Oral History Program Brandon Flores Interviewed by Lorrie Rands 20 December 2024 Oral History Program Weber State University Stewart Library Ogden, Utah Brandon Flores Interviewed by Lorrie Rands 20 December 2024 Copyright © 2025 by Weber State University, Stewart Library Mission Statement The Oral History Program of the Stewart Library was created to preserve the institutional history of Weber State University and the Davis, Ogden and Weber County communities. By conducting carefully researched, recorded, and transcribed interviews, the Oral History Program creates archival oral histories intended for the widest possible use. Interviews are conducted with the goal of eliciting from each participant a full and accurate account of events. The interviews are transcribed, edited for accuracy and clarity, and reviewed by the interviewees (as available), who are encouraged to augment or correct their spoken words. The reviewed and corrected transcripts are indexed, printed, and bound with photographs and illustrative materials as available. The working files, original recording, and archival copies are housed in the University Archives. Project Description Connecting Weber: History of the Cultural Centers oral history project documents the memories and history of the various cultural centers that were open at Weber State University. These centers included the Multicultural Center (later called the Center for Belonging & Cultural Engagement), Women's Center, Native American Cultural Center, Asian American and Pacific Islander Cultural Center, Pan-Asian Cultural Center, Black Cultural Center, and the LGBTQ Resource Center. The centers were closed in July 2024 due to state legislation. ____________________________________ Oral history is a method of collecting historical information through recorded interviews between a narrator with firsthand knowledge of historically significant events and a well-informed interviewer, with the goal of preserving substantive additions to the historical record. Because it is primary material, oral history is not intended to present the final, verified, or complete narrative of events. It is a spoken account. It reflects personal opinion offered by the interviewee in response to questioning, and as such it is partisan, deeply involved, and irreplaceable. ____________________________________ Rights Management This work is the property of the Weber State University, Stewart Library Oral History Program. It may be used freely by individuals for research, teaching and personal use as long as this statement of availability is included in the text. It is recommended that this oral history be cited as follows: Flores, Brandon, an oral history by Lorrie Rands, 20 December 2024, WSU Stewart Library Oral History Program, Special Collections and University Archives, Stewart Library, Weber State University, Ogden, UT. iii Abstract: The following is an oral history interview with Brandon Flores conducted by Lorrie Rands on December 20, 2024 in the Stewart Library. Raegan Baird, the video technician, is also present. Flores discusses his experiences growing up in Filipino in the United States, as well as his involvement with the Multicultural Center, and other cultural centers, both as a student and as a professional. He also discusses the changes made due to HB261. LR: Today is December 20, 2024. We are here in the Stewart Library with Brandon Flores doing an oral history interview for our Connecting Weber: The History of the Culture Centers project. I am Lorrie Rands conducting, and Reagan Baird is on the camera. All right, Brandon, thank you so much again for your willingness to share your stories and talk about the cultural centers and their impact on you. Let's just begin at the beginning with when and where you were born? BF: Yeah, when I was born. I was born May 14, 1984. Don't let this baby face fool you. I'm just kidding. But I was born in Phoenix, Arizona. LR: Did you grow up in Phoenix? BF: I did not. No, I grew up in Magna, Utah. LR: Okay, so how soon after you were born did you move to Magna? BF: One year. LR: One year, okay. What was your family dynamic like growing up? BF: My dad is an immigrant from the Philippines. He immigrated to Hawaii, which is where he met my mom. My mom's from California. She's white. She decided to attend college out there, and they attended the same school, and that's how they met. He got a job in Arizona, so did she, and that's where I was born. Then got 1 another, you know, got employment in Utah, did more schooling in Utah, and that's how we ended up here. But the family dynamic I should say to answer your question. You know, I grew up in a household that was blended cultures in a lot of ways. I had the—I like to say the best of both worlds. You know, the Filipino culture, the food, being exposed to the language, but also being able to navigate American culture as well, having been born and raised here. My parents divorced when I was five and my dad moved out to Texas. He worked for the airlines at the time, but he was very active in our lives growing up, and I'll always be grateful for the opportunities he gave us through his employment to be able to travel. We got to travel the world, got to go back to the Philippines, Hawaii, get in touch with my roots, and just be exposed to different peoples and cultures that were not necessarily the same as mine. That was a pretty unique experience for me and my siblings growing up. I'll always be grateful for that, because I feel like that dynamic helped shape my world views in a lot of ways, and helped me to be more appreciative and embracing of differences whether its culture or whatever lifestyle that people have. I would say my teenage years were kind of tumultuous. My mom had remarried at the time, and we were really close to my stepdad who is also American. Family dynamic: a situation happened where he got sent to prison for a number of years, so we were again in a single-parent household growing up. But I would say that those experiences shaped me as well in helping me to become more resilient and helping me to learn a lot of valuable life lessons at a 2 very young age. I feel like as far as where I’m at today, you know, those experiences were foundational for me. I also, growing up, I had my full-blooded brother, I had a half sibling out in Texas, my half-brother at home, step siblings. Everyone was