五十年的高潜力: Elizabeth Sandoval ’76 Was There From the Very Beginning

During the 2023–24 academic year, Saint Mary's is celebrating half a century of high potential. 自1973年以来，学院的 高潜力项目 has offered low-income and first-generation college students the support they need to thrive, 在校园里和外面的世界. 最重要的是, High Potential students consider the program a family—one that continues to expand, 提供培育和支持.

为了纪念这一里程碑 SMC NewsCenter 正在推出一个新系列 五十年的高潜力. 我们和历史教授合作 Aeleah Soine 以及2023年春季公共历史课程的学生, 谁进行了几代人的口述历史访谈, 向您介绍惠普家族成员, 过去和现在. We share the stories of HP students and alums in their own words.

满足 伊丽莎白·桑多瓦尔，76年: a first-generation college student and one of the first Latinx women to attend Saint Mary's. Sandoval earned her JD degree from UC San Francisco Law in 1979 and served as a California state attorney for more than three decades. 

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用她的话说:从马里斯维尔到圣玛丽

我在北加州的马里斯维尔长大. 一个乡村小镇，那里有很多农业. My parents were small business owners who ran a nightclub in town. 他们两人都没有接受过高中教育. 事实上，我妈妈只上了二年级.

尽管如此, 他们重视教育, and they'd saved up enough to send me to private Catholic schools throughout childhood. But the only reason I could attend college was my grades and financial aid. 我只申请了一所学校:圣玛丽学校. 幸好我被录取了!

失物招领处

A state scholarship paid for my tuition and the College assisted with room and board. 我在SMC学习期间也做过勤工俭学. 第一年，我帮了忙 哥哥丹尼斯她是学院的图书管理员主管. 一个优秀的，支持的个人和导师. 我们在档案里花了很多时间, sifting through records from the good old football days and the 学院的学生 报纸. 我记得有一次, 他给我看了一份手写的手稿, 由十四世纪或十五世纪的修道士完成的作品. 迷人的小书. But then, a little later, he comes back and says, "Liz, I can't find the book.“他一定把它放在什么地方了. 我说，“那是一本无价的书!" 

所以我们疯狂地在图书馆里找. 当然，就在他办公室旁边.

时代在变化 

1972年我到的时候，圣玛丽学校正在转型. 当然, 更广泛地说, 那是国家发生巨大变化的时期, 紧跟着20世纪60年代的民权运动. 这所学院两年前才开始招收女生, 我很自豪地说，我是首批女性中的一员. 非洲裔美国学生大量涌入, 墨西哥裔美国学生, 还有来自世界各地的学生:非洲学生, 从伊朗, 来自菲律宾.

仍然, 尽管圣玛丽学校正在进行多元化经营, it didn't have a handle on how to support those students once at SMC. The previous school year—a few months before I arrived on campus—Black and Chicano students held protests and strikes. 还有篮球罢工, and then a number of minority students occupied the Chapel for days. 那些学生基本上是在说，“嘿，我们来了. 是你把我们带到这里来的. 我们相信自己. 我们认为应该有更多." And that's what I believe ultimately led to the creation of the 高潜力项目.

"The values I developed in my years at Saint Mary's, I carried them on in my career."

高潜力的早期阶段 

程序背后的管理员——汤姆布朗, 伊内兹·戈麦斯，最终 卡米拉斯·查韦斯兄弟—all came out of some of the social movements of the time, which was significant. 他们理解我们的经历. A lot of us first-generation college students felt isolated and frustrated. 我们需要彼此保持专注和坚强. 

We needed support, too, and so High Potential was established to offer that support. I worked with 汤姆布朗 as part of the team that helped the program get a good start. We developed the various aspects of the program: orientation for first-generation students, 辅导的帮助, 同伴指导. There was the Third World Center, too, which is now the 跨文化中心. It was very important at that time, because that's where we all hung out. 我帮助管理中心的图书馆. 然后, 当我开始在招生办工作的时候, I helped recruit Hispanic students to the College and review applicants who were good candidates for High Potential. 

一切都还在起步. 但总体来说, my experience with High Potential was knowing that people and support systems were there for incoming students. 

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事业的火花

I knew coming into college that I wanted to go into law, with a focus on civil rights and equality. 部分原因是我在马里斯维尔的经历, 从我自己的家庭所经历的歧视中. 但当我来到圣玛丽学校时，这种愿望更加坚定了. 

1月学期1年, as I was working on a project about women's reproductive rights, 我遇到了一个叫安东尼娅·埃尔南德斯的年轻律师. She ended up becoming the head of the Mexican-American 法律 Defense and Education Fund. When I met Antonia, she'd recently litigated a lawsuit involving a major Los Angeles hospital. 她会遇到 数以百计的墨西哥妇女 who, at the time of giving birth, were pressured into getting sterilized. 最终, 安东尼娅的工作为加州的重大改革铺平了道路, including laws requiring informed consent prior to any sterilization.   

和安东尼娅的相遇启发了我. As an attorney, my work has always been about helping the underrepresented. For several years, I did immigration work with Catholic Charities Immigration Projects. Later, when I worked for the state, I was a discrimination law enforcement attorney. I ended my career with California's Department of Social 服务 (CDSS), 我在那里工作了20多年. 这是我在CDSS工作的一部分, I was assigned to issues related to Native American children in the foster care system. 

So the values I developed in my years at Saint Mary's, I carried them on in my career.

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五十年后

I'm 70 now, and it's incredible to think about where the first wave of Latinx students from the early '70s ended up: authors, teachers, college professors, attorneys. 在我之前的毕业班，有 María Elena Durazo '75, who marched with Cesar Chavez and went on to become the leader of one of the largest unions in Los Angeles. 她目前是加州参议员. 

我不想说我在SMC的时光都很美好. 比赛非常激烈, 诚实, as the College strived to improve things for first-generation students. 但是学院已经进步了很多. 近年来，我参加了一些校园活动. 在一个, 我看了芭蕾Folklórico的表演, and I was so impressed and in awe with the number of Latinx students onstage dancing and in the audience. 你要记得:当我来到圣玛丽的时候, 我是总共五个墨西哥裔女性中的一个. 一点都不像我现在看到的.  

为清晰起见，本采访经过编辑和浓缩.

了解更多 关于 高潜力项目 以及以学生为中心的支持. 考虑给 来支持它的使命. And if you’re a High Potential graduate, please add your info to our 校友目录.

阅读更多: Making Family 历史: Rebecca Carranza '26 Sees Humanity in the Work of the Law

查看圣玛丽医院的最新消息 SMC NewsCenter.

奥利维亚·沃特金，24岁 你是主修考古学的人类学学生吗. She conducted this interview as part of her Spring 2023 Public 历史 Course.

海登摆架子, who edited this piece, is Staff Writer in the Office of Marketing and Communications. 给他写.