Sen. Archuleta Honors CPP Leaders for Community Contributions During National Hispanic Heritage Month
As part of the national celebration of National Hispanic Heritage Month (Sept. 15-Oct. 15), State Sen. Bob Archuleta will honor Provost S. Terri Gomez and Associate Professor Álvaro Huerta for their achievements in education and community advocacy during a campus visit on Wednesday, Sept. 25.
Gomez will receive the Latina Education Leader Award and Huerta the Latino Education Leader Award. The ceremony will precede Archuleta’s public lecture, “The Importance of Public Service,” at the University Library 3rd Floor Grand Reading Room at 2 p.m.
“Dr. Gomez and Dr. Huerta exemplify the very best of what it means to serve others,” Archuleta said. “Their work is especially important to the Latina/o communities, where their success represents hope and opportunity for countless others. It is my honor to celebrate their achievements during Hispanic Heritage Month and highlight the incredible impact they’ve had in the areas of education, equity, and social justice.”
Gomez is a nationally recognized leader for her work on student success and developing innovative programs to address the needs of diverse student populations. She was responsible for the launch of the Office of Student Success at Cal Poly Pomona to focus our campus efforts as part of the CSU Graduation Initiative 2025.
“Our students at Cal Poly Pomona are some of the most resilient people I have ever met. I recognize their desire to better themselves, their families and their communities as my own,” Gomez said. “Being able to create meaningful educational opportunities for our Latinx students has been an immense privilege. I am deeply honored to be recognized and receive this award.”
A member of the Cal Poly Pomona community for 24 years, Gomez first taught in the Department of Ethnic and Women’s Studies before rising to serve a range of administrative roles including interim dean in the College of Education and Integrative Studies and interim associate vice president. In 2018, she was appointed as the inaugural Associate Vice President for Student Success and two years later was named Associate Provost for Student Success, Equity and Innovation with an expanded portfolio that includes Academic Advising, the Bronco Advising Center, Undeclared Advising, Early Start, Learning Resource Center, First-Year Experience, Common Read, PolyTransfer, STEM Success, Academic Innovation, Student Innovation Ideas lab, Kellogg Honors College, Center for Community Service Learning, Office of Undergraduate Research and the TRiO-funded Reading and Mentoring Program (RAMP).
Huerta, the son of working-class Mexican immigrants, is an associate professor of urban and regional planning and ethnic and women’s studies. A well-respected scholar, community activist, and published author, his research and advocacy focus on social justice, immigration, and improving the quality of life for marginalized communities across California.
A first-generation student who grew up in East Los Angeles’ notorious Ramona Gardens public housing development — nicknamed “Big Hazard projects” after the area’s dominant gang — Huerta said he knew at a young age that he needed to “escape a poor and violent neighborhood that I wasn’t cut out for.” Recognizing that his natural aptitude for mathematics was “my ticket out of the projects,” he thrived under the guidance of teachers and counselors and Occidental College’s Upward Bound program.
Huerta’s escape from violence and poverty sparked his activism, starting as a 17-year-old freshman helping organize UCLA’s hunger strike in defense of undocumented students. As a community organizer, he spearheaded an organizing campaign defeating a power-plant proposal in Southeast Los Angeles and a co-led a grassroots campaign defeating Los Angeles’ proposed leaf-blower ban. As a scholar-activist and public policy expert/advocate, he’s been a leader working on decriminalizing street vending in Los Angeles and the state.
He currently serves as a representative for the western region of the Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning, a member of the Scholars for Social Justice and the URBAN Research Network. He is also a Ford Foundation Fellow.
“By overcoming abject poverty, omnipresent violence and a sense of hopelessness to attend elite universities, teach/mentor graduate studies at an Ivy League university and become a tenured professor at a great university, to quote Dolores Huerta, I want to send a profound message to all racialized and marginalized students who struggle to navigate higher education:¡Sí, se puede!”