just so different, and as we got older and as people began to get married, you know, we liked to say that we had the United Nations family. I had siblings, you know, like my side, of course, my dad's side from the Philippines. My wife was from Tonga—or her family's from Tonga, she grew up in Utah. We had brothers in law from Brazil, from El Salvador, a sister-in-law from Russia. So, yeah, when we get together, it was like the United Nations. I say all these things because it kind of builds up, and it shows you why I chose to get involved in the Multicultural Student Center at the time, and chose to pursue employment in a job that not only helped me to myself be exposed to a variety of thought and backgrounds and culture and diversity, but gave me the opportunity to shine a little bit of light on that and to recognize the value that that has for a broader community and how it can help establish a community that thrives in education. LR: That's awesome, thank you. One question—well, I have two, but growing up, what are some of your favorite memories about the culture, the things that you would do that were culturally fundamental, like with your father or any other? Am I making sense in my question? BF: Yeah. LR: I'm just curious. 3 BF: Yeah. Like I said, I was blessed to be able to be exposed to a variety of cultures growing up. I'll start with my own culture. You know, when you're mixed like I am, you're not fully exposed to one culture or another. So, having opportunity to go visit the Philippines, to eat the food, to, you know, try things like Balut, which is a fermented duck egg, with my dad. Those experience—being able to visit family members and those kind of things helps further deepen my own cultural values, like the importance of family, gathering, food, celebration. So, those things were definitely turning points in my life that I consider kind of culturally foundational. But also having opportunities to—and putting myself intentionally or even unintentionally into situations where I had the opportunity to learn about somebody else's culture. You know, I think about when I was in high school and some of my best friends were Samoan, and I spent a lot of time in their home, and I began to understand the deep importance of spirituality in Polynesian households, and the value of respect. I remember spending the night at my friend's house and the parents would wake everybody up at five in the morning before he would go to work, and everybody would kneel down and pray. I was like, “Wow.” I wasn't used to that in my house, but it was beautiful to me, you know? I was like—I think as the more I was exposed to other cultures, the more well-rounded I became, because I'm like, “That's a beautiful piece of a culture, I want to try to apply some of those values in my life,” or, you know, those things that I chose to embrace. I remember when I was a student here at Weber State, I decided I wanted to go and do a study abroad. In order to do that, I had to save up money, so I 4 went and got a job selling security systems in New York. That was a totally different culture for me too. I learned how people were just upfront and straight to the point. You know, I’d knock on doors and people would be like, "Not interested,” boom, slammed it in your face. But I actually grew to appreciate that, 'cause they weren't wasting my time and I wasn't wasting their time. So, that's kind of a cultural thing for me, but also being, you know, immersed a little bit in black neighborhoods and communities and things like that. Being invited into homes or cookouts while I was out there was pretty eye opening, pretty cool for me too. Then when I finally went on my study abroad, I actually went and studied in the Holy Land, as I like to call it, in Jerusalem, you know, Israel, Palestine. The moment I got on that airplane was a cultural experience for me. I happened to be sitting right next to someone who would be my one of my good friends, a Jewish friend of mine named Jeffrey. I remember him teaching me about the Hebrew language. He would be like, "Who is he. He is she. Me is who" I'm like, “What are you talking about?” He's like, "Who (‫[ הוא‬hu]) means he in Hebrew. He (‫[ היא‬hi]) means she. Me (‫[ מי‬mi]) means who." It was just, you know, fun. Then seeing orthodox Jewish people getting up in the middle of the flight with their Torahs open and praying and rocking back and forth. Then when I finally landed, right, it was like being exposed to both Jewish, you know, different type of Christian, and Muslim, Arab cultures. It was just a really cool, unique experience for me. Six months of my life that I lived out there and studied at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. 5 So, to answer your question, these are all cultural experiences where I observed and I saw values and different cultures. I embraced things. It became a part of who I am today in one way, shape or form. It helped broaden my perspective, gave me a deeper sense of respect for those differences and similarities across the world. That was just really, really unique. LR: Thank you so much. That was amazing. I'm going to kind of shift gear back to more of a linear timeline. As you went through your education in elementary, junior high, high school, what was that like for you? Because, you know, coming from a mixed family, were you able to find a place to fit in? What was that like for you? BF: You know, I always was an odd one out. There was no other—rarely did I ever meet another Filipino, let alone someone who was half and half like I was. So, I found community with other people of color, whether they were Mexican or Black. Not to say that I didn't have a lot of friends who are white. I certainly did, and I hung out with a lot of white kids growing up, but it was a different kind of connection for me when I was hanging out with my Samoan family, you know. I think the similarities in culture there between Filipino and Samoan, the island type of vibe that we all share and embrace across cultures, it helped me to just feel like I could just open up, be myself. It brought out the best in me when I was in community with that group. So, I came to really embrace island culture, and I even ended up marrying into island culture, you know, my wife being Tongan and stuff. I think because of those cultural similarities, it’s refreshing being a part of a community, a group where you could just totally be yourself. 