July 23, 2009

When Robert Hernandez was a youngster picking grapes in Dinuba nearly 50 years ago, his mother told him the way out of the fields was to go to college.

“I didn’t know what college was back then as a child, but I knew I didn’t like to pick grapes,” said Hernandez. In 1969, he was among the first 100 students enrolled in the new Educational Opportunity Program (EOP) at Fresno State, where he would later serve as director for 16 years.

He turned his mother’s motivation into three college degrees and a 36-year career devoted to helping open the doors to higher education for students through the EOP and similar programs.

Hernandez, 58, is stepping down from his current position as executive director of federal programs and judicial affairs officer for Fresno State on July 1.  A reception from 3 to 5 p.m. Tuesday, May 15, in the Residence Dining Hall on campus will honor Hernandez and his contributions.

The event most likely will serve as a reunion of Fresno-area civil rights and community activists and a time to remember EOP success stories as well as faculty and staff who have worked closely with him to address student conduct matters.

The Educational Opportunity Program provides university access and retention services to students with academic and personal potential from historically low-income and educationally disadvantaged backgrounds.  The program helps students to meet their educational and professional goals by providing services such as orientation experience, admission counseling, academic advising, peer mentoring, student success workshops, tutoring and supplemental financial assistance.

More than 14,000 students have participated in the program since its inception, estimates Maxine McDonald, director of the Academic Enhancement Services Office, which administers EOP.

Hernandez, who assumed his current positions in the Student Affairs Office in 1996, was with Fresno State EOP from the beginning, first as a student in the program, then as a counselor after his 1971 Fresno State graduation. He worked briefly for the State Personnel Board in Sacramento, but returned to the campus EOP office.

In 1978, he became assistant director and two years later succeeded his mentor, Manuel Perez as director. Hernandez also worked beside longtime colleague, the late Ernie Shelton.

Hernandez’s own student experience began at Reedley College where he earned an associate of arts degree. At Fresno State, he earned a bachelor’s degree in health science (environmental health option) and a master’s in health science.

As federal programs director, Hernandez oversees five TRIO programs: Educational Talent Search, Educational Opportunity Center, Student Support Services, Upward Bound and ESL Upward Bound.  TRIO programs, created under the federal Higher Education Act, are designed to motivate and support students from disadvantaged backgrounds.

As judicial affairs officer, Hernandez coordinates university student discipline and provides lead guidance for the campus’ compliance with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act.

His work, and that of many others, in student affirmative action will have a lasting impact, said Dr. Paul Oliaro, vice president of student affairs.

“The passage of time tells that the answers are found in the number of teachers, counselors, administrators, professionals and educated working people EOP has helped send into the community and the nation,” Oliaro said. “They, and the community at large, have committed professionals like Robert Hernandez – and the many dedicated individuals who drove the program over the past four decades – to thank for the opportunity and encouragement to earn a university degree, live a better life and become productive members of their communities.”

Hernandez helped guide the university’s student affirmative action efforts, especially in the early years when tumultuous times nearly spelled its end, he recalled. Like many before him, Hernandez anticipated his tenure with EOP would be short.  But like the students he served, he and the program persevered.

“Minority activists were calling for change and the opportunity to escape poverty by attaining a higher education, despite meeting some resistance," Hernandez said. “The state colleges and universities were, for the most part, inaccessible to ethnic minorities.”

Fresno State’s answer began with Project 17 in 1967 – the forerunner to EOP – with 17 ethnic minority high school graduating seniors admitted into the college and provided guidance. The following year, the project was re-funded as EOP, signaling that the effort to provide university access for minority students had established a foothold in California higher education.

In fall 1969, approximately 100 students with potential and motivation who would not otherwise attend a university due to educational and income background, participated in EOP, including Hernandez.

He heard about EOP from an older sister and a Fresno State student activist, Pat Sigala, who was recruiting farmworkers’ children for college. Hernandez recalled the era fondly and while he would have had an opportunity to go law school if he stayed with the State Personnel Board, he felt the need to return to the Valley and contribute to building bridges for his community.

“When we think back to the ’60s, our goal was to help our community,” Hernandez said. “I don’t think there was a better job than to work in programs like EOP during that time. We committed ourselves to make it successful. EOP was the vehicle to help create the access and provide support services so our students could get through and go back to our communities to help in medicine, law, business, education and many areas we were not yet a part of.”

Among the thousands of Fresno State EOP alumni Hernandez worked with are former California Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante; Gloria Rhynes, an Alameda County Superior Court judge;  Juan Garza, superintendent of the Kings Canyon Unified School District in Reedley; Frances Pena, director of University Outreach at Fresno State; and Walter Robinson, director of admissions at the University of California at Berkeley.