by Nick Escalada

Prior to his departure, Interim President Michael Spagna imparted the Lumberjack with optimistic words about Cal Poly Humboldt’s next head administrator. Richard A. Carvajal of Valdosta State University in Georgia was characterized as a cooperative leader — open to peer input in completing the school’s polytechnic transition, keen on successful athletics programs and perhaps most importantly, hip to local culture as a former Humboldt resident.

In a private Lumberjack interview near the end of his debut week, the president divulged more about his upbringing in Humboldt County and his excitement to return to a familiar setting. Born in Los Angeles, Carvajal’s family moved to the North Coast in his early years and held residences in Eureka, Hydesville and Carlotta, before his father eventually found employment in Oklahoma, bringing his family and teenage son with him.

“The only way he convinced me to get in the station wagon and go was that he promised that we’d only be gone for a year or two, and then we’d get to come back,” Carvajal said. “It obviously took me a little longer than that to get back. My mother literally bawled when she found out that I was coming here, because this is personal for my entire family, and so this is a place I love.”

Like many natives, newcomers and transients, Carvajal defines Humboldt by its unique natural beauty. Most of his memories of the region involve recreating in pristine wilderness, which he immediately got back to doing upon his return.

 “As a kid, right on my backyard was the Van Duzen River and [I would be] running through the forest and enjoying the river and fishing and all those kinds of things,” Carvajal said. “The day before I started work here, I’d spent a week just unpacking boxes and trying to move into our place. But I needed one day that I held back so that I could go to the ocean, and then I drove up a little north to the forest and just walked through the redwoods.”

Carvajal arrives at an institution midway through a historic identity shift toward STEM education and hands-on learning. Left with the new expectations of the Cal Poly branding and millions in the state’s transitional funding left to manage, the president envisions a broader approach to finishing this transition.

“Every place gets to define exactly what their version of Polytechnic can look like. Here, I met my wife in the theater. I have a real appreciation for the arts,” Carvajal said. “And so to know that those programs are going to continue to thrive here, while we also grow out our STEM programs and the like, and all of our students, no matter what major they’re in, we’re going to try to make sure that they have an experiential opportunity while they’re here.”

One of Carvajal’s more attractive qualities as a candidate to the administration was Valdosta State’s excellent Division II athletics records under his leadership. Carvajal attended a Jacks basketball game during one of his early campus tours, where he handed out pizza to students and talked shop about sports.

“I was talking with somebody during the course of the night, and they asked me about my past experience. And I said, ‘Well, what you can know about me is I like to win,’” Carvajal said. “It does communicate that championship culture to our public and to our supporters and to our own student body that we’re going to try to be good at what we do, whether that’s on the athletic field, in the court or in the classroom. I want us to have a championship culture in everything we do. I want us to be a place that is about winning.”

Carvajal is the son of a Mexican-American immigrant, and expressed his intent to uphold Humboldt’s hispanic-serving label and assist students of all documentation statuses.

“My wife, our new First Lady… she looks a lot like my mom, actually, she’s very fair-complected, blonde hair. Her family broke off all ties with her for picking me,” Carvajal said. “Does that mean that I understand what everyone has gone through in their own individual situation? No, but I absolutely understand what it’s like to be thought of as less than or different, and to suffer because of it. So while I still have much to learn about what we have done and what we’re going to continue to do, I want us to be a supportive place for our students.”

A major point of controversy surrounding previous president Tom Jackson’s resignation was his heavy-handed response to the pro-Palestine student occupation of campus. Students now hold their breath that their incoming overseer will handle such events more gracefully, a hope that Carvajal acknowledged.

“I love that the CSU and Humboldt are unequivocally committed to free expression here, and so I want this to be a place that is supportive for all,” Carvajal said. “I want all voices to be supported here. I want students to feel that those voices are supported here. What am I going to do? I’m going to be out there. I’m going to be very transparent. I’m going to communicate with folks in the same way I’ve been this week.”

The president’s excursions into lecture halls and out onto the Quad on his first week have undoubtedly been for introductory purposes. However, Carvajal says he wishes to maintain that presence among his constituents until he, as he hopes, retires from Cal Poly Humboldt.

“If I walked across campus, I really couldn’t do so without being asked several times to stop for selfies,” Carvajal said. “I want that experience. I want our students to know who their president is. I can’t do that by sitting in here.”

Nick Escalada is the News Editor of The Lumberjack. He studies wildlife and aspires to be a nature journalist. Find him bouncing between Gist Hall and the science buildings and reach him at ne53@humboldt.edu!