6 Someone understands your type of humor, you understand theirs. Like you could have—you know the difference. You can just talk with somebody for hours, as opposed to feeling like somebody might not really understand that type of humor or—you know what I'm saying? So, it's—I don't know, I think that growing up for me in my youth, I was always attracted to other people of color because I felt like we shared a lot of similarities. Whether they were cultural, or familial type of values or, to be honest, shared in some of the oppression that we face growing up. You know, some of the difficulties of navigating predominantly white communities, institutions, and things like that. LR: Were you encouraged to receive a higher education after high school? BF: Yeah, like I said, both my parents—I was fortunate both my parents got their degrees, so I grew up with the value of education. In fact, my mom was a teacher growing up, so she always instilled that in me. For me, it was not if I go to college, it was when I go to college, you know. I'm very grateful for that. I know that always isn't the case. But yeah, the value of education was instilled in me. Was that your question? LR: Yes, it was. Where did you end up going? BF: For college? LR: Yup. BF: I started out at Snow College. It was totally random. I went and visited the campus, and my high school mascot was an eagle. I went to Skyline High 7 School. I grew up in Magna but went all the way across the valley to Skyline. There's a story behind that, but… LR: That’s crazy. BF: Yeah, it was. I'll try not to go off on tangents, but anyways, I went to Snow College, a visit, because I knew I wanted to go to college. I drove down there, and like I said, the high school mascot was an eagle, and on my way home I was like, "Should I go to this school or not?" and an eagle flew over my car. I'm like, “That's a sign. I'm going there.” [Laughing] So, that's how I decided. It wasn't a great way to decide how to go to school, but I think underlying all of that I just felt like it was a good fit, you know what I mean? It was a small school. I didn't feel so lost in the crowd. It was an opportunity to open up a new chapter in my life, to try new things. I felt like the support systems were in place over there to help me succeed, and opportunities to get involved were important to me. That's ultimately why I chose to go Snow College. So, I went there for two years. Well, I went there for a year. I went on an LDS mission back to the Philippines. That's what really helped me to get ingrained in my culture as well. Then came back, finished off my associate's degree and then transferred to Weber State. It was a choice between BYU Hawaii or Weber State. I grew up always wanting to go to BYU Hawaii, 'cause I've always heard about my parents' experiences there, my cousins, all of that. But at the end of the day, Weber State was giving me more opportunity, more money, and we had the education program, which is what I wanted to go into, so I went to Weber. 8 Took me a while. Transferred to Weber State in 2006 and I didn't graduate until 2011, I think partly because I was kind of taking my time. I was always a fulltime student, but I just enjoyed school maybe a little too much. I was just super involved while I was here at Weber State. Again, I did my study abroad, so that took me out for a while. Then, yeah, had to do my student teaching stuff. I got my degree, my bachelor's degree. Graduated, worked professionally for a couple of years, and then went on to get my graduate degree. Sorry, Weber State was my undergrad, I think I said graduate, but went on to Michigan State 2013, 2015 to get my graduate degree, my master's in Student Affairs Administration. So, that's my schooling history. Then, like I said, my study abroad at the Hebrew University. LR: I'm curious why, of all the study abroads you could have done, what about that, going to Jerusalem, what was it that—? BF: It was a mix of things, honestly. Of course there was the spiritual side of that, you know, growing up Christian. It was a desire as well to be exposed to people's customs, cultures that were totally different than mine. I think there was a sense of I needed that experience in life to feel like I've got the most out of my college experience. My minor was history, and so that excited me because I felt like Jerusalem was one of the best places you could go to get a crossroads of history and perspective from Europe to, you know, you name it. Everywhere around that area is just a blend of cultures, and so that's why I decided to go there. My girlfriend at the time, who later became my wife, was on her own mission trip in Pittsburgh. So, I'm like, “You know, it's now or never,” so I did it. It was cool. 9 LR: Okay. [To Raegan] Do you have any questions? Okay. [To Brandon] When you finished at Michigan State, did you have a plan? A career path? Did you know what you wanted to do? BF: Yeah, I knew the areas that I was very passionate about was the multicultural type of thing, as well as college access. I knew I wanted to advocate for students to get into education and have a really amazing experience, what all boiled down to it, and to be successful in life. I found fulfillment in my job prior to grad school, which was with the Utah College Advising Corps. I was a college access advisor working for the University of Utah at West High School, downtown Salt Lake. That was just such a beautiful experience. First of all, I'd never been in a school that was so diverse where whites were the minority. So, I just felt like I vibe and I connected with so many students. They came to see me. Loved connecting with the professional staff, who were just so fun and supportive. I just had a great experience working as a college access advisor in that school. I was like, “You know what?” 