can affirm the belonging of diverse students in the aftermath of a SCOTUS decision that threatens to erode inclusion on campuses.

Carlos is the proud product of Mexican immigrants and grew up in the Central Valley. Prior to transferring to the #1 public university in the nation, University of California, Los Angeles, Carlos was the first in his family to graduate high school and is a first-generation graduate of Porterville College, where he served as the Associated Student Government President. Carlos was almost left out of higher education: in high school, he believed college was out of reach because he had no leaders of his background to support him.

In this spotlight, Carlos discusses the imperative of improving faculty and leadership diversity
and creating a culture that reflects the unique backgrounds and experiences of diverse students to ensure the success of students like Carlos in elite academic institutions like the University of California.