When Olivia Hernández attended Yakima Valley College as a Running Start student in the mid-2000s, the college had already been designated as a Hispanic-Serving Institution by the U.S. Department of Education.
But while a large percentage of her classmates were Hispanic, the college hadn’t yet caught up in offering programs and campus activities reflecting its changing student population.
Fast forward to today, and Hernández, now a member of the college's English faculty, says the difference is dramatic.
She points to various initiatives — such as the College Assistance Migrant Program that help a historically underserved population succeed in college and YVC hosting the National Association for Chicana and Chicano Studies’ Pacific Northwest conference in November 2024 — as examples of the kinds of student-facing programs that are lifting up communities served by the college in meaningful and holistic ways.
“There are so many efforts now to make sure that our classroom spaces and college as a whole are reflective of and sustaining different communities and identities and experiences and languages of our students,” says Hernández.
Catalyzing change
Since its founding in 1928, YVC has been dedicated to helping students of all backgrounds build a better life. But efforts by members of the YVC community to foster greater diversity, equity and inclusion have steadily gained strength and been elevated to a new level, particularly in the last couple of years.
The college intentionally made equity-related efforts an integral part of its current strategic plan and appointed its first director of strategic initiatives for equity and organizational development in early 2024. The new staff position helps ensure equity is intertwined throughout the college’s strategic priorities and decisions.
Tenya Moravec, the first person to hold the position, says one of the biggest efforts over the past year has been offering ongoing, in-depth professional development to all YVC faculty and staff on matters related to diversity, equity and inclusion.
“I think what people find the most impactful in a lot of these trainings is that faculty and staff appreciate having conversations and opportunities to think about how these issues apply to their own work,” Moravec said.
TOP: Students explore YVC support services during Yak Family Night on the Yakima Campus
in September 2024. ABOVE: Instructor Olivia Hernández talks to students during an
English class in January 2024.
Durning opening convocation activities to help kick off the academic year in September, a keynote address to a majority of the college’s full-time faculty and staff focused on how to cultivate a workplace culture of trust and inclusion and ultimately better support diverse student populations. Also during opening convocation, more than 200 faculty and staff participated in in-depth workshops to build practical skills for mitigating bias and promoting a culture of respect, equity and belonging.
Subsequent professional development sessions during the 2024-25 academic year have explored issues such as assessing personal biases and strategies to counteract them, how to support first-generation college students, cultivating a workplace culture of trust and belonging, and understanding different forms of power in higher education and connections to student success. From the start of fall quarter through February, more than 120 faculty and staff have attended one or more workshops.
"What is sustaining and wonderful about the future of Yakima ... is making space for the many different voices and perspectives of the people who live here and are part of the fabric of where we all live."
— Olivia Hernández, YVC English Instructor
Fostering a stronger sense of community and belonging is another recent focus. The college has sponsored social events for faculty and staff including a fall festival, a winter holiday reception and a spring ice cream social to help build community. Another effort Moravec is working to launch during the current academic year are employee affinity groups.
“We want employees to feel empowered to create groups around specific identities or shared interests where they can create an even stronger sense of belonging and support mentoring and professional development for one another,” Moravec said.
Providing more support and opportunities for faculty and staff to network with one another can play an important role in attracting and retaining YVC’s most important asset — a diverse and talented workforce. Affinity groups help fuel a virtuous cycle. A more diverse and talented pool of potential employees is attracted by seeing the support and opportunities for growth available to them at YVC, and they then contribute to the support and development of their fellow employees.
Listening and learning
Alev Ucar serves as president of the Yakima Student Council as well as a member of the Diversity Series planning group. She also brings a different perspective to YVC as an international student, having come to the U.S. from Germany first as a high school exchange student and staying to pursue her college degree.
As a student, Ucar says feeling comfortable on campus makes a huge difference.
“Feeling like you belong and matter is important,” Ucar said. “Having activities or resources that help students feel like they’re included, that there are people who care about their success, I think it helps them be in a better mood to do well. If you don’t feel like you’re connected and you’re just going to class and studying, you’re not as likely to succeed.”
Ucar said student government officers are intentional about planning different activities so all students feel like they’re included in programming.
“Coming to college, a lot of students can feel kind of lost in the beginning,” she said. “That’s why we try to make them feel welcome by having a variety of events where they can have fun and meet people so they feel part of our community.”
Tenya Moravez, director of strategic initiatives for equity and organizational development, speaks to a student during YVC's celebration of first-generation college students in November 2024.
In addition to giving students an opportunity to have fun and relax, ASYVC programming also helps celebrate different cultures represented at the college or offer resources, such as supporting mental health.
Diversity Series programming during the current academic year has also spanned a wide range of topics, from Tejano music to a Queer Film Series to a Black History Month lunch and celebration. The workshops and activities have proven to be highly engaging, with a Random Acts of Kindness Day drawing participation from more than 130 students and employees across the Yakima and Grandview campuses.
Moving forward
As the college works to better support its diverse community, Moravec noted that listening and learning from data is of critical importance.
An initial college climate survey was conducted in early 2022 to gather information from students, faculty, staff and administrators about their experiences and perceptions related to diversity, equity and inclusion at YVC. That survey explored learning and instructional matters, support and resources for students, and work environment issues for employees.
"If you don’t feel like you’re connected and you’re just going to class and studying, you’re not as likely to succeed.”
— Alev Ucar, Yakima Student Council President
In addition to the campus survey, multiple focus groups and listening sessions have been held for faculty, staff and students to collect more in-depth feedback.
“We’re being intentional about using a variety of sources to help us identify different trends around issues or concerns as well as what’s working well,” Moravec said. “That data is important in guiding our work to ultimately remove obstacles that are hindering student success and, on the other hand, invest in things that are helping make YVC a more diverse and equitable place.”
For example, feedback from the campus community has prompted work on creating a new process for students and employees to report concerns about something negatively impacting the learning or work environment.
The importance of welcoming students and connecting them to the people and resources supporting their success also emerged as a critical need. That led to the creation of “Yak Family Nights” and planning is under way for the next events in October 2025, incorporating lessons from the first events held in spring and fall 2024.
Anti-racism strategist Herminia Esqueda gives a presentation on Tejano music in October 2024 as part of YVC's Diversity Series.
Hernández says that moving forward in making the college a more inclusive and equitable place means she and other faculty and staff must continually be responsive to who students are and what they need.
“I want to make sure that I’m adjusting my practices to meet the needs of students right now,” she said. “In the English department, for example, we’ve been doing a lot of changes that are based around student voice and student needs and student input. I’m really proud of the work that we’ve done, but it’s always a work in progress.”
Beyond the classroom, Hernández also serves as advisor for the college’s Pride Club and she noted that more centralized support from YVC’s Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Office has given clubs and programs like hers a boost in their ability to plan activities for the campus community and better support students.
“Having that greater visibility I know is really meaningful to students,” says Hernández. “At the root of being a community college — and particularly as someone who grew up in this community — I think that what is sustaining and wonderful about the future of Yakima as a community is making space for the many different voices and perspectives of the people who live here and are part of the fabric of where we all live.”
Story by Dustin Wunderlich, director of community relations. Photos by Matt Barton, graphic designer/multimedia content producer.