'Cause my degree was in teaching. I did my student teaching, I worked in a high school teaching both history and psychology, and I love that. I love teaching. My mom was a teacher. My uncle was a teacher. They shaped me a lot of ways. But I knew, like, the one-on-one, the programing, that kind of stuff, the advocacy work was my career track. So, I went to Michigan State to pursue Student Affairs. After I graduated from MSU, I had an opportunity to come back to Utah as the director of the GEAR UP program, so I worked in Price, Utah at Utah State 10 University Eastern. I was there for two years. I got a phone call from a colleague of mine here at Weber State who said—his name is Jody Perkins. He called me up and he said, "Hey Brandon, it's time to come home.” He told me about a GEAR UP director opening here at Weber State, and so I was all over that. Got the job, moved my wife and my two-year-old son at the time, back up to the Ogden area. That was 2017. I was the GEAR UP director here working at the Davis campus. That was awesome. Then, yeah, I forgot your original question. LR: You answered it. BF: Did I answer it? Okay. LR: Quick follow up: what is the GEAR UP program? BF: GEAR UP is a college access and readiness program. It stands for "Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs." So, essentially, we worked in the junior high and high school, identified students who all came from low-income households, recognizing that that is a significant barrier and why students don't go to college. Our goal was to bridge that gap, help students tap into financial aid, scholarships, better understand how to navigate education and the educational system, how to prepare for it, gaining exposure. We took students on field trips, did one-on-one advising, brought in tutors to help support their academics and make sure that they could qualify for certain scholarships and things like that. It was great work. It was a lot of fun. We really helped that program to blossom. Then it was about a little over a year ago that I had the opportunity to apply for this position, and kind of a full circle moment, came back to the area 11 that I'm working in now with the role of an executive director. So, that was exciting. LR: Okay, so two questions: when you came back to campus, how had it changed/how was it the same? BF: I mean, obviously there were, you know, newer-ish buildings. Some of the things that were the same was that a lot of the people still were here. I think Weber State is unique in the sense that a lot of people who work here tend to enjoy working here and want to stay for a long time. So, it was fun being able to reconnect with a lot of people who helped shape my journey but were now colleagues of mine. I would say a lot of the programing, the initiatives look different. This specific area that we're talking about today, the cultural centers. I mean, that was a totally new, innovative, different direction than what it was when I was a student, when it was just the Multicultural Student Center. But I saw other programs, like one that started in the Multicultural Center, as I understand it, was peer mentoring. I was a peer mentor, one of the first under Jody Perkins. Now when I came back, there was a full-fledged peer mentoring program being led by Olga Antonio and it was just doing amazing things. So, that was exciting. Other new things was the creation of the Equity Diversity Inclusion Division, which never existed in my time. I was excited about that, because I thought that provided an opportunity to really put those type of programs on the map, gain some more exposure, help students across the campus have a more fulfilling college experience and find community and sense of belonging. 12 Yeah, so, I mean a lot of things different, lot of things the same. But one thing is, you know, the—never mind, I’m not gonna say that. I do not want to say that. I don't want to talk bad about the food here [laughing]. LR: You wouldn't be the first one. BF: Yeah, yeah. LR: That's funny. Okay, so you kind of touched on this a little bit. During your time as a student, did you—I mean, you talked about being a peer mentor that started in the Multicultural Center. Did you utilize those centers while you were a student? BF: Well, just the Multicultural Center, because that's all there was when I was a student, ‘cause I graduated in 2011. I mean, I did a lot of things. It wasn't just being a peer mentor of the Multicultural Center, although that was just a really awesome experience for me to be able to be there. I actually came to Weber State as an ambassador. That's the scholarship that I was under. So, I gave tours of campus, and, you know, one good thing leads to the next. I decided to run for student government. I was a VP here of what was then Campus Community and Diversity. So, Adrienne Andrews, Adrienne Gillespie at the time, I worked closely with her to lead out on some of the initiatives that were under the Center for Diversity and Unity, it was called at that time, which later become the Diversity Inclusive Programs, DIP. But that was what Adrienne Andrews did at the time. She's a mentor of mine, and we ran like the taboo talks, sessions, brown bags, you know, like all of these really cool diversity-led initiatives. That kind of linked me up with the Multicultural Student Center as well. That's how I ended up working in there. 13 But I was also an RA on campus. I was involved in other areas, in clubs and some organizations stuff. So, I graduated 2011. When I came back in 2017, the area was being led by Dr. Enrique Romo, and he was just doing a phenomenal job leading out what was in his time known as the Center of Multicultural Excellence. So, from MSC, Multicultural Student Center, to CME, Center of Multicultural Excellence. But they also combined college access programs under his umbrella as the executive director. So, that's how I got reconnected as the GEAR UP director. That’s a college access program. I was reporting to him, along with other college access directors and the director at the time of the Center for Multicultural Excellence, Michiko Nakashima-Lizarazo. We were all on the same team under Enrique. That's kind of what gave me a lot of exposure and experience that led me to getting the job a little over a year ago as the executive director for that area. So, Dr. Romo left, Tammy Nguyen came in, and that's when that whole area transitioned to become the new division, the Equity Diversity Inclusion Division. Went through some transitions with that, name changes. When I came in as the executive director, Tammy had been there just under a year or so and she got a different job. I got the opportunity to come in and work in this role. We were at that time known as the department of Belonging and Engagement. I know, it's so confusing. This just goes to show how much change this area unfortunately has gone through. It's been tough, but that's when I came in, and that's when the directive was now just beginning in developing cultural centers. So, I was excited about that. I'm like, “Alright! We're going to have 14 cultural centers throughout campus.” That's a broader reach, more opportunities to expose students to a variety of backgrounds, enrich their educational experience, social experience, but also at the same time providing a haven for students of color, like we talked about earlier, how important that is to find community with your peoples. Especially for minorities on campus, marginalized groups, where it can be mentally, emotionally, physically, psychologically taxing to be in an environment where you are the minority, where you are in the marginalized and sometimes oppressed. It was just a really cool thing that I was very excited about. I felt like I had the knowledge, the background, the experience to take this thing to the next level. We were piloting the Black Cultural Center in the Union Building. Hired on a new program manager to lead out on that, Maryan Shale, and she was doing her thing. She was getting that set up. Students began to gather there, and it was awesome, you know. Nothing was perfect to begin with, but we were excited with the direction that it was going. We were in the process of planning out where the other cultural centers were going. What is the architectural layout going to look like when we do the reconstruction of the buildings and stuff to accommodate for these different centers? We were grappling with, you know, all sorts of pros and cons, like anybody would with developing a new initiative and centers, programs, and things like that, but the team was on board and ready. Then this legislation hit. Yeah, that shook things up. HB261 was passed and that changed everything. You know, yet again, the team—and I really feel for 15 the team who was here even before I was, going from one division to the other, back to the other division under a different name. Student Affairs, now Student Access and Success. You know, going from one position to another, making plans, developing programs, and now being told that you're not going to be able to do a cultural center. Then having to navigate, "What does it look like? What are the things that we can still do versus those things that we cannot do now?" So, that was, you know, big changes, different difficulties that we had to go through when we went from Weber State, the example, the innovative cultural centers, everyone could look at us for the great work that we're doing, to oop, scratch all of that. You're now the Student Success Center. You serve all students, which we always did anyways. You know we never didn’t. We never did not serve all students. But perception, you know, politics being influenced by national trends. So, yeah. The change came. We didn't fully embrace it at first, but we've come to a point where we've had to, you know, embrace the change, focus on and embrace those things that are within our control. Put ourselves in a better headspace, a mindset of growth, as opposed to dwelling on things that really are out of our control now. That's kind of been the cycle of things and kind of where we're at now at the evolution of things. LR: So, what was your title over a year ago when you received that job? BF: I was the executive director for belonging. LR: Okay. I'm trying to understand how it all worked. So, you have the Multicultural Center, which then blossomed out to—you have the Black Cultural Center, the 16 Hispanic Culture Center. You had the LGBTQ+ Center, the Women's Center. Then I know that there were a lot of little offshoots, like Pacific Islander, Asian. BF: Yeah. So, to clarify, actually, LGBTQ Resource Center was the center of its own. That did not report up to me. That being led out by Jessica Fisher and folks that was closely tied to the Women's Center. My folks were the program managers for the cultural centers that were announced. So, Pacifica Cultural Center, PanAsian Cultural Center, Black Cultural Center, Hispanic Latino Cultural Center, and Native American Cultural Center. They were already, by the time I got in there, they were already doing much of their programing, albeit Black Cultural Center was the only one that had their actual center established. We were still where we currently are now, sharing space and making plans and preparations to build out the rest of the cultural centers. Does that make sense? LR: Yes, it does. BF: That's where we were at when the change hit, so we had to take—we had to completely re-strategize under now being the Student Success Center. That's when LGBTQ+ staff moved under our area. Jessica Fisher, and then also—I should say also, I wasn't just over the cultural centers. There was also services for special populations, that initiative, as well as an initiative for men of color, which was being led by Jody Perkins. So, Marisol Velasco was doing special populations and Jody Perkins was doing services for men of color and helping those initiatives to grow, knowing that men of color are the group that drops out of school the most. So, it was important to put a lot of our efforts there. 17 Anyways, yeah, so our team, again, once HB261 hit we became the Student Success Center. We welcomed Jessica Fisher on our team because unfortunately, you know, that center went away. That resource center went away. Then we also welcomed the transition advising team, which at the time was Camille Gooch, Tawny Choi, Story Sutton. That was an area that went through a lot of changes too, because they used to be the Non-Traditional Student Center and they worked with a lot of transfer students, returning students. So, that kind of all went away, ‘cause couldn't have a Non-Traditional Student Center, I guess, anymore, so that transition advising team came over and became part of my team. I'm trying to make this as simple and understandable as possible. LR: You're doing a great job. BF: Yeah. So, now we're the Student Success Center. Now we're like, okay. There was an old Student Success Center that is no longer called that now. They became Pathways and General Studies. This was an opportunity to build something fresh from scratch. So, over the last five, six months, that's what we've been up to. It's been a process. Did we know who we were, what we were going to do? We had an idea, but we did not know at the beginning how we were going to do all this. It was tough navigating the programing, like, what can we still do? What should we still do? What should we not do? What can we not do that's out of compliance with this new law? Which it really felt like was censorship. You know, we didn't get to bring in the same type of speakers we had before who were able 18 to really talk about tough, challenging things and highlight the experiences of underrepresented students and their communities. So, that was tough. It was tough. It was tough for a lot of the team. It was tough for me. Again, trying to work through that and get to a space and a frame of mind where we could really be excited about our work again. When you try to embrace the change in the sense that we know that, you know, this is what we have now, so let's make the most of it. Let's find the opportunities that exist and let's continue to show up for our students in the most creative and innovative ways possible and make sure that all students know that they're welcome in our space, but particularly students who maybe feel like they don't belong here at the campus. Let's work to help them feel and experience that sense of belonging any way that we can under the law. Let's come up with new stuff too, as a Student Success Center, that we can utilize our resources to support students in different ways as well. So, we've been doing a lot of that. We've been doing great work. We have a better sense of direction, clarity. We've developed processes, procedures, you know, a lot of the things that people don't see with the changes. Not just staff, you know, it's not just the name of the center. We're talking about funds, process, procedures, all of that kind of stuff on the back end. That's a lot of work to try to get that all established. Plus, we experienced some turnover. Some people, this type of environment now wasn't necessarily for them, you know, or didn't necessarily want to be a part of the stress that came with this very fast-moving, reactive 19 environment that we were in. Trying to build this up, it's not easy and it's not for everybody. So, we lost a lot of people, but we also gained some amazing staff on our team. We went through probably the quickest hiring process known to the university. I think at one point in time I had 4 or 5 hiring committees running simultaneously. We had several positions to fill, some of those new positions. Yeah, what an experience it was and still is, but I wouldn't—I'm glad to be here. As stressful as it was and difficult as it was for me, I've gotten myself to a place where I'm excited to come back to work, I’m excited about the things that my team is doing, and just grateful to be surrounded by individuals who are committed to students. LR: During the process between the bill coming out and the changes that had to be made, were you able to be a part of those discussions on how things would look? BF: Yeah, I was to an extent, to a degree. I think there were—some of the higherlevel stuff were the meetings with legal and trying to determine, “Okay, what are the programing guidelines that need to be given to help safeguard us?” We all know that the institution took a more conservative approach, ‘cause I mean, there are probably a lot of programing that we still could have done. But for the sake of protecting our staff and making sure that we, you know, remain compliant, I think we chose not to do certain things. In hindsight, at least right now, me personally, I think that was probably a wise decision, as difficult as it was. Because now we look across the state and their institutions or their staff and, you know, their areas are just really, really 20 struggling. Now the scrutiny is really on them. But I think we're in a better place now where that pressure is not so much. Does that make sense? LR: Yeah, it does. BF: But we're still finding a way to do meaningful work for students as well. Yeah. I hope I answered that question. LR: You did. So, let's see. I have all these questions, but you've actually answered a lot of them, so I'm— BF: That’s okay. LR: Which is—I love it. If I don't have to ask then it's easy. BF: I'm hoping I'm painting a clear picture, ‘cause— LR: Absolutely. BF: —Let's be honest, this bill and everything was very difficult to understand, it was muddy. It was created by people who don't really—who never took the time to see the programing that was actually being done. They were out of touch. They didn't know the value of it. They were relying on—well, I should say they were not relying on facts and data. I know that there were over 100 pages, I think, that were of data that showcase why these programs are beneficial for students that legislators just straight up ignored, and maybe were relying on, you know, people can twist and turn things however they want. This is what politicians are good at. But they—you know, I think that this bill in and of itself was just very confusing. It's not clear, it's open for all sorts of interpretation. That's really— when you put something like that at the ground level and you say, “Comply with this bill,” it’s like, “Well, how?” Like, make it make sense. So, I believe the 21 university did the best job that they could to make sense of it. We don't get it right all the time, and we knew going into it that we're not going to get it right all the time. We're going to make mistakes, but I'm glad we have an administration that's been, you know, supportive of us along the way, even through those mistakes and as we try to fine tune how we approach this type of work. So, yeah, I think that's kind of what made the whole process just kind of a little bit rocky. But I think through leadership, through a willingness of the team to follow the directions of the leadership, but also to try to be part of the solution. You know, rather than focusing on what we can't do, again, trying to figure out, okay, what are those things that we can do? What's going to help us to do it in a way where we feel good about our work and we feel comfortable, and we don't feel like we're always at risk of violating something, getting ourselves written up or in trouble, you know? So, this has been quite the journey, but like I said, I feel like we're in a much better place than we were even five, six months ago. LR: Okay. How do you think that the restructuring, the closing of the centers and the restructuring, how do you think that has impacted the students? BF: Its impact is, you know, not all students, obviously, but groups of students it’s impacted quite a lot. First of all, these decisions, these changes were made in the summertime, because that's when the law was put into place, so as an institution, we had to make that change over the summer. But, you know, at least here at Weber State, most students are not here in the summer. Most students who would care about it maybe didn't receive the communication, an opportunity to 22 get involved and to be, you know, to have a more widespread voice and say in how we were going to make these changes and still benefit them. I think that's part of the frustration for students coming back to campus, where there once was a space for them and now it's just gone. Somebody else is in that space. It's like, you know, I could see from the students’ perspective why that would be very difficult, very sad. I think, more than my area and the cultural centers, I feel the most for our LGBTQ+ students. I feel like they had the most that was lost. That's one of those identities you can't see that all the time on the surface. Whereas like, you know, my skin color and my culture or whatever, sometimes I wear that on my sleeve. The bill, I think, really targets that population in a very sad way. Losing that center was probably one of the biggest losses for this campus, and include the women's center in that, too. So, yeah, because I mean, we're not just talking—because the bill is like all about, “Yeah you can still do all the cultural celebrations,” but now you're having these follow-up guidelines that are coming through, the institutional neutrality. Now we can't even put flags in the marketing and stuff like that. It's like, where's the call to students to show them, “Hey, you belong here. This is a place where you can feel safe, comfortable.” It's difficult, you know. Like you can't publicly display those flags like out in the open. So, for those kind of things, it almost feels like this bill is kinda targeted to those groups of students, and I feel really bad about that. 23 It's just like, how? That’s always a big question: how do we make all students feel that sense of belonging on campus? We don't always get it right. I know that my team, myself, I'm committed to that. The bills can change the names of our centers and do all of that, and that's fine. But it can't necessarily change how we individually show up for students. I mean it's like, you come and talk to me, you're going to find that haven or whatever that you need. But it does make it tough to call students in and help them know that they have somebody that they can talk. I don't know if I am answering that perfectly but just being honest. I'm going to— LR: Everything you've said is amazing. BF: —Just say that to the camera. A lot of these are my personal point of views, you know, and don't necessarily reflect in my current role as executive director. In my role as an executive director, I'm committed to really making sure that we are in compliance with the law, that we're doing the very best that we can to create the Student Success Center the way that it is intended to be. But I have committed to serving all students and making sure that every student has an opportunity, not just the majority of students, everybody feels like they have a place here on campus. LR: I appreciate everything that you have said. I just have a couple more questions. What are some of your favorite memories, either when you were a student here or coming back in your roles as the GEAR director and as the executive director, what are some of your favorite memories of the culture centers? 24 BF: Yeah. I mean, I have a lot of great memories when it was known as the Multicultural Center in those days. From being able to just be, and in that space to mentor other students, to feel like my voice mattered, that I can help shape the type of programs and the initiatives that were taking place on the campus, even as a student. That was really cool. You know, as a peer mentor, just being able to be exposed to an environment that helped me grow personally and professionally was awesome. I'm trying to think of specific examples, I guess. I don't know, I'm kind of drawing a blank on, like, specific experiences. LR: It's all good. BF: To me, it's all about the people, you know. I could tell you names, and I could tell you those individuals and how they shaped and molded me. My first exposure to the Multicultural Center, I came in just honestly wanting an advisor, somebody to put me in the right direction, maybe tap me into a scholarship or two. I saw an office there, there were Polynesian, you know, Asian and Polynesian type of decor in the office. I was like, “I need to talk to whoever's in that office.” So, I went back there, and that was Eveni Tafiti, who was the Asian Pacific Islander advisor at the Multicultural Center. We strike up conversation, we developed a relationship where I was like, “I've got a strong support person at this campus.” That was important for me in navigating Weber State. Jody Perkins, you know, great guy, became a very close friend I consider family and a mentor of mine. Full circle moment, that I was the guy who called me and said, “Hey, it's time to come home.” I was fortunate to be able to serve as the executive director, and he was on my team. That was just beautiful. We 25 would spend hours just talking about ideas of how we can help men of color, help this area, and I loved that. I loved that. The whole idea that we have now, the initiative we call Student Success Center HUBS—stands for Havens for University Bridges to Success—that came from like an hour-long brainstorming session that I had with that guy. I cherish those memories, you know. I cherish those opportunities to just interact with folks. It's been a lot of fun. Even as a professional coming in, being able to, you know, when it was the cultural centers, to get involved with like the intercollegiate showcase of many islands in a common sea. Which is basically a performance, a highlight of different Pacific cultures and dances. Being able to be there and help out by being the videographer for that, that was just super fun. Something I like to do on the side, right? Seeing the students just have some of the experiences that I had as well, to be able to find a community that they belong, that they feel they could be their authentic selves, but also tap in even further into their own culture and others’. You know, like me. Like I said, growing up Filipino in the States, you don't get that depth of culture all the time. But being known and being with others and having speakers come in that you could connect with or resonate and teach you aspects of your own or other cultures was just such a meaningful thing. So, I cherish those specific experiences and being able to hear speakers and meet speakers and participate in dance and music and gatherings and food. Those are some of my most cherished experiences. LR: Thank you. So, why is community important? 26 BF: That's a great question. Community, in my mind, that's what keeps us grounded and it's what keeps us rooted. That's what keeps us from, you know, putting ourselves in dangerous situations. I think about community from like the historical perspective. Like, why do communities matter, right? It's a safeguard. It's a safety net. It’s a way that you can thrive as a human being. It helps—community can, I mean, it can hinder your progress, but it can also help propel you to growth as well. But community from higher education lens: everybody needs a support person. Everybody needs that. The research suggests that strong support person is a determining factor on whether you succeed in this environment or not. It's one of many. It helps you to understand how to navigate a college campus from somebody who maybe had been there and done that. It's like, “Hey, this is how I've done it. This is, you know, learn from my experiences and take some of this advice with you.” So, that community piece is important because it helps you to navigate the college experience. But it also serves to help make education a much more well-rounded experience, which is what I think the goal of education should be. It's not just about getting a job. It's helping you to develop character. It's helping you to learn how to effectively communicate with others. It helps you to learn how to develop critical thinking skills. These things that will carry on in your life beyond college and help you to live a very fulfilling and successful life. That's what community can provide is those experiences that tap you into your own inner self as you 27 interact with others. Help you to shape, grow, mold, give you direction, give you sense of purpose. It also just helps you to feel good and enjoy being here. Because if you come into any setting and you feel like you're alone—you know, loneliness is one of the biggest pandemics that college students face across the country. Having a community helps you not feel like you're so alone. To me, that's important. We've all experienced loneliness. I have. It sucks. It just feels good to be around likeminded people or people who you feel like is your family away from home. You know what I'm saying? LR: I do. BF: That's how I answer that question about what's community mean? Why is it important? I hope that whoever listens to this is, like, resonates with you. LR: Okay, I just have one more question, but before I do, I want to make sure, is there any other experience or anything else that you would like to say before I ask that final question? BF: Oh, man. I think there's probably a lot I could continue to say. I'm sure there's a lot more that I can highlight about these areas and where it was, where it is now. I'd just say that I'm grateful that I have contributed my little piece to this history. As incomplete and as choppy as it might be, that's my experience. I've tried to be as authentic and real as I can, you know? Yeah, I would say that I would hope that these initiatives, these efforts, are looked upon and remembered for the good that they provided at the time. 28 Also, I hope that listeners would never lose hope, you know? Because things change all the time. Doors close, other doors open. We're resilient human beings, especially those of us who have had to navigate life in the United States who maybe come from a marginalized community. But resilient people will always find a way to come together to find community. People might not like to hear it, but a black cultural center, I mean, you don't need a name on the top of a door to find a community. It helps. It definitely helps. Don't get me wrong. But, you know, it's not the name, it's not the sign, it's not even the program that's the most important thing. The most important thing is our connection as human beings. I think that can still be provided. So, that's the hope that I hope people will look at in the midst of all this chaos and sense of loss, the laws, the continued struggle, right? The struggle might never stop, but I hope that people can find hope and purpose in the midst of all of this, and continue to find that community. If nobody else is here for you, I'm here for you, and I know my team is too. LR: So, as a final question, what do you think we can do as individuals here at Weber State to foster relationships that meet the needs of the underserved communities at Weber State? BF: I think I alluded a little bit to that. Along with never losing hope, never stop working towards that end. Never stop finding, being innovative. Don't let these things dim your light or dim your sense of creativity. I think those things matter. I think that's what creativity is, is finding new ways to progress in challenging situations. It's adding value to the human experience. So, yeah, never stop being 29 creative, never stop finding community in one another in the ways that, you know, however you got to go about doing it. To the students, never underestimate the power of your voice. Continue to let yourself be heard. You agree with something, you don't agree with it, share it out. I think that's important. Always has been in the academic setting. We've been blessed in this country to have that freedom of speech, so use your voices as much as you can. Get involved and direct the power that you have to the people who are the folks who really need to hear it. Don't let anybody tell your story for you. Tell your own story. Write your own narrative, write your own future. But don’t lose hope, despite a setback. LR: Wow. Thank you. This has been amazing. I'm just so appreciative of your willingness to sit down and talk about these things. BF: I'm grateful to have been here. 30